Warren Central didn’t have a whole lot of trouble getting through the first round of the Class 6A girls’ basketball tournament, but the degree of difficulty is about to get a lot higher.

Te’Asia Sims scored 16 points and T.T. Sims added 12 points and four steals as the Lady Vikes dispatched Hernando 57-29 in a first-round game Tuesday night.

Warren Central (23-9) won a state tournament game for the first time since the 2006-07 season, and will travel Friday to play Olive Branch (29-1) in the second round.

Olive Branch has won 16 consecutive games and has not lost to a Mississippi team this season. It is 115-11 over the last four seasons, with appearances in the 2014 and 2015 Class 6A championship games.

Warren Central coach Jackie Martin-Glass said it’ll be a challenge to make the long trip to North Mississippi, but compared it to a road her team has been down before.

“It would be a great win because they haven’t lost to any team in the state. It would be the same feeling when we were the first to beat Murrah,” Martin-Glass said, referring to the team’s win over the defending Class 6A champs in December.

Warren Central only led Hernando (16-12) by three points after one quarter, but extended that to 14 points by halftime by getting hot from 3-point range. Te’Asia Sims hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter and T.T. Sims added another.

Te’Asia Sims hit two of her treys on consecutive possessions to get the ball rolling, and then hit the other at the first-half buzzer to put a capper on the run.

The Lady Vikes outscored Hernando 16-5 in the second quarter, and kept up the pressure after halftime. The lead was 45-20 at the end of the third quarter, as Hernando was effectively finished after the 3-point barrage in the second.

“That helped open the gap between us and hurt their confidence,” Martin-Glass said of the second-quarter surge. “The score stayed close, around five points, so those 3-pointers opened the lead at the half.”

In addition to the Sims sisters, the Lady Vikes got a balanced scoring effort throughout the lineup. Amber Gaston finished with eight points, Dee Dee Caldwell had seven, and Cocoa Fultz and Aniya Sanders scored six each. Sanders also had four steals.

Kandria Merriweather led Hernando with eight points.

STATE TOURNAMENT
Tuesday – First round
Vicksburg 65, West Point 47 (Class 5A boys)
Warren Central 57, Hernando 29 (Class 6A boys)
Warren Central 57, Hernando 29 (Class 6A girls)
Friday – Second round
6 p.m. – Warren Central at Olive Branch (Class 6A boys)
7 p.m. – Warren Central at Olive Branch (Class 6A boys)
Saturday – Second round
7 p.m. – Vicksburg at Clarksdale (Class 5A boys)