JACKSON — Win No. 14 was the best one yet for the Warren Central Lady Vikes.

The second ranked Lady Vikes stayed unbeaten by beating eighth ranked Lanier, 61-46, on its own floor Monday night in the semifinals of the Jackson Public School’s Pepsi Tournament. WC (14-0) advances to play Forest Hill (12-2) tonight at 6 p.m. at Jackson State University’s Williams Athletic and Assembly Center in the JPS/Pepsi finals.

This will mark WC coach Donny Fuller’s fourth shot at winning the JPS holiday tournament. The last time WC won this tournament came in 1984 under former Mississippi State coach Jerry Henderson.

“We’ve been to the finals three other times, but we lost to Murrah, Cleveland-East Side and Vicksburg. It’s been a while. That’s why this was such a big road win for us. Lanier is a really good team. They are quick and athletic. But that’s why we’re here. We want to see where we are,” Fuller said.

Where they are is unbeaten and one win away from probably taking over the No. 1 ranking in Mississippi. Top-ranked Murrah, skipped the JPS for a tournament in Washington, D.C., but that event was cancelled, leaving the two-time defending Class 5A champion Lady Mustangs watching this week from the stands.

What they saw was another impressive one-two performance from Louisiana Tech signee Sha’Kayla Caples and senior point guard Karnina Bunch. Caples did most of her work for a game-best 30 points from the free throw line, making 12-of-13 shots to go with nine field goals.

“Caples is the exception,” Lanier coach Jonas James said. “We doubled her, then they would swing it back to the other girls and then they would make the play back to Caples. We didn’t do a good enough job of rotating back.”

The usually media-shy Caples, opened a bit about leading her team to the JPS title game.

“I was motivated because they (Lanier) were ranked. They were a quick team. I want to win this tournament, because me and Karnina have been playing over here since the ninth grade,” Caples said.

Caples had 15 points in each half. The first-half 15 helped WC grab a 30-25 lead.

A basket, two free throws and a 3-pointer from Bunch keyed a 7-2 run to open the third quarter and hand WC a 37-27 edge.

The Lady Vikes kept a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter. Caples made two more free throws for a 48-35 advantage but Lanier (11-2) responded with five straight points to close to 48-40 with six minutes to play. At the midway point of the fourth, WC went on a decisive spurt, getting two baskets by Caples and a 3-pointer from Bunch to go up 59-41 with 2:25 to go.

“People say we may have just those two, but I know I’m going to ride those two all the way I can,” Fuller said. “I’m also really proud of all of our kids. Kryshna Howard is my secret weapon and the rest of them play their roles well.”

Howard, a reserve sophomore forward, was a big lift off the bench with eight rebounds and two blocks.

Ricille Davis had eight points, including a 4-for-4 effort from the line, along with six boards. Bunch had 19 points and six assists.

“It helps a lot,” Caples answered on how much it means to have rebounding assistance this season from the likes of Howard, Eatmon, Davis and Bailey Anderton.

Lanier was led by Jaerica Young with 14 and Kenya Wright had 13.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com.