JACKSON — It’s been a chore for Warren Central’s girls to score all season.

Monday night’s Class 6A North State satellite game at Murrah was no different, at least in the first half. The Lady Vikes had more turnovers (13) than points (12), but still managed to make a game of it before the Lady Mustangs pulled away late for a 50-35 win.

Murrah (19-10) moves on to the Class 6A North State Tournament at Horn Lake. Warren Central’s season ends at 9-17.

Lady Vikes coach Jackie Martin said the loss was typical of the team’s season.

“We had missed opportunities,” Martin said. “We had some missed shots early and we got down by a good bit. But, the girls did do a good job of fighting back.”

Warren Central had just one field goal and seven turnovers in the opening quarter, while Murrah made 8-of-11 shots from the floor to grab an 18-5 lead. It went to 22-5 before WC put togther a late run to score the half’s last seven points to cut the Murrah spread to 22-12.

Warren Central continued to play better in the third quarter and Michelle Jones, one of six Lady Vike seniors, got a three-point play to make it 24-17 with 5:31 left in the quarter.

Two more free throws by Jones and a putback basket by Shegredda Shorter kept WC within seven points at 28-21.

Murrah went back up nine at 30-21, but Elayne Robinson answered with a basket to pull the margin back to seven at 30-23.

Aziza Adisa hit a 10-foot jumper for Murrah and Kalisha Washington followed with three made foul shots after being fouled behind the arc. The free throws with 49.1 seconds left in the third quarter boosted the lead back to double digits, 35-23.

An 8-2 Murrah run to start the fourth quarter put the game out of reach.

Still, the 15-point final margin was a big improvement over WC’s last meeting with Murrah in December at Ridgeland, a 62-29 Murrah victory.

That margin of victory had an effect on Murrah, said coach Dakedreon Lampkin.

“When you’ve already played someone and beat them pretty good, it’s easy to take them for granted,” Lampkin said. “We got to the good lead and then we just took them for granted there in the second quarter. We just thought we could show up.”

Martin said a large part of the Lady Vikes’ determination came from Jones, who led WC with 13 points, six rebounds and two steals.

“Michelle really stepped up and she gave me all she had,” Martin said. “She is one of six seniors who will leave us. We’re going to have to get on next year right away. We’ve got some big shoes to fill in our guard spots.”

One of those senior guards is Sh’Qulla Neal, who did not play in the first game with Murrah. She finished with eight points.

Shegredda Shorter, a 6-foot-5 junior center, will be the big rebuilding block for WC. Shorter had eight points and eight rebounds.

Elayne Robinson, another senior, had six points and six boards.

Murrah was led by Washington with 19 points. The Lady Mustangs made 18 of 35 shots from the field and were 14-of-18 from the line.