Warren Central’s basketball coaches have spent a lot of time reminding their players that championships are won on the road, in places like Starkville and Jackson.

Considering how many miles the Vikings and Lady Vikes are logging on the bus this season, it’s an important thing to keep in mind.

Because of scheduling quirks and a few other alterations, Warren Central will only play six of its 23 regular-season games in its home gym. Three others are quasi-home games at Vicksburg High. After one home game and another at VHS last week, Warren Central goes back on the road Tuesday night for a game at Brandon.

Becoming road warriors is a tough way to go through a season, but both teams are hoping it pays dividends in the long run.

“That’s six, but that’s not including having the district tournament here so that helps us out a lot,” WC girls coach Jackie Glass said. “Championships are won on the road, so we have to get out there and learn to win in some hostile environments and some situations that may not play in your favor, and get used to that.”

Warren Central played 14 home games last season, which is part of the reason it has so few this year. Several of those were two-year home-and-home deals where the Vikings hosted last season and are returning the visit this year.

Two other opponents, Crystal Springs and South Delta, dropped their games with WC over the summer. WC boys coach Bruce Robinson said a scheduling mistake with Germantown caused the schools to flip-flop home dates from last year to this year.

When it was all said and done, Warren Central had its six home games. Only two of those — Nov. 15 against Ridgeland and Dec. 6 against Wingfield — were before New Year’s. Warren Central has gaps of 18, 21 and 30 days between home games this season.

“Sometimes the schedule just works out like that,” Robinson said. “Had we gone to Germantown, that would have been a home game for us this year. So you factor that in, and that would have been nine home games and the two tournaments. But it happens like that sometimes.”

With no choice but to deal with the hand they’ve been dealt, the Vikings and Lady Vikes are trying to find the positives. For Robinson, that’s looking at this season as a chance to improve his team’s play on the road. The Vikings went 2-12 away from home last season with one of those wins coming on a neutral court. So far this year they’re 3-3, including a 41-39 win at Vicksburg last Friday.

“To look at the bright side, last year we only won one road game. I tell the kids all the time, if we’re going to be successful it forces you to win on the road,” Robinson said. “It’s kind of like Sun Tzu. When they attack an island, you sink your ships so you don’t have a way out and now you’ve got to fight and you’ve got to win. That’s the only way for your survival, is you’ve got to win. We’re going to take this island, we’ve sunk our ships, and there’s no turning back.”

Playing in hostile environments early in the season, it’s hoped, will also help when the stakes are raised during the division schedule in January and the postseason in February.

Robinson said he’s already seen signs that life on the road is toughening up his players. The Vikings have won at Hattiesburg and Hazlehurst, and played Starkville tough before losing 60-47.

“We went to Starkville and I dreaded that trip going from one end of the state to the other. But, coming out of that game, I felt real good about going and playing there because that’s a tough place to play and that’s a good team. We really competed against them,” Robinson said. “So we’ve got to go places like that. We’ve got to be able to win at a Starkville or a Clinton, or a Callaway. The more tough places we can play, the better off we are.”

And, while the sample size is too small to confirm a trend, the Vikings and Lady Vikes seem to savor the rare opportunities to play in front of their home crowd. They’re a combined 4-0 at home this season.

“It’s not very often we have one, so we might as well make the best of what we have,” Lady Vikes forward Dee Dee Caldwell said.