Ever since Bruce Robinson was hired as Warren Central’s boys’ basketball coach in 2012, he has talked openly and honestly about the need to “change the culture” of the program in order to build a winner.

It wasn’t so much that the Vikings stunk — although they did at times — it was that they were mired in mediocrity and OK with that.

While WC’s girls program thrived under hall of fame coach Donny Fuller, and crosstown rival Vicksburg High did the same with boys’ coach Dellie C. Robinson, Warren Central’s boys rarely made any noise at the state level. It went more than 40 years between state tournament appearances and had only two winning seasons in the decade before Bruce Robinson took over.

Breaking out of that mindset is a mighty challenge, but it was one Robinson tackled without hesitation. It appears to finally be changing this season.

The Vikings are 13-3 heading into Saturday afternoon’s game against Vicksburg. That’s a win total the team has only reached twice in the past 13 years, and there’s still 10 games left in the regular season. They’re also 2-0 in Division 4-6A, which gives them a leg up on getting the No. 1 seed in next month’s division tournament.

After losing 19 games in a row in the series with Vicksburg, Warren Central has won five of the past seven including a 47-40 victory in December.

Farther down the line, there are other encouraging signs. The ninth-grade team won back-to-back Little Six Conference championships and is chasing a third with a 9-2 record this season. Some of the players from those teams, as well as seniors who rose through the ranks in the early years of Robinson’s tenure, are making major contributions to the varsity squad.

On a smaller level, there’s a greater sense of pride and ownership in the program from the players. The locker rooms have been spruced up with a coat of paint and some new carpet and furniture, which helps raise morale — the importance of which cannot be understated.

Success and tradition often feed off each other. In a bizarre form of generational peer pressure, pride in the program can carry players through some tough times as they try to maintain the standards set by their predecessors.

That has to start somewhere, and it appears Warren Central has at last found a new beginning. It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of this first chapter plays out.

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Ernest Bowker is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com