[2/15/03]NATCHEZ At the beginning of the season, Warren Central’s girls were full of question marks.

Every one of them has been answered.

The Lady Vikes (14-15), after losing to Natchez in the regular season in Natchez by 20, got 14 points from Ebon Williams and 10 each from Carla Latham and Cookie Johnson to earn home-court advantage in Monday’s North State satellite game against Tupelo.

“A lot of people said we weren’t going nowhere this year,” Latham said. “I believed in my coaches and teammates and we made it.

As was the case in the Vicksburg win, the Lady Vikes got a dominating rebounding performance against a bigger Natchez team. It didn’t hurt that WC got Natchez’s best player, Crystal L. Brown, in foul trouble early.

“That was one of our keys,” Fuller said. “We wanted to take the ball inside and get her in foul trouble. We knew she was the key to Natchez’s basketball team.”

Johnson had 12 rebounds and Williams had 10 as the Lady Vikes took a three-point halftime lead and extended it to double digits midway through the second half.

“We preach rebounding and blocking out, but they just dominated us tonight,” Natchez coach Mary Irving said.

Warren Central extended the lead to 43-36 at the end of the third quarter, then watched as Natchez shot 4-of-24 in the fourth quarter from the field.

Normally a man-to-man defensive team, the Lady Vikes used a considerable amount of zone, as they did against Vicksburg

“We didn’t really go to a zone, it was more like a sagging man,” Fuller said. “We wanted to stop them inside.”

Warren Central held a 46-36 lead midway through the fourth quarter when Brown picked up her fourth foul, sending her to the bench.

Gloria Lewis led Natchez with 15 points and Karmethia Mazique had 10, but the Lady Bulldogs were only 1-of-7 from 3-point range after Brown went to the bench.

Warren Central built the lead to 17 with 2:35 to play in the game. A pair of Latham layups off transition highlighted an 8-0 WC run to build the big cushion.

Now, the Lady Vikes will try their hand at No. 7 Tupelo on Monday. The Lady Blue Waves lost 52-37 to No. 1 Columbus in the final of the Division 1-5A Tournament Friday.

“It was hot in here and our kids were tired and I am proud of the way they played,” said Fuller, whose team advanced out of division for the first time since 1997 by beating Vicksburg on Tuesday.

The win also lays more of the foundation for WC’s future. After losing four starters from last year’s team, WC starts all underclassmen.

“This is a great win for our kids,” Fuller said. “I said all along that this group has come the furthest of any team that I have coached in a long, long time.”