[11/24/04]At 6 this morning, basketballs began bouncing in the Vicksburg High gym, a mere nine hours after the Gators’ 78-72 overtime loss to Jim Hill.

Gators’ coach Dellie C. Robinson sees it as a sign of his team’s commitment.

“Either they’re committed to win or they’re not,” Robinson said. “Either they’ll be here or they’ll stay home.”

The Gators had a golden opportunity to win the game in regulation with the ball and 25 seconds left on the clock. Two turnovers sent the game into overtime where the Tigers dominated.

Flauaan Flaggs scored six of his game-high 23 points and the Tigers hit 6 of 6 free throws in the extra period. For the game, Jim Hill hit 16 of 24 free throws.

Vicksburg, meanwhile, hit only two of six shots in overtime, and connected on 24 of 31 shots.

“We had seniors on the floor and they stepped up and played like they should be,” said Jim Hill coach Fred Harris, a member of Vicksburg’s first state championship team in 1980. “We’ve been struggling this season finding a way to win, but we did tonight and that is good for us.”

Harris began the game with three starters on the bench in an effort to spark a struggling team. The benched starters combined for 51 of the team’s points, including eight of the team’s 11 3-pointers.

“We like to shoot from the outside,” Harris said. “We think we have some guys that are capable of making the shot. That’s a base part of our offense this year.”

Sedrick Williams led four Gators in double figures with 20 points, while Brandon Harper scored 16, Johnny Markham netted 13 and Edward Gaskin chipped in 12.

Jim Hill took a 64-58 lead midway through the fourth quarter before the Gators went on an 8-2 run to tie the game. Markham’s 3-pointer with 44 seconds to play tied the game at 66.

The Gators had two opportunities to win the game in regulation, but without any timeouts, they had difficulty getting the ball inbounds.

“We were trying to get Sed open, but I think our players got a little confused trying to set a screen for him,” Robinson said. “That’s something we’ll have to work on in practice.”

(G) Jim Hill 49, VHS 29

The Missy Gators (5-3) decided to start their Thanksgiving break a little early.

Vicksburg made 9 of 51 shots from the field, scored eight points in the first half and slogged through a 20-point loss to the Lady Tigers.

“It’s the worst shooting in six years that I have been here,” VHS coach Mike Coleman said. “There’s no way you can win a game shooting 18 percent. We missed a lot of layups and easy shots.”

Jim Hill increased the lead to 35-16 at the end of the third quarter.

“We had four people doing what they should have,” Coleman said. “I don’t want to single out anybody, but you have to have all five playing together, and we didn’t tonight.”

Kendra Sims led Vicksburg with 10 points.