A difficult late-season stretch has led to a tough first-round matchup in the Division 4-6A girls basketball tournament for Warren Central.

The Lady Vikes gave up leads in losses to Clinton and Greenville to slip out of first place and into the No. 2 seed for the tournament. Warren Central (19-7) will play third-place Clinton (21-4) at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Greenville High School.

Warren Central and Clinton split their two-game season series and WC coach Jackie Martin-Glass felt pretty good about how her team matched up with the Lady Arrows.

“I felt like the last game we kind of lost our footing late in the game, and decided to go to the drawing board and work on some things that we faltered on late in the game to lose a 10-point lead,” Martin-Glass said. “I’m feeling pretty good about it.”

Martin-Glass said she thought the Lady Vikes had the opportunity to be undefeated in the division if they had maintained their leads against Clinton and Greenville.

They wound up losing 51-42 to Clinton on Jan. 30 and 57-53 in overtime to Greenville on Feb. 2.

“I thought we were actually going to extend that lead because we were actually dominating in certain areas, but in certain areas we kind of rushed, panicked and allowed ourselves to lose footing and give up the lead,” Martin-Glass said. “So I’m going to be working on improving those areas where I felt we had a letdown late in the game that allowed them to come back.”

Even with the recent setbacks, Martin-Glass still liked how the Lady Vikes matched up well against the other teams in the division, but said they had to step up their play. They’re heading into the tournament with a two-game winning streak after beating Provine and Northwest Rankin in their final two regular-season games.

“In some areas, we might have a little more depth than both teams, so we just have to play to our advantage,” Martin-Glass said.

The Division 4-6A boys tournament will begin Tuesday at Greenville, with Warren Central and Provine playing at 6 p.m. and Clinton taking on Greenville at 7:30.

The tournament will continue Thursday and Friday, with matchups and time to be determined.

The second-seeded Vikings (20-5) have beaten Provine (9-10) in both of their meetings this year. WC coach Bruce Robinson liked this matchup over playing No. 4 seed Clinton (6-18) in the first round, as the Arrows have had a tendency to play very close games this season.

“I think Provine is a better matchup for us,” Robinson said. Clinton played everybody in the district close. There’s so much parity in this district, I think anybody can win it.”

Coming off their cancelled game against Lanier on Friday — the regular-season finale was called off when Lanier was involved in a minor bus accident on the way to the game — Robinson thought this was a good opportunity for his team to get focused for the postseason.

“This time of year you have some folks with nicks and pains so we can get some folks healthy and get focused on Provine,” Robinson said. “It’s a blessing in disguise.”

Robinson was confident that if his team got into tight games in the tournament they would show the poise they’ve showed throughout the season.

“We win close games, and that’s what we’re looking for,” he said. “The games we lost, stretched them out on us. All we have to do is keep it close and I feel good about it.”

As the Vikings head into crunch time, Robinson has been trying to inspire them to stay motivated.

“I’ve been telling them, there’s two types of teams this time of year: Teams that have had a good season and are trying to continue their season, and there’s teams that are quite honestly trying to get it over with, and which team are we?”

Robinson liked what his team had accomplished thus far, but wants them to keep pushing.
“I don’t know when the last time the Warren Central boys won 20 ballgames, it’s a huge accomplishment,” Robinson said. “Are we finished, are we satisfied with that? That’s kind of the message we’re pushing.”

DIVISION 4-6A TOURNAMENT
At Greenville High School
Monday – Girls
6 p.m. – Provine vs. Greenville
7:30 p.m. – Clinton vs. Warren Central
Tuesday – Boys
6 p.m. – Provine vs. Warren Central
7:30 p.m. – Clinton vs. Greenville