The Vicksburg Missy Gators followed a familiar blueprint on how to beat Warren Central.

And it almost worked, until Sha’Kayla Caples hung around just long enough to foul it up.

Caples, in foul trouble the entire game, hit a go-ahead layup with 34 seconds to play, and Brittany Willis added a pair of game-clinching free throws 17 seconds later to give the Lady Vikes a 55-51 win on Saturday.

Caples only played about nine minutes, but still finished with 10 points, three rebounds and three steals.

&#8220I’d rather hit the game-winner,” Caples said of her tough afternoon.

Willis led the Lady Vikes with 17 points, Shantta Taylor scored 12 and Kaci Harris 10.

Taylor Ammons led Vicksburg (15-9, 4-2 Division 3-5A) with 19 points and nine rebounds, Tiffany Williams scored 11 points and Alexus Stirgus had 10.

The win gives Warren Central (20-6, 5-1) the regular-season Division 3-5A title, along with an unwanted reward. As the top seed in the upcoming division tournament, the Lady Vikes will play fourth-seeded tournament host Greenville-Weston in the first round.

&#8220Here’s the bad thing about it. Our reward for going number one is we’ve got to play Greenville at Greenville,” Warren Central coach Donny Fuller said. &#8220Ain’t nothing we can do about it. We’ve got to go play.”

On Saturday, however, Fuller and the Lady Vikes were celebrating a hard-fought win.

Caples got into foul trouble immediately, picking up two in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the game. She went to the bench with 4:31 left in the first quarter and WC trailing 11-7. Unlike previous games where early foul trouble hurt them, this time the Lady Vikes prospered.

After Kamiko Martin drilled a 3-pointer to make it 14-7, WC went on a 14-2 run with Caples on the bench. Reserve Shawnise Smith scored six points in the first half to help out, and backup point guard Heather Casey had five assists.

&#8220We had several people come off the bench and give us quality minutes,” Fuller said.

Vicksburg missed six straight 3-pointers after hitting their first three, then regrouped and went on a 10-2 run of their own to take a 26-25 lead into halftime.

The teams traded runs and shots in the second half, as well as missed opportunities.

Ammons missed a pair of layups and airballed two free throws that would have given the Missy Gators some breathing room. Caples, after re-entering the game with 2:34 to play in the fourth quarter, missed three layups down the stretch that would have put her team ahead.

With 2:40 to play, Stirgus hit a 3-pointer to give VHS a 51-48 lead. It was answered 39 seconds later by Taylor, who tied it with a trey of her own.

After Caples put the Lady Vikes ahead 53-51 with her layup with 34 seconds left, Ammons took an inbounds pass and drove the length of the court before dishing to LaJuana Thomas underneath the goal. Thomas’ layup clunked off the rim, though, and Warren Central grabbed the rebound.

Willis ended up with the ball and was fouled, then hit two free throws with 17.3 seconds left to seal it.