[2/24/04]On paper, Warren Central doesn’t seem like a team capable of doing much in the postseason.

The Vikings don’t have a go-to, superstar player. They can’t shoot from the outside. They have a losing record, and little tradition to fall back on when things get rough.

As they prepare to host the South State satellite game against Moss Point tonight, though, WC might be one of the more dangerous teams around.

“If the ball bounces our way, we could end up in the Coliseum easily,” WC coach Jesse Johnson said, referring to the state tournament at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. “It has bounced the right way for us the last two games.”

For every shortcoming, WC has found an easy answer:

WC’s 14-15 record is a bit misleading. Eleven losses have come by 10 points or less, and six have been by five points or less. A few baskets here or there, and the Vikings could easily have a 20-win season under their belts.

Johnson was hoping the record fools some opponents into dropping their guard.

“When you lose seven games by three or four points or less, that shows you have some talent and you need to just focus mentally. I know that we could have won some of those one-point ballgames if we had just been mentally prepared,” Johnson said. “They’ll come out and look and say this team has lost 15 games, and we’ll sneak up on them. That may play in our favor.”

Rather than a single star player, there have been several who have stepped up when needed. Senior Brian Phelps has been the most reliable, but Chico Hunter, Seddrick Williams, and Marcus Harvey are all capable of recording a double-double on any given night.

One of Johnson’s biggest headaches this season has been getting his players to stop shooting from the outside. The Vikings struggle with jumpshots, but are outstanding when they push the pace, press, and attack the basket.

Despite the ineffective perimeter game, WC has only been held under 58 points five times. It has scored 79 or more in five different games, all of them wins.

In the Division 6-5A Tournament, WC took only eight 3-pointers and easily won both games for its first division title since 1992. The 64-40 win over Natchez in the tournament title game was also WC’s third straight, matching its longest winning streak of the season.

“Coach just rammed it into our head what we’ve got to do on offense and defense. That’s how we’re supposed to win these games, and how we lost a couple of them when we didn’t,” Phelps said, adding with a laugh, “We’re young. We must be hard-headed. It took us losing a couple of games because of shooting the 3s.”

WC will play in the satellite game for the second straight season, but hasn’t advanced further since the tournament format changed to a first-round play-in game in 1988.

The division championship was the first for the boys’ team since 1992, and the last time the Vikings reached the state tournament was 1975 nearly a decade before the present Class 1A through 5A system was implemented.

That is a less than stellar tradition to look back on, but the Vikings are confident they’re in the process of adding at least one chapter to it as long as they stick to what works, and continue to forget what doesn’t.

“We’ve got a good chance, a really good chance. We’ve got a lot of talent, a lot of discipline, a lot of everything,” Phelps said. “It all depends on how we work as a team, how we come together. That’ll say how far we’ll go.”