JACKSON — Warren Central and Lanier packed a game’s worth of drama into the final 10 seconds Friday afternoon.

Befitting a game marked by turnovers, blown leads and missed opportunities, the ending came up a bit short of fulfilling expectations.

WC’s Shaun Walton airballed a long, desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer — after the two teams had combined for a missed shot and a turnover in the final 10 seconds — and Lanier escaped with a 48-47 victory in the opening round of the Jackson Public Schools Tournament.

“We’re giving ballgames away. It’s almost January. We play some freshmen, but we’re just giving them away. We just virtually gave that one away at the end,” WC coach Bruce Robinson said. “With that being said, I hope we can learn from it and toughen up a little bit and we’ll get better going into January.”

Mario Doyle hit four 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 20 points for Warren Central (5-8), which played late Friday night in the consolation bracket. Walton and Larry Ferguson added nine points apiece.

Corbin Johnson had 13 points and seven rebounds for Lanier (7-5), which will host Germantown in the second round this afternoon.

Lanier wasted a four-point lead with about three minutes to go, but got it back with a free throw and a layup by Denzell McDuffy with 1:06 remaining.

“Until we get to the point where we can take care of the basketball and make good, solid plays, we’re going to struggle,” Robinson said. “They put a lot of pressure on us, but you cannot turn that ball over and give them uncotested layups.”

Warren Central’s Larry Ferguson split a pair of free throws at the 51-second mark to leave it 48-47 and set up a frantic finish.

Doyle missed an off-balance jumper from the baseline that could have given the Vikings the lead with 10 seconds remaining. Johnson got the rebound and chucked a long outlet pass toward the other end, but McDuffy couldn’t handle it and the ball went back to the Vikings with 3 seconds to go.

Ferguson made an acrobatic play to save a long inbounds pass, grabbing the ball and tossing it off a Lanier defender before he fell out of bounds to give the Vikings one last chance with 1.5 seconds left.

WC tried to go to 6-foot-5 center Tristan Lowry under the basket — as it did once earlier in the game in a similar spot ­— but Lanier was ready for it and defended it well. The second option, Doyle, was also guarded.

That left point guard Jessie Wilson no choice but to toss it toward Walton, who was open but about 35 feet from the basket. Walton dribbled once and heaved it toward the goal, but it was well short as the horn sounded.

It was an anticlimactic end to a tightly contested game. Neither team ever led by more than six points.

“That was the last option. We were running something else. That wasn’t the play we wanted,” Robinson said. “Had I had a timeout I probably would have ran the other play. That’s the way the ball bounces sometimes.”

(G) Warren Central 85, Wingfield 55

DaSha McGloster scored 25 points to lead four Warren Central players in double figures and the Lady Vikes to an easy win in the opening round of the JPS Tournament.

Lamaria Gray added 14 points, Dee Dee Caldwell had 12, and T.T. Sims 10 for Warren Central (6-7), which will face Meridian in the second round today at 1 p.m. at Forest Hill High School. The winner advances to the semifinals on Monday morning, also at Forest Hill.