Lady Vikes snap skid against rival Vicksburg

It’s probably too early to say for sure if Warren Central’s walk through the basketball wilderness is over, but it might at least be coming up on a clearing. Camara Evans finished with 19 points and Arrionna Jenkins had 16 as Warren Central beat Vicksburg High 62-39 in the girls’ half of Tuesday’s varsity doubleheader. Warren Central snapped a five-game losing streak against its crosstown rival, and beat them for only the second time in 15 meetings going back to 2019. “It feels great not only to beat Vicksburg, but to get that second win out of the way. Last year it took us a long time to get to two. I saw a lot of good things. There’s a lot to build on. Just ready to continue forward in the season,” Warren Central coach Heather Casey said. The Lady Vikes (2-3) also matched their combined win total from the past two seasons. They were 2-49 during that stretch and did not get win No. 2 last season until mid-December. The two victories, along with a close 33-29 loss to Yazoo City on Nov. 6, are encouraging signs that the program is finally turning a corner. “It feels great. I know there’s a lot of people that doubted us coming into this season because of our previous seasons, so it was good to show Vicksburg and the people that we’ve still got it,” Jenkins said. “It’s most definitely a different team. We’ve got a lot of talent and people who are motivated to want to do it.” Warren Central led nearly the entire game and started to get some separation with a 10-1 run midway through the second quarter. Evans keyed it with a 3-pointer with 2: 11 left, and the Lady Vikes took a 27-19 lead into halftime. They went on another big run in the third quarter, outscoring the Missy Gators 15-3 over the first five minutes, to blow it open. Shaniya Lewis finished with nine point, while Madison Ward and Kylee Chambers had six each in addition to Evans’ and Jenkins’ double-digit nights. “Intensity, intensity, intensity. Pick up the energy and keep it throughout,” Casey said. “Some of the games we’ve come out and we’ll drop down in our energy level, and teams will go on a run. It’s a game of runs and you’ve got to be able to match that. Sometimes we’ll get hit in the mouth and we struggle to hit back. Tonight we withstood their runs.” While there were feelings of relief and elation from the Lady Vikes, it was a lot of frustration for Vicksburg. The Missy Gators were 14-for-30 from the free throw line and outscored 45-22 after the game was tied at 17 midway through the second quarter. Aaliyah Mims led Vicksburg (1-3) with 10 points, Jada Erwin scored eight and Jordan Grace six. All three of Vicksburg’s losses so far have been by double digits. It will host Forest Hill Thursday at 6 p. m., and then take next week off for Thanksgiving. “We missed too many free throws. We missed too many layups. Didn’t play solid defense. When we got the steals, we turned it over. It got away from us because we couldn’t make a shot. When you have those four- and five-minute droughts it’s hard to stay in a game or come back,” Vicksburg coach Troy Stewart said. “When we were down 15 we got six or seven steals in a row and didn’t get any points off of it. That’s nothing the other team is doing, that’s hurting ourselves. We’re going to work on that. We’ve got plenty of time to get better.”.
https://www.vicksburgpost.com/sports/lady-vikes-snap-skid-against-rival-vicksburg-397668bd