[02/07/01] Vicksburg High’s Demetrick Allen was introduced before Tuesday night’s game as part of Senior Night.

He didn’t make his presence felt again until the fourth quarter, when he scored 10 of his team-high 11 points and grabbed all five of his rebounds to secure a 54-46 win over Port Gibson.

“Demetrick was in foul trouble early,” Gators coach Dellie Robinson said. “We sat him down because we thought we may need him there at the end … and he came up big for us. He made his free throws.”

Allen hit 6 of 8 from the line in the final period and fellow senior Miguel Henyard added 10 points for the Gators (22-9), who led by as many as 15 but had trouble burying the Blue Waves (13-15). Leroy Ward led Port Gibson with 14 and Ocie Brown chipped in 10.

“We turned it over too much … we should have finished them off,” said Robinson, whose team has one more regular-season game, Friday at Brandon, before the division tournament starts Tuesday at Greenville.

“We made a lot of bad decisions,” he added, referring to several ill-advised shots and passes while the Gators led by 11. “But it’s Senior Night, and you kind of expect those things.”

Port Gibson coach Kim Windom was without one of his top seniors. Leading scorer James Hall is out for the year after a teammate accidentally shot him in the stomach with a pellet gun last month. The pellet hit an artery and his doctor advised him not to resume normal activity until March 1, Windom said.

“He would have scored more than seven,” Windom said with a laugh, referring to the final margin.

“We were a little late coming back,” he said.

“Our plan was to double up on the back side and make them beat us from outside.”

The strategy backfired in the first half. Chris Hume came off the bench with a reverse layup after driving the lane and reserve forward Willie Powers followed with a three-point play to make it 30-15 just before the half. The Gators led 31-19 at the break.

VHS couldn’t find the basket in the third quarter and managed just seven points.

The Waves took advantage of five quick turnovers to pull within seven, 47-40, with three minutes left. But Ward fouled out and Gerrick Durrell found Willie Powers open under the goal for a quick VHS basket and Henyard hit two free throws after Brown’s 3-pointer made it a six-point game with 50 seconds left.

“We need to work on building a lead, then taking care of the ball,” Robinson said. “We’ve got to make good decisions down the stretch if we’re going to make it to the Coliseum or out of district.”

(G) VHS 44, Port Gibson 35

Missy Gators coach Mike Coleman had two reasons to celebrate he didn’t have anyone to introduce for Senior Night and he won with that group of sophomores and juniors.

“It beats having seven or eight seniors about to leave,” he said.

Sophomore guard Shalonda Williams scored a game-high 20 points to pace the Missy Gators (13-17). Brandi Hall had six assists to go with six points for VHS, which was coming off a stunning upset of Warren Central Saturday.

“I was glad to see that we were able to bounce back after a big win like that,” Coleman said.

“I was concerned about that, for the players and me,” he added, chuckling.

Reandrea Jackson (19) and Catronda Thornton (16) combined for all of Port Gibson’s points.

“It’s been like that all year,” Lady Blue Waves coach Lonnie Walker said.

“I’m just happy to have two that can score.”

The Missy Gators started fast but finished each quarter slow. They created four quick turnovers with their press and made four of their first five shots to take an 8-0 lead.

But they went to a spread offense for the final two minutes of each quarter, and Walker didn’t come out on them.

“I’ve only got six players, so they did us a favor holding the ball,” Walker said.

It wasn’t the formula Coleman wanted to use before finishing up with Brandon on Friday, then going to Greenville to face the host team in the opening game of the division tournament.

“I was hoping we could stay out of foul trouble,” he said. “I wanted us to work on pushing the ball more. I know the crowd doesn’t get into it … we just wanted to get a win.”

Williams made it an 11-point game with a driving three-point play with 3:17 remaining and Teadra Robinson got a big putback.

“Teadra really stepped up,” Coleman said. “We definitely get more rebounds with her in.”