Vicksburg locks up second seed for division tournament with victory

Clinton has been the irritating horsefly at Warren Central’s picnic this season.
Shoo the Arrows away, and they come back. Shoo again, back again.
WC hasn’t quite swatted the Arrows yet — the teams could meet again in the Division 4-6A Tournament in two weeks — but it did earn some relief Tuesday night.
After wasting one 12-point lead and most of another, the Vikings finally pulled it together down the stretch to subdue the Arrows, 64-62. Mario Doyle scored 21 points and Gerald Glass added 19 points and seven rebounds for Warren Central, which lost its first meeting with Clinton this season after squandering a 16-point lead.
“Last Friday we won by one point. Tonight we play a huge district game, we win 64-62. We’re winning the close games down the stretch. If we need a 12-point cushion to win, we’ll win it. All we want to do is win it. They may be pesky, but we won it,” WC coach Bruce Robinson said.
The victory was a big one for WC (13-10, 2-1 Division 4-6A). It came in the first of four consecutive division games over the next two weeks. The Vikings can clinch the No. 1 seed for the division tournament by winning all four — three of which are at home, where they‘ve won four of their last five games. They’ve won four in a row overall.
“You’ve got to win your home games,” Robinson said. “I don’t want to be in fourth place, so we’ve got to win at home. I think with this win, it’ll assure us of not having to play in the fourth-place slot.”
Dante Thornton led Clinton with 19 points, and Robert Younkins scored 15. Clinton (11-11, 2-3) is likely headed for the No. 2 or 3 seed, and could be a troublesome matchup for the Vikings if they meet again.
Warren Central led by 12 points in the first half Tuesday night, only to let Clinton tie it up in the waning moments of the third quarter. Doyle finished the period with a basket to put the Vikings back in front, then they ripped off 10 straight points to start the fourth and take a 51-39 lead with just under five minutes to play.

The Arrows rallied again to get within four points, at 56-52, before Doyle hit a pair of free throws and fed Tristan Lowry for a layup to push the lead back to eight with 1:08 to go. Clinton made yet another charge, using 3-pointers from Rezaldo Ellis and Younkins to get within a single possession.
The magic finally ran out there. Glass hit two free throws with 12.9 seconds to go to make it 64-59. Clinton got closer on a free throw by Thornton, along with a steal and basket by Younkins, but time ran out before it could steal another inbounds pass.
“We dug ourselves a hole. We were fortunate to get out of it last time, and we weren’t this time. We kept playing and caused them some trouble,” Clinton coach Clay Norton said.

(G) Clinton 70, WC 28
Alivia Hughes scored 19 points, Harper Newell finished with 12 and Olivia Jordan added 11 as Clinton (19-3, 4-1 Division 4-6A) hammered Warren Central (7-15, 0-3). Ten different players scored for Clinton, which outscored WC 41-9 in the second half.
Deja Ivory led Warren Central with six points, while Decada Taylor and Ama Arkoful scored five apiece.

(G) Lanier 63, VHS 58
Ruddie Shears scored 16 points, and Karry Callahan added 13 points and 17 rebounds, but Vicksburg (8-13, 0-6 Division 4-5A) missed two opportunities to close out the game and lost to Lanier (11-10, 5-1) in double overtime.
Vicksburg had a chance to win in regulation, but Keiyana Gaskin missed a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left. In the first overtime, Kailin Young — who finished with 12 points — missed a shot in the lane. Lanier finally gained some distance in the second overtime and pulled away for the win.
The teams will meet again in the opening round of the Division 4-5A Tournament on Feb. 18. Lanier won both regular-season meetings, although they were competitive games.
“Maybe the third time is the charm,” Vicksburg coach Barbara Hartzog said.

(B) VHS 60, Lanier 53
De’Angelo Richardson scored 17 points, De’Vonta Brisco had 14 and Edward Davis 11 as Vicksburg (14-6, 2-4) locked up the No. 2 seed in the Division 4-5A Tournament by beating Lanier (10-11, 1-5).
The Gators will meet No. 3 seed Pearl, the tournament host, in the first round of the tournament on Feb. 18.