The second day of the Vicksburg-Warren Classic proved to be a tougher one than the first.

The Lady Vikes won a physical contest 64-42 over Canton, while the undermanned boys fell 69-62 in the nightcap to Wingfield on Thursday.

In the girls game, the Lady Vikes quickly discovered that Canton was going to be no pushover, as the Lady Tigers kept things within reach for much of the first half. The Lady Tigers (1-1) pulled within five and looked poised to do more damage as Karnina Bunch left the game late in the second quarter after taking a hard charge.

But Deshaundra Eatmon hit a big three and Sha’Kayla Caples hit a layup to give the Lady Vikes a 37-23 cushion at the break.

In the third quarter, the Lady Vikes were able to pull away thanks to the normal work of Sha’Kayla Caples and a big three by Dequanna Kilbert that blew the game open. Canton never again pulled any closer than eight the rest of the way.

Caples finished with a game-high 24, while Bunch, who returned to the lineup in the second half, finished with 16.

“I thought it was a very, very hard-played, physical game,” WC coach Donny Fuller said. “It was really two teams getting after each other. I told our kids that a preseason ranking put a target on our backs.”

With his team going eight to nine deep on the bench, Fuller believed his depth played a role.

“I was really happy with Bailey (Anderton), who played some great defense, blocked some shots and grabbed a lot of rebounds,” Fuller said. “DeeDee (Deshaundra Eatmon) and Dequanna (Gilbert) hit some big threes for us. We’ve got good depth and I think we wore them down.”

Chiquita Thomas and Alnesia Day paced Canton with 11 points apiece.

WC will play Vicksburg-Natchez in the championship game on Saturday at 2 p.m. at VHS.

(B) Wingfield 69, WC 62

The Vikings ran into the proverbial wall in the second half as Wingfield used the long ball and a tough full-court defense to earn the victory and a spot in the championship game at WC Saturday at 2 p.m.

“Turnovers just killed us,” Warren Central coach Jesse Johnson said. “Fatigue also hurt us. When you’re only playing seven guys and the other team is playing nine or 10, they’re going to wear you down.”

WC (1-1) led in the early going, but Wingfield pulled away in the third and midway through the fourth.

The Vikings got the lead down to three at 60-57 with over three minutes remaining when Martez Carroll scored on a layup in traffic, but Wingfield got hot from the charity stripe to ice the game.

The Vikings will play in the third-place game Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at WC.

Carroll led WC with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Dino Harris added 18 points. Cory Davis added 14 points and 14 boards.

Chris Wallace paced Wingfield with 16 points, while Trency Jackson added 15 and Ralph Walls chipped in 12.

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.