With three weeks left in the regular season, and the MHSAA Region 2-6A girls basketball race taking shape, Vicksburg High coach Troy Stewart has started tinkering with his lineups and rotations.

That, he said, explains some of the strange flow of Tuesday’s game against Warren Central.

The Missy Gators saw several double-digit leads dwindle, but always kept a spunky Warren Central team at arm’s length as they earned a 59-47 victory.

Stewart said he’s been trying to work three eighth-graders and two ninth-graders into the lineup to add depth and get them ready to contribute in the postseason. They all got meaningful minutes Tuesday, although most of Warren Central’s runs came when they were on the floor.

“I think it’s because I’m trying to integrate those girls in spots they haven’t had a lot of practice in. We started putting them in at the Christmas break,” Stewart said. “It’s just the speed of the game. The high school game is just a taste faster than the junior high game is and they’re getting accustomed to it.”

Cynia Johnson led the Missy Gators (12-8, 3-2 Region 2-6A) with a double-double, totaling 21 points and 17 rebounds. Zion Harvey finished with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Jordan Grace also scored 10 points, freshman Zion Knox had six, and Ny’Keria Watson grabbed eight rebounds.

With the starters on the floor, the Missy Gators started the second half with an 11-2 run to open a 16-point lead. Warren Central trimmed that back to six with a 13-3 run capped by Arielle Ward’s 3-pointer with 1:25 left.

Knox had a steal and layup just before the buzzer and Grace made a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to push the Missy Gators’ lead back to 50-36, and so it went for most of the game.

Camara Evans led Warren Central (2-12, 0-4) with 29 points, and Ballet Duty scored eight.

The Lady Vikes stayed in the game with a surprisingly strong offensive outing — the 47 points was their second-highest total this season — and a high-energy defensive effort. They lost 58-17 the first time they played Vicksburg in December, so coach Heather Casey said she was very pleased with the turnaround this time.

“Forty-one is tough. It’s hard to get worse than that,” Casey said, referring to the margin of defeat in the first meeting. “We watched the film and went in, and let them give their thoughts on how we can be better. Defensively, I wanted to give them a different look and make it tougher than it was last time.”

The Lady Vikes are rebuilding under Casey, who is in her first season as head coach. They were missing post player Arrionna Jenkins on Tuesday, but Casey said a smaller lineup seemed to click and might be something she tries again as the regular season winds down.

Warren Central will be on the road for its next three games — Friday at Neshoba Central, Jan. 21 at Callaway, and Jan. 24 at Ridgeland.

“We shot much better tonight. We moved better and we shared the ball better. I liked our energy a lot better. That’s always the goal in each game is just seeing growth. I was missing some height today so we had to work on speed,” Casey said. “We’re trying to find our identity. Tonight was nice. I was shocked at how small we were, but how well we played. That may be a lineup we look at going forward.”

Vicksburg will play at Callaway on Friday, host Columbus on Jan. 21, and then go back on the road to play Neshoba Central on Jan. 24.

It’s a pivotal three-game stretch that will likely determine where the Missy Gators are seeded for the Region 2-6A tournament next month at Neshoba Central.

“It’s going to be tough, but I think we’re up to the challenge,” Stewart said.