{2/17/03}The 1995 Warren Central Lady Vikes went through their entire regular season and most of the postseason unnoticed.

Then they showed up in the Class 5A state championship game against Harrison Central.

This year’s Lady Vikes have taken a similar path and are now two wins away from reaching the Coliseum. The first test will be this evening at 5 against Tupelo (25-5) at WC.

“That team was ranked once, in early December, and we lost and fell out of the polls,” said Warren Central coach Donny Fuller, whose team first beat Vicksburg in the Division 4-5A first round, then knocked off Natchez for the division title. “We didn’t get ranked again until the final poll.”

That team, Fuller said, was very guard oriented, unlike this year’s team that relies heavily on post play. Cookie Johnson, Carla Latham and Ebon Williams pace WC’s young, yet steadily improving lineup. No seniors start for the Lady Vikes.

“We’ll have to play our best game of the year,” Fuller said.

“I just hope we don’t get embarrassed.”

The Lady Vikes practiced on Saturday and Sunday in preparation for a team that has five losses, three of which were to top-ranked and undefeated Columbus.

“They are a great team,” Fuller said.

“They have good size and some very good outside players. This will be a very big challenge.”

The game, originally scheduled for 7 p.m., was moved ahead two hours because of a conflict with the use of WC’s auditorium.

“I’m just glad we didn’t have to take a bus to Tupelo,” Fuller said. “Our kids got to sleep in and we avoid the long bus ride. Plus, if you get your butt beat, the ride home is even longer.”

At Porters Chapel, the Lady Eagles will take their first step toward the overall state tournament today when they travel to Greenville Christian to square off against Heidelberg at 4 p.m.

PCA (34-7) finished third in the Academy-A South Tournament on Saturday and with a pair of wins, will advance to the overall state tournament.

Waiting in the wings, though, is second-ranked and defending state champion Delta Academy, led by superstar Lindsey Roy. If PCA wins today, it will play Delta on Wednesday.

Delta eliminated PCA from last year’s state tournament.