CLINTON — There were times Tuesday night when Clinton’s entire defense seemed to be standing still as Sha’Kayla Caples jumped and danced around them on the way to the hoop.

Of course, she makes a lot of teams look that way.

Caples scored 34 points on 14-for-17 shooting, and also had 10 rebounds and three blocked shots to lead Warren Central to a 70-62 victory. Caples scored most of her points around the basket, often driving the lane and deftly avoiding contact as two and three defenders swarmed to her.

Afterward, she said it wasn’t as easy as she made it look.

“They were double teaming me. I had to work hard for everything,” Caples said.

Ericka Robinson hit six 3-pointers and scored 28 points for Clinton and Ne Ne Williams scored 14.

Karnina Bunch added 14 points for Warren Central (21-2, 5-0 Division 4-5A), which clinched the No. 1 seed in the division tournament. The Lady Vikes finish the division schedule Friday at Greenville-Weston, and WC coach Donny Fuller said he was glad to avoid a do-or-die situation for the top spot.

“I didn’t want to go to the Delta and have to win to be a No. 1 seed. It’s one of the toughest places around to play,” Fuller said.

Caples had six points, four rebounds and two blocks in the first quarter as WC seized control early. Bunch dropped in two 3-pointers, and the Lady Vikes opened up a 16-point lead with a minute left in the opening period. Clinton (12-11, 2-3) went on a 9-0 run in the last few seconds of the first quarter and the first minute of the second to get back in it, but never got closer than seven points at any time in the game.

Caples scored 11 points of WC’s 15 points in the second quarter, and nearly half of its total in the second half. The only thing that slowed her down was a late foul.

A Clinton defender accidentally poked Caples in the eye with 12 seconds left as the Lady Arrows tried to extend the game. As she tried to refocus, Caples missed three of four foul shots in the final seconds.

“She did what she does best. She took over the game,” Fuller said.

Clinton tops WC boys, 40-37

As Cory Davis launched a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds Tuesday, Warren Central coach Jesse Johnson held his breath. When it clanged off the rim and caromed out of the reach of any nearby Vikings, he exhaled and started to celebrate.

WC (3-20, 1-4) lost to Clinton (7-21, 1-4), but still managed to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Division 4-5A tournament on a point differential tiebreaker. That means the Vikings will avoid two-time defending Class 5A champion Provine in the first round of the tournament.

“You’ve got to have a different strategy to be successful,” Johnson said. “We don’t match up well with Provine at all. We can play with Greenville. You play 26 games to win one. It doesn’t make a difference how you get there.”

How the Vikings got their preferred matchup was unusual, to say the least.

Clinton went 2-for-23 from the field over a 12-minute span in the second and third quarters, allowing WC to erase a 13-point deficit. Another 7-0 run midway through the fourth allowed WC to tie it again, as Clinton didn’t hit a field goal in the last seven minutes.

Clinton needed to win by seven points to pass WC for the No. 3 seed, though, and with the game tied at 37 in the final minute Johnson was well aware of the situation. Wanting to avoid an overtime period that might have allowed the Arrows to get the needed margin, he ordered his team to foul. Caleb Smith split a one-and-one with 12.1 seconds left, and Donzeddrick Smith hit two more free throws after a WC turnover to put Clinton ahead 40-37.

Johnson told Davis not to shoot a 3-pointer with the “winning” margin secured, but Davis misunderstood, Johnson said with a laugh.

“I called him over and told him not to shoot it. When I told him to shoot the 3, we were down by one,” Johnson said, adding that he ordered the fouls because he felt Clinton coach Bruce Robinson was playing for overtime. “He knew what was going on, too. He was trying to run the clock out.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com