MENDENHALL — Warren Central overcame a huge deficit. It got great efforts from its bench players. Somehow, it even managed to hang around until the closing seconds of overtime with five players fouled out.

Yet, as has often been the case in this difficult season, it wasn’t enough.

Lawrence County scored 11 of its 17 points in overtime from the free throw line, and got 17 points and 12 rebounds from Matt Wells to beat Warren Central 76-71 in the Mendenhall Invitational on Monday.

Warren Central overcame a 19-point deficit in the first quarter and got 48 points from its reserves. But the Vikings missed four free throws in the last two

minutes, wasted a nine-point lead of its own in the second half, and lost for the 13th time in 14 games this season.

B.J. Williams led WC with 21 points, and John Hood had eight points and 12 rebounds.

“We build on every loss. It just seems like we have one stretch where we turn the ball over and they take off. By the time we regroup, the game is over,” said WC’s Louis Carson, who had 11 points, six steals and five assists off the bench.

Monday’s game seemed over before it even began. Lawrence County (7-7) scored the first 11 points and led 21-2 with just under two minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Warren Central clawed its way back, though, using a 17-0 run to take the lead on two free throws by Eric Hall with 1:51 to play in the half. Lawrence County regained the lead by halftime, but another 8-0 run by WC to start the third quarter put the Vikings back in front.

WC’s lead eventually swelled to nine points late in the third. The surge was sparked by defense. WC had 16 steals in the first three quarters, accounting for most of Lawrence County’s 20 turnovers in the same span. Lawrence County, after going 8-for-13 from the field in the first quarter, also went 7-for-23 in the second and third.

“Just hustle and the press,” WC coach Jesse Johnson said. “The press is starting to come together. We just had too many missed opportunities on offense.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com