Like clockwork this season, Warren Central has fallen behind in games before fighting through the adversity — no matter how bad it got — to climb back into the contest. Unfortunately for the Vikings, time usually runs out before the comeback can finally be completed.

That heartbreaking trend continued Friday night, as WC (5-10, 0-1 Division 3-6A) fell in double overtime to Greenville, 49-41, to open division play.

The Vikings clawed back from sloppy play and a seven-point deficit in the second half to take a 35-34 lead on a Chris Stamps put-back, but Greenville guard Charles McFarland drilled the first of two remarkably clutch buckets to send the game into overtime. With less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation, the Hornets were desperately tossing the ball around the permiter before it landed in McFarland’s hands in the corner of the court. The ball left his hand a mere second before the final buzzer sounded, hanging in the air for what seemed like minutes before swishing the bottom of the net to force an OT period.

McFarland’s heroics wouldn’t end there, either. After the two teams failed to score for nearly two minutes of overtime play, Warren Central and Greenville traded buckets back and forth at a rapid pace. But with the clock ticking down and WC nursing a 41-40 lead thanks to timely free throw shooting, McFarland drove the lane and forced a foul with just 0.06 ticks on the clock. After missing the first from the charity stripe, he made the pressure-packed second shot to send the game into a double overtime period the Hornets fully controlled for the win.

“That’s how it is. We’ve got a bunch of young guards and we’re still learning. They’re tough,” Warren Central coach Bruce Robinson said. “This is maybe the third one in a row that goes like that, going into overtime, but you’ve got enough pieces to fix it. We know what to fix.”

Greenville began the game on a 6-2 run and controlled most of the first two periods, taking a a 21-14 lead into the break. With both teams struggling to score points, Warren Central slowly cut the lead to three with a Mario Doyle stepback jumper in the fourth quarter. Doyle then made two clutch free throws of his own later in the period to bring the Vikings’ lead to 38-35 before McFarland’s trey sent the Viking crowd into stunned shock.

“I think we just ran out of as in the second overtime,” Robinson said. “The guys fought hard. They played big minutes there in the second half.”

The first overtime was a sluggish affair as both teams fought nerves and fatigue. McFarland broke the tie with a bucket at the 2:25 mark before Shaun Walton knocked down a three-pointer to push Warren Central ahead by one. But McFarland’s gutsy free throw and the Hornets’ dominance in the second overtime ultimately grinded down WC in the loss.

Stamps and Doyle both led the Vikings with 12 points apiece, while Tristan Lowry put up 10 and and Walton five. Greenville, led by McFarland and Dequarius Carter, improved to 14-3 on the season and 1-0 in Division 3-6A.

“We come back to the game in the gym Monday and go to work. We’re going to bounce back. We’re a team over here,” Robinson said. “We’ve got each other’s back and the kids understand that. They’re disappointed we didn’t win, but we’ll get them to understand that there’s still a lot of basketball to be played.”

(G) Warren Central 49, Greenville 41

T.T. Sims scored 11 points and Dominque Caldwell put up 10 as the Lady Vikes began division play with a win over Greenville Friday. Warren Central (6-8, 1-0 Division 3-6A) went into halftime clinging to a 21-20 lead before exploding in the second half to take control of the game and close out a victory at home.

“I just told the girls at halftime we just need to execute better. They played hard,” coach Jacqueline Glass said. “This is probably the best game we’ve played all year. Everybody contributed what they could.”

After falling down 35-31, the Lady Vikes caused four consecutive turnovers in under two minutes in the third quarter to ice the game and mount a comeback on the Honeybees.

In less than 30 seconds, Caldwell jumped in front of two errant passes and drove the lane for the lay-in, the first time to close the gap to two points and the next to tie things up at 35. Sherelle Kelly then drilled a deep two-pointer from the corner of the perimeter just moments later to give WC a 37-35 advantage.

It would be a lead the Lady Vikes didn’t relinquish.

“It helped our momentum a lot. I think it kind of knocked theirs some,” Glass said. “Always in those situations, when the team gets two or three steals on you and the crowd really gets into the game, it can kind of lift them and knock the other one down. That was a great opportunity for us to get momentum in our favor and it kept from then on.”

The Lady Vikes made three of four free throws down the stretch to seal the deal and bring home the first division win of the season.

“We have to have that leadership,” Glass said. “Everybody really stepped up and played. So many games I’ve seen them drop their head, get down on themselves, but today we turned a corner. I’ve been on them about, ‘Hey, I’m going to fuss at you, you’re going to make mistakes, but just come out and play hard.”