November woes continue for Warren Central’s boys basketball team
Published 10:54 am Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Like everyone else at Warren Central, boys basketball coach Keith Williams is rooting hard for the school’s football team to win a state championship.
Part of him will be glad, however, when that season is over.
Eight of Williams’ basketball players — including several starters and key reserves — are still with the football team as it prepares to play in the MHSAA Class 6A semifinals this Friday night. Without them, the Vikings’ basketball team has struggled through the first month of the season and took its sixth consecutive loss Monday at the hands of state powerhouse Pascagoula, 73-44.
“I knew coming in that Pascagoula is, what, No. 5? And they’re ranked for a reason,” Williams said. “We’ll be battle tested by the time football season is over with and we have everybody back and I know what the football guys bring. We want to win, don’t get me wrong, but right now we’re just hoping and cheering on the football guys.”
Pascagoula (6-0), which reached the Class 6A semifinals last season and is undefeated so far in this one, overwhelmed Warren Central’s collection of underclassmen and back-ups in the final game of the River City Challenge tournament at WC.
Kelon Rich made three 3-pointers and scored 15 points in the first quarter as the Panthers raced to a 34-6 lead. Rich finished with 21 points. Marcus Cooper, Ireyion Harvey and Quey’Sean Taylor scored 10 each.
Davon O’Neal and Robert Williams led Warren Central with 12 points each and Deric Gibbs scored seven.
After getting blitzed by Pascagoula’s starting lineup, the Vikings were able to play on a more even footing against the Panthers’ backups and younger players for the last three quarters.
“This is big boy basketball. This is 6A basketball. I never believe in ducking and dodging anything. It’s never been me and it’s not going to be me now,” Keith Williams said. “We just have to get back to work, put our hardhat on and continue to get better and keep knocking. Sooner or later something is going to fall.”
Although it wasn’t a great night for his team, Williams is taking the same philosophical approach to the early part of the season he often does. Having so many football players on the basketball roster normally leads to an ugly record in November.
Since 2021, Warren Central is 4-21 in games played before the end of football season. It’s essentially turned November into the preseason when a lot of young players get game experience and Williams gets an extended look at what they can contribute.
“This makes us better. That’s how we treat it,” Keith Williams said. “We’re trying to develop some depth. It’s giving the guys a lot of experience, and I think this is going to really, really help guys like O’Neal, (Gibbs) and Robert (Williams). We’ve got some bright spots.”
Warren Central’s next game is Dec. 5 at Pearl. If the football team beats Grenada on Friday, it will advance to the Class 6A championship game on Dec. 7.
That means the first basketball game with a full roster would be delayed until Dec. 10 at Murrah, and only give the returning players 10 days and three games to get back in basketball shape before the Region 2-6A opener vs. Vicksburg on Dec. 20.
Williams said he’s OK with that, if it means his guys are returning with a championship ring.
“We just have to wait, have to be patient. We’re supporting the football team and praying that they win Friday and we go to Hattiesburg,” Keith Williams said. “Right now I don’t need them out on basketball, I need them out on football. If they win, we win. We pull for them.”