CLINTON — Warren Central stayed close to Murrah on Monday night, but couldn’t get past it.

The Lady Vikes hit only 6 of 16 free throw attempts and let a close game get away as they lost 39-25 to top-seeded Murrah in the first round of the Division 4-6A tournament.

“We missed too many easy shots and free throws,” Warren Central coach Jackie Martin-Glass said. “Late in the game, start of the fourth quarter it was a seven, eight-point game. If we made our free throws it would’ve been a totally different ballgame.”

Warren Central (18-11) lost to Murrah for the third time this season and second time in a week. It’ll now play an elimination game Friday at 4 p.m. against tournament host Clinton (14-14).

Clinton lost 64-53 to Greenville on Monday in another first-round game.

T.T. Sims led Warren Central with eight points as no Lady Vikes scored in double figures. Sims sank the team’s only 3-pointer and three of their six free throws.

The Lady Vikes were unable to put points on the board, even though they put themselves in position for second-chance points after grabbing nine offensive rebounds.

“When you don’t put points on the board and you’re playing hard on defense, you’re coming down and you’re not converting, it’s kind of tiring and it wears on you,” Martin-Glass said.

Sims picked up four quick fouls, which left her on the bench for a portion of the game and the team without a solid floor general to run the offense. She accumulated her first three fouls on aggressive play and her fourth on a charge call that got Warren Central fans riled up.

Her time off the court also led to the offensive struggles Warren Central faced.

“Sometimes when you don’t have your point out there you kind of get lost, discombobulated. It’s kind of like gasping for air,” Martin-Glass said.

Murrah’s Jamaica Almonds scored 11 points. Zephora Jones scored nine, and Melissa Creese and Keimoya Walker accounted for eight points apiece.

The Lady Mustangs found success by beating the Lady Vikes off the dribble to get a step ahead of a defender in the lane for an easy layup, which forced defensive rotation problems for Warren Central.

Murrah’s ball movement also caused rotation problems for Warren Central by forcing players to overcommit on defense.

Martin-Glass wasn’t prepared for the amount of times Murrah would drive the ball.

“Once a person beats you and if you don’t rotate correctly then they get easy layups,” Martin-Glass said. “I think their guards got around us and caused rotation problems. It wasn’t so difficult stopping them but they drove the ball more than I thought.”