BRANDON – Warren Central got everything it could have wanted out of the Northwest Rankin Tournament. Three solid performances, key contributions from its second-line players, a couple of wins and, perhaps most importantly, a little of its mojo back.

Jeremy Smith hit three 3-pointers and scored all of his 13 points in the second half, helping the Vikings overcome a 10-point halftime deficit and beat Ponchatoula, La., 62-52 on Friday afternoon. It was WC’s second win in a row after it had lost six straight.

&#8220We needed this. We needed a win to get things back on track,” said WC’s Mario Luckett, who had 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and was selected to the all-tournament team. &#8220It’s still the holidays, so now we can celebrate a little bit.”

WC (7-10) went 2-1 at the Northwest Rankin Tournament, winning its last two games after losing 58-57 to Canton in the opener. The Vikings had double-digit rebounding margins in two of the three games – they outrebounded Ponchatoula 30-7 – and got plenty of scoring help beyond stars Luckett and Shone Ester.

Casey Brown scored 16 points on Friday – his third straight game of eight or more – and Smith was in double figures for the second consecutive game. Max Rollins also contributed six points and six rebounds.

Luckett and Ester also played well throughout the tournament. Ester had nine points and six assists against Ponchatoula, while Luckett posted his second double-double in three games. Luckett came within a rebound against Hazlehurst on Thursday of making it 3-for-3.

&#8220Any time you play three games in a row in three days you need a supporting cast. They stepped up and gave us some good minutes,” WC coach Jesse Johnson said. &#8220I’ve said all along, when we get a third scorer we’re going to be hard to deal with.”

Ponchatoula was hard for the Vikings to deal with for most of the afternoon.

The Green Wave hit its first five shots and went 7-for-9 from the field in the second quarter to take a 35-25 halftime lead. Ponchatoula shot 51.4 percent for the game and was 7-for-17 from 3-point range. Coty McCalope hit four of Ponchatoula’s 3-pointers and led the team with 22 points.

The Vikings opened up the third quarter with a 13-2 run keyed by Smith and Brown, though, to get back in the game. Brown scored five points during the run and Smith hit a pair of 3-pointers to give WC a 38-37 lead with 3:30 left in the period.

Ponchatoula regained the lead on 3-pointers by McCalope and Rob Derenbecker, but Smith hit another 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to put WC back in front, 46-43.

The Vikings never trailed again. They went 6-for-6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter and grabbed nearly every rebound on both ends. Ponchatoula went cold down the stretch, and WC was able to pull away.

&#8220It’s good to get back on the winning track,” Johnson said. &#8220I thought we came out sluggish, but toward the end the adrenaline kicked in and we played well.”