When the Class of 2018 first took the floor for Warren Central, its girls basketball team had gone from a perennial power to a faded one.

The Lady Vikes made four trips in five seasons to the final six of the MHSAA Class 5A tournament between 2002 and 2007, and then quickly fell on hard times. The five seasons between 2009 and 2014 included only one winning record.

To turn things around, the future of the program was entrusted to a talented but untested group of freshmen that were coming off an undefeated eighth-grade season. Their mission was to take Warren Central back to the top.

The dream of a state championship never came to fruition, but the mission was accomplished. The senior Class of 2018 concluded their careers on Saturday with a 64-58 loss to Pearl in the Class 6A quarterfinals, bringing to an end a four-year run in which they turned around the sagging fortunes of a once-proud basketball program.

“Since they’ve been here, Warren Central has been on a lot of people’s tongues around the state. I think their presence and what we’ve done on the court this year and the last four years has changed the face of Warren Central,” WC coach Jackie Martin-Glass said. “When they hear the name Warren Central they’re going to know this is a team that made it pretty far. This is not a team to take for granted. The last 10 years our program has been down, as far as making it here, so they set the stage for next year.”

From the 2010-11 season through 2013-14, Warren Central had a record of 35-63 and only made it past the division tournament once. In 2014, five freshmen — Amber Gaston, Dominique Caldwell, T.T. Sims, Da’Sha McGloster and Cocoa Fultz — were added to the roster. One of their classmates, Chae White, joined the varsity team as a sophomore.

Together, they quickly formed the core of a rising team. The Lady Vikes finished 15-14 in the 2014-15 season and 18-12 in 2015-16, nearly matching the win total from the previous four years combined.

The 2016-17 season ended with 23 wins and a victory in the Class 6A state tournament, and this year it was 22 wins and a trip to the Elite Eight. It’s the first time the Lady Vikes have had back-to-back 20-win seasons since a four-year run from 2004-07.

Four of the five starters for Saturday’s state tournament game against Pearl were the seniors who started that turnaround.

“We’ve come so far these past couple of years. All of us seniors have been together, and it’s been a fun rollercoaster ride,” said Gaston, a 6-foot-2 center who has signed with Florida Atlantic University. “These girls have a bright future, and I hope the ones coming up after us have learned something positive that they’ll want to chart their own course. I just hope more girls get into basketball in the city of Vicksburg. There’s a lot of opportunity in this sport.”

Now, with the goal of rejuvenating the program achieved, it’s time for the seniors to pass the torch. Several players, including forward Aniya Sanders and guard Te’Asia Sims, will try to carry on the new tradition that has been established.

Sanders led the team with 16 points and nine rebounds against Pearl. She’s been a key contributor for the past two seasons and will only be a junior next year. Te’Asia Sims will be the team’s only senior.

“It’s kind of a rebuilding or reloading type year,” Martin-Glass said in looking ahead to the 2018-19 season. “We have a few players coming back with some experience. If we can get a couple more players with them, you never know. It only takes a couple of players to get back here. Each year we’re getting further and further, so maybe next year we can get to the next level.”

In the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s loss, however, it was time to appreciate what this year’s team and this era meant to the program.

“I’m proud of them for these four years they’ve given us,” Martin-Glass said. “They changed the face of Warren Central basketball. Maybe since they changed the face we can continue on with that change.”