VHS lone local survivor, thanks to Henyard’s huge 3

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, February 14, 2001

[02/14/01] GREENVILLE Black Tuesday claimed three Warren County teams and came within a half second of claiming a fourth.

Miguel Henyard drained a 3-pointer as time expired to lift Vicksburg High (23-9) to a 55-54 overtime thriller over Gentry (16-14) in the opening round of the Division 3-5A tournament.

The Gators will try to defend their division title against host Greenville Friday at 8:30 p.m.

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“(Coach) wanted us to look for the 3 and if it wasn’t there to look down into the post,” said Henyard, who scored 13 points.

He knew it was good “from the flick of the wrist,” he said with a chuckle.

The news wasn’t nearly so sweet for the three other local teams in the tournament.

Warren Central’s girls, the No. 2 seed, were stunned by Gentry, 42-41. Greenville got the best of the Vikings in the nightcap, 62-56, and the Honey Bees (24-5) dismantled Vicksburg’s girls, 70-43.

Henyard’s buzzer-beater stole the show, however, during the opening day of the two-day event. Jamar Gibson’s free throw with 16 seconds left gave fourth-seeded Gentry a 52-50 lead.

After a timeout with nine seconds left, Jason Walker dribbled around midcourt, almost lost the ball in a double-team, then somehow found Henyard from the right wing in front of the Gators’ bench. The ball fell through the net as the final horn sounded.

“We gave ourselves an opportunity to win,” said Vicksburg coach Dellie Robinson, who jumped up and down despite suffering from bad knees from his days as a player at Alcorn State. “If you can keep yourselves within one or two points, you’ll have a chance to hit a big shot, like Miguel did.”

Demetrick Allen scored a team-high 17 points, but fouled out in overtime. Chauncey Strong paced Gentry with 17.

Vicksburg actually had its best chance to win as time was running out in regulation. Walker drove the length of the floor with 12 seconds left and the game tied at 46. Five Gators’ chances close to the basket missed, sending the game into the extra period.

“We made a few mistakes there in the last minute,” said Gentry coach Elmo Hickingbottom, whose team had to wear Greenville’s road uniform tops because they showed up in the wrong color jerseys. “We had the ball with 17 seconds left and threw up a bad shot. That was a big problem right there.”

Gentry scored just 10 points in the first half, but quickly erased Vicksburg’s 10-point halftime lead. The game went into the fourth quarter knotted at 33.

Robinson said the key to his team’s win and guaranteed berth in the state tournament was free-throw shooting. The Gators hit 19-of-28 free throws, including 9 of 10 inside the final six minutes.

“We know if you’re going to win championships, you have to hit free throws,” Robinson said. “We could have been out of it if we didn’t make our free throws, but we made them coming down the stretch. This was a great win.”

(G) Gentry 42, WC 41

A three-second violation against JaQuita Benard with 1.7 seconds left and Wanda Calvin driving to the hoop sent the Lady Vikes (22-9) home with a shocking loss.

With WC trailing 42-41 and 10 seconds on the clock, WC rebounded a missed free throw and drove the length of the floor. Calvin had just started her move to the basket when Benard was whistled for the violation.

“You can’t make the game come down to a situation where a call can make or break you,” WC coach Donny Fuller said. “And we did.”

Benard scored a team-high 15 points and snatched 15 rebounds, while Calvin netted 13. Fernice Galloway scored 13 and Daffyne Cobbins netted 10 for Gentry.

For most of the night, the Lady Vikes were their own worst enemy. WC turned the ball over 28 times and missed 11 of 18 free throws. As bad as WC played in the first half, it trailed by only one. Wendy Thomas banked home a 3-pointer late in the first half to pull WC within a point.

Lia Green’s basket to open the fourth quarter gave WC a 31-30 lead, but Gentry quickly re-took the lead and never gave it up.

“This is disappointing to me, but it’s really disappointing to those girls in there who worked their behinds off to get where they did,” Fuller said choking back tears. “We’re going to miss some seniors a lot, but we have a good nucleus coming back next year. And we don’t have to play in the Delta.”

(B) Greenville 62, WC 56

Warren Central trailed almost the entire game before pulling to within one point late in the fourth quarter before falling to the second-seeded Hornets.

Sherman Logan paced WC (14-15) with 13 points, while Carlton Bradford netted 11 and Clifton Walker scored 10 for WC.

“We fought. We fought like we always do,” Vikings’ coach John Duett said. “I thought the end result would be different, I really did.

We were confident and we expected to win.”

Greenville, which outrebounded WC 40-27, held a 30-21 lead at halftime.

WC responded in the third quarter, pulling to within 39-38 on a Clifton Walker 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“We got close a lot, but we just couldn’t get over the hump,” Duett said.

Andrew McNeal led Greenville with eight points and 14 rebounds, while Derrick Davis scored 14.

(G) Greenville 70, VHS 43

Vicksburg coach Mike Coleman’s plan to slow the ball down for four quarters was derailed by a tenacious Honey Bees’ defense.

LaToya Trunell scored 11 points to lead the Missy Gators (14-18). But after the first quarter, Greenville distanced itself from Vicksburg with a smothering man-to-man defense.

“Their quickness is what killed us,” Coleman said. “When they decided to get after us, they got after us. I give Greenville credit, they are good.”

Tinisha Calvin led Greenville with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

The Missy Gators end their season with twice as many wins as last year.