It was another Warren Central Lady Vike freshman who came to the forefront Saturday afternoon against archrival Vicksburg.

Point guard Karnina Bunch bailed out her struggling team with three key 3-pointers in leading the Lady Vikes past the Missy Gators 61-46, locking up the top seed for the Divison 3-5A Tournament in 10 days at Madison Central.

Lady Vike fans have seen all season the impact center Sha’Kayla Caples has made. But Vicksburg (12-13, 2-4) used its height advantage in a stacked 2-3 zone to neutralize WC’s leading scorer.

That left the Lady Vikes (20-6, 5-1) flaying away from the perimeter, without much success. They were just 9-of-39 from the field until Amanda Doyle hit a pair of shots from the corner midway through the third quarter.

Doyle’s shots allowed WC to keep pace with a fired up Missy Gator squad. It was Bunch’s shots that gave the Lady Vikes command.

&#8220Karnina’s shots were really big,” said WC coach Donny Fuller. &#8220That’s a freshman not playing like one.”

It was Bunch’s second trey, a fall away shot with a Missy Gator right in her face, that broke the final tie in the game at 42-39 with three seconds left in the third.

&#8220I actually thought she had fouled me because my hand was hit, but the shot dropped in,” Bunch said.

Feeling confident, Bunch launched another successful trey, this time from behind the key to start the fourth quarter, giving WC a 45-39 edge.

&#8220We needed to make some shots,” she added.

Despite six turnovers in the fourth quarter, the Lady Vikes limited Vicksburg to just two field goals. They then salted the game away, going 10-of-12 from the free throw line to win by 15.

&#8220We were rushing things a little bit, but we made our free throws. When it got down under two minutes, I just wanted us to hold the ball,” Fuller said.

The two teams were tied 25-25 at the half. The Lady Vikes made just nine shots from the field. Vicksburg, meanwhile, shot 18 free throws, making 11 to keep even. The foul troubles kept Caples on the bench and she was not a factor until the Lady Vikes began pulling away in the fourth quarter.

&#8220Vicksburg did a good job of putting people around Caples,” Fuller said. &#8220We just need to attack the gaps better and use more head fakes.”

&#8220Our defense worked for awhile,” said Vicksburg’s Taylor Ammons who had 10 points, eight rebounds and six blocks.

Bunch led WC with 13 points. Caples ended with 11 and Doyle had 10. They were just 18-of-57 from the field but finished 17-of-23 from the line.

Keisha Collins led the Missy Gators with 13 points. Vicksburg, while outrebounding Warren Central, was hurt by 20 turnovers.

(B) WC 67, Vicksburg 53.

The Vikings’ dominance over the Gators continued for a third straight game with forward Mario Luckett scoring a game-high 21 points.

&#8220It’s like they are our rival and we have to play hard,” Luckett said. &#8220It’s a big thing here in Vicksburg to play them. We came out hard.”

Luckett had his own personal showtime in the second half, ramming home, in one stretch, four consecutive dunks. The last two came off alley-oop passes from Shaan Walker and Shone Ester.

&#8220We’re a bit bigger than Vicksburg, but our guards helped us out,” Luckett said.

WC led 37-24 at the half and then went up 16 in the third quarter. Vicksburg got within 11 points, but no closer. The WC lead eventually reached 20 late in the game.

Walker had nine points and a handful of assists for the Vikings (14-8, 4-2) while Jula Pugh chipped in 10 points.

Vicksburg (13-12, 1-5) got 17 points from Brandon Harper and 10 from Jonathan Phelps.