An overwhelming second quarter performance from Lanier proved to be the catalyst in its 41-28 win over Warren Central in the Lady Vikes’ regular season finale on Friday.

Warren Central was held to just two points in the second quarter on free throws from Amber Gaston and Aniya Sanders.

“We didn’t stick to our original game plan,” Lady Vikes coach Jackie Martin-Glass said. “We had some turnovers that weren’t even pressure turnovers, just bad turnovers, which allowed them to get the momentum and force us to do something we didn’t want to do, which is go head to head.”

Jala Alexander and Brittany Rose scored all 14 of Lanier’s points in the second quarter. Rose scored six of her 16 total points and Alexander scored 10 of her 15 during that stretch.

Despite the bizarre scoring performance to end the first half, the Lady Vikes closed the gap to 21-16 with 4:30 left in the third. The late surge, however, still wasn’t enough to overcome Lanier as it went on a 7-1 run to finish the quarter.

“I just saw my girls pressing the ball a little bit more,” Martin-Glass said. “I don’t really like getting into the running game when I have injured players. My team is getting smaller and smaller at the close of the year.”

Warren Central’s Cocoa Fultz finished the game with a team-high nine points. T.T. Sims and Sanders each scored five points, while Gaston and Kiara Lockhart had three apiece.

Sims recorded the team’s only two assists of the night.

Warren Central will play Murrah Monday night in the first round of the Division 4-6A tournament. The game will tip off at 6 p.m. at Clinton High School.

“I’m trying to take this loss and build on it and try to get ready for our district tournament,” Martin-Glass said.

(B) Lanier 62, Warren Central 41

Warren Central was down 30 points with a little under four minutes left in the third quarter. This left the Vikings shocked and in disbelief as they faced their biggest deficit all season. They wound up with their second-biggest loss, one point shy of a 22-point defeat against Crystal Springs in November.

“That’s not a spot we’ve been in this year. We might’ve been shell-shocked because we’re not believing it,” Warren Central coach Bruce Robinson said. “We’ve been down double figures but not 30.”

Warren Central celebrated its seniors before tip off, but Robinson said that could’ve been to its detriment in letting the game slip away.

Warren Central ended the first quarter tied at 8, but gave up 26 and 20 points in the second and third quarters to push a chance at victory further away.

“People trying to do some stuff they haven’t done all year. The ball got stuck in some spots,” Robinson said. “The biggest thing is we didn’t play a whole lot of defense. We gave up too many transition layups, too many uncontested shots.”

Jacques Jones finished with eight points, three assists and three steals for Warren Central. Shaun Walton followed Jones’ scoring production with seven points, three rebounds and two assists.