Sha’Kayla Caples put on a show Saturday afternoon at the Red Carpet Classic at Vicksburg High School.

Hands down the best player of the six-game afternoon of hoops, Caples torched Brookhaven for a game-best 26 points as third-ranked Warren Central won easily, 66-40.

To purchase Red Carpet Classic photos or to view other Post photos, click here.

WC coach Donny Fuller, however, was not happy with the game.

“I didn’t think we played very well, especially early,” Fuller said.

The first quarter was the only time Brookhaven (8-11) put up a fight. Four 3-pointers kept the Lady Panthers tied after one quarter with WC at 12. Then Brookhaven went cold while Caples and running mate Karnina Bunch took over.

Brookhaven was held without a point in the second quarter, missing all 16 of its shots. Bunch, meanwhile, scored 13 of her 23 points in the quarter, including nine on three 3-pointers. Caples had eight points and five rebounds and finished the first half with a double-double — 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Brookhaven made some shots in the third quarter but so did the Lady Vikes. Four more baskets by Bunch, three from Caples and a 3-pointer from Tomi Fuller gave WC its largest lead of the day at 58-23.

Brookhaven mounted a brief rally in the fourth, getting the spread down to 23 before Caples came back to score her last two buckets on quick moves to the basket.

For the game, Brookhaven was a frosty 15-of-74 from the field while WC was 26-of-61.

New Hope boys beat WC, 50-38

The Vikings got off to a great start against the defending Class 4A champions but then fell apart in the second quarter.

New Hope (15-4) did much of its damage from the free throw line, making 19 of 26 shots. The freebies came early and helped the Trojans climb out of an early 9-2 hole as Dino Harris scored seven of the nine points for WC.

New Hope went on a 10-2 run to close the quarter and then held the Vikings (3-18) to a single basket in the second quarter to go up 28-13 at the half.

“We just ran out of gas,” WC coach Jesse Johnson said.

New Hope coach Robert Byrd said his team struggled to find its game.

“We had a rough division game last night with West Lauderdale and then to travel four hours to play this one, was tough. But I like the set-up. It was a fun event,” Byrd said.

WC was down 40-26 with 4:51 left when Cory Davis caught fire and led a Viking comeback. He hit three straight 3-pointers to pull WC to within six at 44-38 with 2:10 left. The comeback, though, died when Davis picked up his fifth foul just 13 seconds later.

Victor Payne and Jonathan Brandon each scored 10 points to lead New Hope. Harris led WC with 10 points and Davis’ fourth trey barrage accounted for all of his points.

*

Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com.