For six years, it was almost a given that the girls’ basketball games between Vicksburg High and Warren Central would be hard-fought affairs that came right down to the wire.

For now, at least, that trend is over.

Ten different players scored for Warren Central, with Cocoa Fultz leading the way with 12 points, as the Lady Vikes routed their crosstown rivals for the second time this season, 66-25 on Saturday afternoon.

Warren Central also beat the Missy Gators 72-33 in December. The two games this season were decided by a total of 80 points. Between 2010 and 2016 they played 16 games that were decided by a combined total of 75 points.

“I think we’re just more experienced. The kids I have playing now are mostly juniors and one senior, and they’ve been playing on the varsity since they were in ninth grade. So they’re just a little bit more advanced than (Vicksburg),” Warren Central coach Jackie Martin-Glass said. “You have those years where you’re up when teams are down. It just so happens that our season we’re up, and it’s been a long season of ups.”

Amber Gaston added 10 points for the Lady Vikes, and Dominique Caldwell had eight points and four steals. Warren Central (21-5) won its seventh consecutive game heading into a showdown with defending Class 6A champion Murrah at home on Tuesday night that will determine the No. 1 seed for the Division 4-6A tournament.

Vicksburg (4-17), meanwhile, continued to struggle. It lost for the eighth consecutive time and posted its lowest point total of the season.

The Missy Gators fell behind by 30 points late in the first half and generally looked listless until some of their young reserves had success against their WC counterparts during garbage time in the fourth quarter.

Freshman Karmen Davenport came off the bench to score seven points, and sophomore Jayla Sims scored four. Freshman forward Tiarra Jones saw major minutes in the first three quarters.
Junior guard Pleasure King also scored seven points. No one else had more than four.

“Change is coming. The young ones want to play. They know there’s rough days right now, but it’s going to get brighter in the days ahead. Hopefully they won’t give up,” Vicksburg coach Barbara Hartzog said. “They have to hang in there and not run from your problems. If we don’t win, but we give it the best that we can, I don’t have a problem with that at this point.”

Warren Central didn’t do anything fancy to put away the Missy Gators. It just outhustled them and shot a lot better, particularly in the first half.

Vicksburg only made one field goal in the first quarter and two more in the second, scored 10 points total in the half, and didn’t score any points for the first four minutes of the second quarter.

Warren Central went on a 15-2 run spanning the last three minutes of the first quarter and the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second to take a 25-5 lead. It briefly led by 30 points in the final minute of the first half, but King hit a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left to make it 37-10 at the break.

The lead swelled to 40 points heading into the fourth quarter and then more or less stayed there as both teams gave their backups some extended playing time.

“It’s always a good feeling when you go out there and handle your business. We were struggling in the first half, but we made sure we pulled on through,” Caldwell said.