Warren Central’s Chico Hunter (25) drives in against Natchez’s Jeremy Houston (34) and Ryan Coleman (31) during the Vikings’ 59-45 win. Hunter had 12 points and nine rebounds to lead Warren Central. (Jon GiffinThe Vicksburg Post)

[12/13/03]Marcus Harvey’s thundering dunk as time expired delivered a message to the rest of the division: Warren Central is not a pushover.

The Vikings came back in the second half to defeat Natchez 59-45 Friday night for their third consecutive win. Brian Phelps scored a game-high 15 points for WC, and Chico Hunter added 12 points and 9 rebounds.

After a big victory Tuesday over defending Class 5A state champion Vicksburg, Natchez (4-6, 1-1) fell victim to poor shooting against Warren Central. The Bulldogs finished 17-of-58 (.293) shooting and 5-of-20 (.250) from behind the arc.

Warren Central (4-8, 1-0) claimed first place in District 6 with a win in its district-opening game.

“We kind of made a goal for ourselves before the holidays to go on a little winning streak so we could get some momentum going into the second half of the season, because that’s when our district games are,” Phelps said. “Really what that was was a statement game for us because people have been overplaying us about our record.”

WC coach Jesse Johnson agreed the game was important in the early season.

“That was one of the biggest ones that we’ve had all year,” Johnson said. “Whenever you can get that first district game under your belt and it’s a win, you’re one up on everybody else.”

Natchez came out strong in the first quarter, taking a 17-10 lead. The Bulldogs increased the lead to 28-15 midway through the second, helped by a combined 17 first-half points from DaMorris Merrick and Greg Purnell.

Down 32-25 at halftime, Warren Central clawed its way back into the game by riding its strong defense.

“They’re playing tough and hard on defense,” Johnson said. “I think our defense kept us in there. They scrapped real hard.”

Late in the second quarter, the Vikings switched to a 2-3 zone that seemed to confuse and slow down the Natchez offense. The Bulldogs shot 5-of-24 (.208) from the field in the second half.

“It didn’t really give us any trouble,” Natchez forward Keysuun Tensley said. “It’s just that we weren’t executing enough.”

The Vikings stormed their way to the lead by attacking the basket for layups and easy shots. Warren Central shot 14-of-17 in the final two quarters.

“Coach told us our strong point is driving to the goal,” Phelps said. “He told us just take the ball to them. We really did some damage to them with that.”

A basket by Chico Hunter gave the Vikings their first lead of the game, 39-38, with 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Natchez responded with a 3-pointer by Tryon Wilson to take back the lead at the beginning of the fourth, but Warren Central went on an aggressive 14-0 run that sealed the victory.

“We had the big lead in the first quarter,” Tensley said. “Then in the second half the guards starting letting them come inside for the easy layups. We weren’t playing any defense.”

(G) WC 65, Natchez 52

Cookie Johnson scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Lady Vikes jumped out to an early lead and cruised to victory.

Despite playing without starting point guard Saleda Montgomery who was out with the flu, Warren Central shot a blistering 47 percent (28-of-60) from the field while holding Natchez to 28 percent (21-of-75) shooting.

“We’re a young team and just working on our complete game,” Natchez coach Yvonne Chatman said. “There were some good things we did, but defensively we broke down.”

The Lady Vikes (8-4, 1-0) took a 14-8 lead after the first quarter, but it was the second quarter that opened up the game.

Warren Central outscored Natchez (2-6, 0-2) 20-10 in the second quarter on 9-of-10 shooting. Carla Latham paced the Lady Vikes with eight first-half points.

“We were playing as a team,” Johnson said. “When you move the ball around, somebody’s going to get a shot. It gets the defense tired.”

The difference in score would have been worse if Warren Central had hit its free throws. The Lady Vikes finished an abysmal 5-of-18 from the charity stripe.

Natchez tried to make a comeback but fell short. The Lady Dawgs outscored the Lady Vikes 34-31 in the second half.

“We’ll take a win especially a division win anytime we can get one,” WC coach Donny Fuller said. “But I thought it was an ugly win. I didn’t think we did a good job on the boards blocking out. I thought we turned the ball over too many times and got sloppy.”