Warren Central players, from left, Talisha Butler, Jessica Lacey and Carla Latham watch the final seconds of the Lady Vikes’ 59-37 loss to Tupelo in the Class 5A satellite game.

(Melanie Duncan ThortisThe Vicksburg Post)

[2/18/03]Warren Central junior Ebon Williams said after the Lady Vikes’ 59-37 playoff loss to Tupelo on Monday that she had not seen a defensive effort like that all season.

Then again, WC probably hadn’t seen an offensive showcase like it either.

The Lady Wave (26-5) got a game-high 13 points from Shay Ashford and played most of the game without its best player because of foul trouble, and still decimated a Warren Central team that found it’s groove late in the season.

“They were taller and more athletic than we were,” Williams said. “I think some of my teammates heads might have been psyched out early on.”

With Tupelo pressuring full-court and playing constant hand-in-the-face defense, the Lady Waves opened up a 9-0 lead and never trailed the entire game.

“I thought early on we played scared and that’s part of inexperience,” said Fuller, who starts five underclassmen. “You get in a big ball game with a very athletic team, and I thought we played a little tentative.”

Tupelo forced nine first-quarter turnovers and held Warren Central to 31 percent shooting for the game.

“That’s pretty much what we do,” Tupelo coach Nancy Gray said. “We create a lot of stuff off of our press. Our defense runs off it, our offense runs off it and if we don’t do that, we have to rethink our game a little bit.”

Even with the offensive struggles, Warren Central trailed by only 11 at the half, 29-18, and Tupelo’s 6-foot, 1-inch standout Kim Larry was on the bench the bulk of the first half with foul trouble.

After Warren Central cut the lead after the half to 29-20, the Lady Wave put Larry back in the game, then went on a 6-0 run to retake the double-digit lead.

Larry, who ended with 12 points, picked up her fourth foul early in the third quarter and again went to the bench.

“We have good reserves,” Gray said. “Kim is our go-to in the post, but we have some really good kids coming off the bench. You don’t want your big kid on the bench, but you don’t worry about stuff like that.”

The Lady Wave also controlled the boards most of the game, something Warren Central used so effectively in winning the Division 4-5A championship.

Talisha Butler led the Lady Vikes with eight points and sophomore Cookie Johnson scored seven. Seniors Aleshia Stamps and Janice Blakeney saw action late in the game and each scored two points. Tupelo had taken a 23-point lead when Fuller began to empty his bench with about two minutes to play.

“Our kids played hard and fought to the end and I am proud of them,” Warren Central coach Donny Fuller said.

“We faced a team with a lot of experience with five seniors that played for a state championship last year. They played with (Mississippi State star) Tan White as sophomores and won a state championship.”

While Tupelo advances to play Callaway, Warren Central will begin working toward next season. All five starters return.

“If you’d ranked the teams in our division in the preseason, we’d probably have been ranked fourth. And we are the division champions,” Fuller said. “… The future is pretty bright, but I still think we’ll be lucky to win five next year,” he added with a chuckle.