Vikings, Lady Vikes advance to JPS Tournament semifinals
Published 6:22 pm Thursday, December 27, 2018
- Warren Central’s Jabari Bowman scored a game-high 17 points in a 42-35 win over Wingfield in the Pepsi/JPS Holiday Tournament on Thursday. The win put the Vikings into the tournament semifinals on Friday at 1 p.m. against Forest Hill, at Jackson State University.
JACKSON — Warren Central played its kind of game — slow and methodical — and had a heck of a day at the boys’ Pepsi/JPS Holiday Tournament on Thursday.
Jabari Bowman scored 17 points, Jalen Glass added 11, and the Vikings beat Wingfield 42-35 in a defensive slugfest to advance to the tournament semifinals.
Warren Central held Wingfield (7-9) to 12 points in the second half and went 5-for-6 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter to slowly pull ahead.
Bowman scored 10 of his 17 points in the second half as the Vikings rallied from a six-point deficit at halftime.
Warren Central (6-8) won its second straight game in the tournament after losing four in a row coming in. It will play Forest Hill in the semifinals Friday at 1 p.m. at Jackson State University.
If Warren Central wins, it will play again Friday in the championship game at 8 p.m. at JSU, against either Provine or Callaway.
(G) Warren Central 42, Provine 36
Warren Central’s improbable run in the girls’ Pepsi/JPS Holiday Tournament continued as it knocked off Provine in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Aniya Sanders led the Lady Vikes with 21 points, while Alaila Bracey and Zykerri Segrest scored eight apiece.
Coming into the tournament, Warren Central (6-5) had lost three games in a row and was dealing with some roster turmoil that left it with only six players dressed out for the opener against Wingfield and seven for Thursday’s game.
Led by Sanders — who had 33 points against Wingfield — the Lady Vikes have now reached the JPS Tournament semifinals for the third year in a row. They won the tournament in 2016 and lost in the championship game last year.
Warren Central will play Lanier in the semifinals Friday at 10 a.m. at Jackson State. The championship game is at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
(B) Provine 52, Vicksburg 43
Devan Kiner scored 12 points, and Jamison Norfort had eight points and four blocked shots, but it wasn’t enough to push Vicksburg High past Provine in the quarterfinals of the boys’ Pepsi/JPS Holiday Tournament.
Vicksburg (8-5) had a three-game winning streak snapped. It was playing in the JPS Tournament for the first time in nearly 20 years.
(G) Terry 70, Vicksburg 47
The Vicksburg Missy Gators’ up-and-down December hit another dip with a loss to Terry in the Pepsi/JPS Holiday Tournament quarterfinals.
The Missy Gators (10-5) won their tournament opener, but 24 hours later suffered their fifth loss in seven games. They’ll next play Jan. 4, at home against Brandon.
Terry (14-4) advanced to the tournament semifinals to face either Murrah or Hazlehurst. They’ll play Friday at 11:30 a.m. at Jackson State University.
Vicksburg was eliminated from the tournament.
Jayla Sims led Vicksburg with 13 points. Yakia Burns had six points and nine rebounds, and Karmen Davenport scored eight points. Vicksburg shot 23.4 percent (11-for-47) from the field and was 2-for-14 from 3-point range.