BRANDON — When D.J. Evans hit his first 3-pointer, he knew it was going to be a good night. By the time he hit his 12th, everybody else in the gym felt the same way.

Evans, Brandon’s 5-foot-8 shooting guard, hit 12 3-pointers and scored 43 points in the first half Tuesday to lead the Bulldogs to a 94-68 victory over Warren Central.

Evans finished with 52 points. He was 18-for-29 from the field, 14-for-18 from 3-point range, and added five steals and three assists for good measure. He outscored Warren Central by himself in the first half, 43-34.

“We were just fanning and waving at him. The plan was to make him put it on the floor and we didn’t do that,” WC coach Jesse Johnson said. “He was shooting it from 28, 29 feet. It’s hard to get in somebody’s face when they’re 29 feet from the basket.”

Evans’ big night stemmed from the Vikings’ effort to stop 6-foot-9 forward Tyler Adams. WC (1-4) double- and triple-teamed the big man under the basket, leaving Evans wide open on the outside — and he made them pay from the get-go.

Evans scored 22 points and went 5-for-7 from 3-point range in the first quarter, helping the Bulldogs (5-0) race to a 26-14 lead. He hit seven more 3s in the second quarter and was 15-for-19 overall from the field in the first half. With each trey, Evans seemed to challenge himself by shooting from further and further away. By the last one, he was four or five steps beyond the arc.

“They were playing defense on me and I had to back up. I always shoot that far in practice, so I took it. Practice makes perfect,” Evans said.

Johnson switched up the defense in the second half and the Vikings did a much better job of containing Evans, but the damage was done. WC went into halftime trailing 53-34 and never got closer than 16 points in the second half.

Strangely, not covering Evans was one of the few things the Vikings did poorly. They shot nearly 50 percent from the field, got to the free throw line 27 times and committed a respectable 17 turnovers. Jeremy Harper scored 29 points and Eric Hall added 15.

They even contained Adams, for the most part. The big man had four points in the first half and finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Evans’ spectacular display was just too much to overcome.

“We put up 68 points on one of the top teams in the state,” Johnson said. “Any time you give up 12 3s in a half you’re going to have trouble staying in the game.”

 

(G) Brandon 37, WC 35

As the temperature outside dipped into the 40s Tuesday night, the shooting percentages inside didn’t come close to matching it.

Mesha Martin hit the last of her four 3-pointers with 1:25 left, Latasha Simmons added a pair of free throws late, and Brandon (4-1) took advantage of a late swoon by the Lady Vikes (3-2) to gut out an ugly two-point win.

Warren Central went 2-for-8 from the field and had two turnovers in the last two minutes. For the game, it shot just 25.4 percent from the field, committed 22 turnovers and was 1-for-12 from 3-point range. Ricille Davis was the only Lady Vike to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

“I think we were executing some, but we just couldn’t get anything to fall. We rushed some shots,” WC coach Jackie Martin-Glass said.

Brandon’s own miscues allowed the Lady Vikes to hang around. Brandon shot just 35.9 percent from the field and committed 25 turnovers. Martin scored 16 points, though, and Simmons added nine.

After Deshaundra Eatmon pulled WC even at 31-31 on a free throw with about 3 minutes left, a Brandon free throw and Martin’s last 3-pointer made it 35-31. Davis hit a jumper for WC a minute later, but Simmons answered with two free throws to make it a four-point game again.

Davis scored again with 16.7 seconds left, and WC had one last chance after Brandon’s Taylor Williams missed two free throws with 4 seconds to go. Williams made up for her misses by stealing the inbounds pass at midcourt as the buzzer sounded.

(B) Vicksburg 60, Madison Central 38

Vicksburg was led by Mychal Ammons with 16 points, while Kieneta Ross added 12.

(G) VHS 38, Madison Central 36

Donyeah Mayfield scored 16 points to pace the Missy Gators to a win at Madison Central.

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com