JACKSON — Warren Central lost its Superman on Tuesday. Fortunately, the rest of the Justice League wasn’t far off.

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Friday, 6 p.m., at Provine

(G) W. Central vs. Greenville

DeDe Eatmon and Karnina Bunch each scored 14 of their 17 points in the second half and overtime, Kryshna Howard scored eight and Ricille Davis added 12 points and seven rebounds, as the Lady Vikes survived a major scare in the first round of the Division 4-5A tournament by beating Provine 69-66.

Louisiana Tech signee Sha’Kayla Caples had 12 points for WC, but fouled out with 3:22 left in regulation — just 16 seconds after she had re-entered the game. The rest of the Lady Vikes were able to stay even with Provine through the rest of the fourth quarter, then took command by scoring the first seven points in overtime.

WC (23-4) advanced to face Greenville-Weston, which beat Clinton 66-65 in overtime Tuesday, in the championship game on Friday at 6 p.m. at Provine.

“I think we proved we have more than Caples. Everybody in the gym thinks we’re done, except the coach and players on our bench,” WC coach Donny Fuller said. “We had some kids step up. Ricille Davis is playing on a bad ankle. Bailey Anderton hits a couple of big free throws. DeDe hit a 3 when they left her alone. Our kids believe in what they can do. They believe in their ability and their team.”

Provine jumped on a listless WC in the first half, and led from the beginning of the game until late in the third quarter. Bunch picked up three fouls in the first half, and Caples went to the bench after getting her fourth with 1:55 to play in the third quarter.

When Caples fouled out, Provine’s Kianna Harris hit a free throw to complete a three-point play that put the Lady Rams ahead 51-48 with 3:22 left in the game. Caples’ teammates picked up the slack admirably the rest of the way.

Eatmon hit a clutch 3-pointer with just over a minute to play in regulation, and Anderton dropped in two free throws to tie it with 24.2 seconds remaining. Provine — which ended Warren Central’s season with a buzzer-beater in the division tournament last year —— missed two shots in the last eight seconds and the game went to overtime tied at 57.

“I was scared to death they were going to hit a last-second shot again,” Fuller admitted.

In the extra period, WC made sure it didn’t come to that. Davis hit a jumper, Eatmon hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game, and Bunch added two free throws as the Lady Vikes opened a 64-57 lead in the opening minute. Provine got as close as two points, at 68-66, before Eatmon split a pair of free throws with 2.8 seconds remaining. The Lady Rams didn’t get a shot off before the buzzer.

“We just came out scoring in overtime. Everybody was pumped up,” said Bunch, who played most of the fourth quarter and all of overtime with four fouls. “That was the biggest game I’ve ever been in. I really can’t believe it. I’m still shaking.”

Provine boys throttle WC, 84-51

Provine showed why Warren Central coach Jesse Johnson wanted no part of them.

The two-time defending Class 5A champions closed the first half with a 22-2 run, and waltzed to a 31-point blowout of the Vikings in the first round of the division tournament. Glen Collins hit seven 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 24 points for Provine (22-6), and Emery Killy had 12 points and six blocked shots. The Rams advanced to face Greenville-Weston in Friday night’s championship game.

Dino Harris had 14 points and Malculm Harper had 13 points and seven rebounds for WC, which stayed with the Rams for about a quarter and a half and led 22-21 with five minutes left in the first half.

Collins then dropped in his fourth 3-pointer of the half, and Provine never trailed again. It took a 43-28 lead into halftime and quickly pushed the margin over 20 points early in the third quarter.

Johnson said early in the year that one of his goals for this season was avoiding this matchup in the tournament. WC (5-23) did its part, finishing third in Division 4-5A. Provine was upset by Greenville in its final division game, though, and finished second.

“They’ve got a good group and we don’t match up with them because they’re bigger,” Johnson said. “We hung in there for a while, until endurance became a factor. They just have a better group than we do. They knew they were in a game, though.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com.