Warren Central struggled for three quarters against Jim Hill, but finally found some offensive firepower in the fourth to turn back the Lady Tigers 53-50.

Ricille Davis scored 11 of her 16 points in the final quarter to rally the Lady Vikes (7-3) from a 38-30 deficit. Through three quarters, WC made just 12-of-40 shots and had 17 turnovers. The final eight minutes were vastly different as the Lady Vikes made 8-of-13 shots and had just two turnovers.

“We played hard, we just weren’t executing,” first-year WC coach Jackie Martin-Glass said. “Against their zone, we were not driving past their gaps. We did better in the second half. We also went man in the second half and that got them out of what they were doing to us in the first half.”

Thirteen first-half turnovers put the Lady Vikes down 30-22 at the half. Their man defense forced eight turnovers by the Lady Tigers (6-5) in the third quarter, but WC made just three field goals and couldn’t close the eight-point gap.

“We just had too many turnovers,” Davis said, who also had 11 rebounds. “We started playing more team ball and ran our set plays.”

In the fourth, Davis started to break down the Lady Tiger defense from the baseline. Her 3-point play tied the game at 39. A 3-pointer by DeDe Eatmon with four minutes left gave the Lady Vikes their first lead of the game at 42-41.

A putback by Kiera Moore made it 46-41 with 2:22 left. Eatmon then made two free throws with 45 seconds left to keep the lead at four. Another Eatmon free throw with eight seconds left made it 53-50 and the Lady Tigers then came up short on a last-ditch 3-point shot.

Eatmon finished with 14. Michelle Jones had eight points and seven rebounds.

Kierariel Mitchel had 15 for Jim Hill.

(B) Jim Hill 62, WC 46

Warren Central was again without leading scorer Jeremy Harper and also had to go without another starter, Josh Malone. Harper missed his fourth game because of appendectomy while Malone was out with a scratched cornea.

“It’s hurt not having Jeremy because that’s 18 points a game out of your line up and when you add Malone, it goes to 25 points,” WC coach Jesse Johnson said. Harper is due out another three to five weeks while Malone should be back for Saturday’s game at Vicksburg.

Johnson was still pleased with how his outmanned club played against the Tigers (5-5).

“This was one of the best games we played because we were physical. We had mental lapses, but the big thing was we couldn’t score,” Johnson said.

The Vikings (1-8) shot just 27 percent from the floor. Cory Davis led with 11 points and Louis Carson had 10. Sophomore forward Chase Ladd had seven points and six rebounds.

ReShad Bickham led Jim Hill with 14.

(B) St. Al 40, MSD 36

Ford Biedenharn scored a game-high 26 to lead the Flashes (3-5) to a second straight win and a 1-0 start in Division 7-1A play Tuesday night in Jackson. St. Al overcame a 24-18 halftime deficit by outscoring Mississippi School for the Deaf 22-10 in the second half. Marquevious Boyd had 21 for MSD.

(G) St. Al 52, MSD 40

Tori Hines had 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Lady Flashes won its first game since the season opener at MSD. St. Al (2-6, 1-0) also got 15 points from Carlye Smith and 12 from Ann Thomas. Sara Howington had six points and a team-high 12 rebounds.

The Lady Flashes trailed 21-18 at the half but used a 16-9 third quarter to take the lead. Jazmine Mackin led MSD with 17.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com