Vicksburg High’s Alfred Patton (25) looks for a way to get a shot off as Forest Hill’s Klif Simmons defends during the Gators’ 56-51 loss on Tuesday night. (Jon GiffinThe Vicksburg Post)

[1/21/04]The struggles continue for the defending Class 5A champion Vicksburg Gators.

Sedrick Williams scored a game-high 24 points, but the Gators fell to Division 6-5A rival Forest Hill on Tuesday night.

The Gators (7-13, 0-3 Division 6-5A) have lost three straight games and 10 of their last 12, dating back to the Warren Central Tournament in early December.

Tuesday’s game was played much closer than the last time Vicksburg faced Forest Hill (11-8, 5-0) a 77-64 Rebels’ win.

“At least we had an opportunity to win this ballgame,” VHS coach Dellie Robinson said. “Last time we didn’t even have an opportunity to win.”

With six minutes remaining, Vicksburg trailed 47-43 after two free throws by Cedric Parson, but a pair of clutch 3-pointers from the Rebels’ Rashaad Crisler put the game out of reach.

“We were supposed to guard that man,” said Parson, who finished with six points and 12 rebounds. “Coach told us before to guard (Crisler). He kept on shooting them and just kept on scoring. We couldn’t do nothing about it.”

Crisler struggled throughout much of the first half, but came alive when it counted to finish with 16 points on 5-of-17 shooting. His pair of shots gave Forest Hill a 53-43 lead, and the Rebels were able to milk the clock for the win.

“In the first half, I thought we did a decent job on him, denying him the ball and not letting him catch it,” Robinson said. “In the second half, we kind of let him catch it a couple of times right there when we needed a stop. He made two big 3’s and got away from us.”

Vicksburg controlled the game early on with Williams’ hot hand. He scored 10 of the Gators’ 15 points in the first quarter as they took a two-point lead. They stretched that to 23-15 with six minutes left in the second quarter when Williams hit his fourth 3-pointer of the half.

But the game began to turn around when the Gators couldn’t execute their offense effectively. They bogged down and players stood around. In back-to-back trips downcourt, Williams was whistled for five-second violations of not advancing the ball.

“We just can’t run our offense,” Robinson said. “Everybody’s stopping us from trying to do the things we do.”

Forest Hill closed the gap with a 12-3 run, entering halftime with a 29-28 lead despite shooting only 27 percent from the field in the first half.

Entering the final quarter up 43-41, the Rebels remained ahead by two points until Vicksburg’s Fred Thomas was called for a technical foul that led to a pair of made free throws by Kevin Sims. Crisler then followed with his sharp-shooting to end any hopes the Gators had of making a comeback.

(G) Forest Hill 46, Vicksburg 41

The Missy Gators (12-8, 1-2) were no match for Forest Hill’s size.

Tamekia Scott, Tanika Martin and Brittnei Magruder combined for 32 points and 28 rebounds as the Lady Rebels (10-9, 3-1) muscled by Vicksburg.

“Their size and strength hurt us,” VHS coach Mike Coleman said. “They got rebounds when they wanted them, and we just had a hard time on the boards with them.”

Forest Hill shut down Vicksburg’s duo of Tiffany Hubbard and Kristin Ellis in the first half. Ellis had four points at halftime and Hubbard was limited to one shot attempt and three points. Ellis ended the game with a game-high 14 points and Hubbard scored 10.

“They’re two good players, but we have two post players that match up with them pretty well,” Forest Hill coach Tommy Graves said.

(G) St. Al 34, G’Ville St. Joe 6

Sarah Kerut scored a game-high 18 points and all the St. Aloysius players saw playing time in this sleeper. The Lady Flashes, who will meet Greenville-St. Joe in the Red Carpet Classic, improved to 8-9 on the season.

(B) G’Ville-St. Joe 57, St. Al 51

Anthony Rector scored 18 points and Kyle Richards netted 14, but the Flashes fell to the Delta team.

The loss dropped St. Al to 6-11 on the year.