[01/26/01] Quitman and Warren Central come into Saturday’s Red Carpet Classic in similar situations.

Both teams will be playing key division games Friday night Quitman against Laurel and WC against Greenville. So the RCC will be a more laid-back affair.

“It will be a fun trip and we look forward to a good game,” said Quitman coach Steven Hampton, whose team is 7-3 since the holidays and lost to top-ranked Lanier by just 12 points. “We’ve played really well since Christmas and that’s the best time of year to start playing good ball.”

The Vikings are riding a two-game winning streak, including a runaway against division power Gentry and an emotional win against Northwest Rankin on Tuesday.

The Panthers rely on post players Renaldo McKenzie (15 points per game) and David Laphand (13 points per game). Junior guard Jason Pearson is averaging 10 points per game off the bench, but is shooting 40 percent from 3-point range.

The Lady Vikes (19-5) will host St. Frederick (La.) in the 6 p.m. contest in a rematch of one of the Lady Vikes’ losses earlier this year.

The Lady Warriors enter the game ranked No. 3 in Louisiana Class 2A and have lost three games to Class 5A teams one to a team from Maryland in a New Orleans tournament, one to Louisiana Class 3A Caldwell and to state juggernaut Anacoco.

Guards Rita Birden (11 ppg) and Stacey Anthony (9.9 ppg) lead a defensive-minded Lady Warriors’ team.

“Defense is our deal. We win or lose with it,” St. Frederick coach John Merritt said. “When people score 50 or more, we lose.”

St. Frederick beat WC by nine points in the team’s first meeting in December.

The Lady Vikes rely on post players Lia Green and JaQuita Benard for the bulk of their offense, while Wanda Calvin is an outside threat. Point guard LaShanda Williams runs the offense.

Two former WC coaches are in administration at Quitman now. Principal Charlie Parkerson was an assistant of WC boys coach John Duett and assistant principal Brad Peets was a longtime junior-high football coach at WC.