As soon as the buzzer sounded, Mario Doyle and the rest of his teammates sprinted to center court and leapt into the air like they had just won the state championship. 

The boisterous Viking fans that spilled into the gym hallway at Warren Central screamed and danced as if their team had just slayed a giant in a most momentous way.

You could feel the relief and unadulterated enthusiasm that swept through the stuffy gym as WC celebrated on the court.

At last, Warren Central beat Vicksburg.

In a game that lasted six quarters and nearly three hours, the Vikings powered back from a double-digit deficit to defeat their crosstown rivals, 76-74, at home Saturday. It was an effort sparked by guard Mario Doyle, whose 31 points and clutch free-throw shooting pushed Warren Central past the Gators for the first time since November 11, 2006.

“I was just telling my kids that we have to get to a point where we need to beat them for it to even be considered a rivalry, because they have a tremendous program and they have a tremendous coach over there,” WC coach Bruce Robinson said. “Any time you can beat Vicksburg and Coach (Dellie) Robinson, you’ve done something.”

Robinson and his team snagged a win over Vicksburg for the first time in 19 games by taking advantage of fouls and being physical in the post against a smaller Vicksburg team.

The Gators jumped out to an 18-9 lead early in the second quarter after an 11-0 run and slowly built a 41-31 advantage by the beginning of the third quarter. WC finally climbed back into the matchup and roared back to cut the deficit to just four.

The game was then delayed for approximately 30 minutes when a Warren Central student experienced a seizure near the court. Paramedics arrived to bring the girl out of the gym on a stretcher, and the game resumed shortly after with the Vikings trailing 43-39.

The two teams traded buckets back and forth until a Doyle three-pointer knotted the action at 47 for the first time since the first quarter. That’s when Vicksburg guard K.J. Murphy, who ended with 23 points himself, took over the game. Murphyscored seven points in four possessions and played shut-down defense to give the Gators a slim 70-67 lead.

But Mario Doyle would not be denied.

Doyle hit a trey with 1:10 left in regulation to lift Warren Central into overtime, where both teams traded free throws until Doyle attempted a three-pointer to tie things up again with just five seconds left to play. He was fouled by Murphy as the shot fell wide of the basket and lined up for three free throws with the game in the balance. Doyle calmly walked up to the charity stripe and nailed all three, sending the game into yet another overtime.

“I think, as far as scoring wise, he does everything we ask for. That’s exactly what he’s supposed to do,” Robinson said. “We’re going to try to get the ball to him as much as possible. We can’t stay in ballgames if we can’t score and he’s a tremendous scorer. He scores in bunches.”

In double OT, the score switched back and forth as fouls dominated the action. Warren Central grabbed the lead for good with a free throw by Larry Ferguson and sealed the deal with — as expected — a Doyle free throw with three seconds left.

“They went to man-to-man. We kind of struggle with our guards in man-to-man sometime,” Vicksburg coach Dellie Robinson said. “They put enough pressure on us and won the ballgame. They played a hell of a ballgame. Give them credit. They played a hell of a game.”

The win was one of the most special of Bruce Robinson’s career, whose team beat their rival for the first time since most of the current players were in elementary school.

“It ranks right up there,” a smiling Robinson said. “It has to rank right up there.”