By Cody Thomason
The Vicksburg Post

Warren Central was unable to pull out a victory in the Red Carpet Basketball Classic on Saturday, falling by a score of 60-27 to Starkville on a day where none of its shots seemed to fall.

Warren Central only scored seven points in the fourth quarter, and not more than 12 in any of the others. The Vikings (15-4) lost for the first time since Dec. 27, and for just the second time in their last 16 games.

“I think we were selfish tonight,” Warren Central coach Bruce Robinson said. “Starkville is a good team. Are they 33 points better than Warren Central? I don’t think so.”

The first quarter was a defensive battle, with neither team finding much success shooting and Starkville leading 6-5 heading into the second quarter.

In the next period, the Yellow Jackets found a way to get the lid off the basket, but Warren Central still struggled and Starkville pulled out to a 25-8 lead at the half.

“I put my next group in, and I’m trying to wear them down and they give us absolutely nothing, except for giving up threes,” Robinson said. “They were not executing the game plan.”

The offensive woes continued in the second half.

“They only scored 60 points, and we couldn’t score,” Robinson said. “There was a lot of one-on-one going on. I challenged some of the guys’ commitment, because when they are not there, they get in a groove and we have somebody committed to something else and we have to change the whole thing. The chemistry, it just wasn’t there.”

Starkville spread the ball around well. Four players scored at least eight points, including a team-high 10 from Blake Rogers. Natrone Brooks, Jailen Jones and Tyler Tallie all finished with eight points.
Starkville hit 12 3-pointers in the game. Eight of those came in the second half, including five in the fourth quarter as the Yellow Jackets (11-3) pulled away. Starkville scored 23 points in the fourth quarter, just four less than WC had the entire game.

Jabari Bowman was the only player for the Vikings to score in the first half, with eight points, and added one more free throw in the second.

“(His contribution) will be a lot more important when he gets into shape,” Robinson said. “He’s not in the condition he needs to play in. It didn’t serve us well, we still lost by 33 points. We missed some early inside.”

Robinson felt outside distractions had been affecting the team’s mindset.

“It goes back to commitment and buying in. You have to be able to handle success,” Robinson said.

The Vikings had a three-game winning streak snapped, and Robinson thought the team hadn’t reacted well to the winning season thus far. They’ll host division rival and perennial state power Provine on Wednesday night, and then travel to Jackson for the second half of a weather-delayed home-and-home series on Friday.

Wednesday’s game is a rescheduled date caused by last week’s winter storm.
Warren Central already has its highest win total in more than a decade, but Robinson is hoping the success it has enjoyed through three-quarters of the season can continue all the way through to the end.

“I do what’s best for the team,” Robinson said. “Every one of those kids, I don’t have a problem with them, and they know it, but you cannot have agendas if you’re going to win ballgames. I’ve been in this position before. I tell them all the time, you can be 17-4 and finish up 22-6 and don’t make the playoffs because you can’t handle success. We have to handle success better.”