The sheer size of the Clinton Lady Arrows made it a tough night for the Vicksburg Missy Gators.

The former No. 1 ranked Lady Arrows overpowered the Missy Gators behind 6-foot-3 forward Katorra Lewis and 6-4 center Sasha Goodlett for a 73-53 win Tuesday night at VHS.

&#8220It was kind of rough in there,” said VHS forward Rachel Jenkins on having to battle the nearly 280-pound Goodlett and the agile Lewis. &#8220I was just trying to do something against them but it was pretty tough. You kept having to alter your shot and it was hard to get a foul.”

Jenkins managed two early baskets to give the Missy Gators (8-8) a 6-2 lead, three minutes deep into the game. Then Clinton (15-1) clamped down with the big duo shutting off the interior.

VHS lost its offense, missing its last nine shots of the quarter to go with seven turnovers. Clinton, on the other hand, found its groove, scoring 14 straight points to take control at 16-6.

&#8220We began to utilize our size and that made them alter their shots,” first-year Clinton coach Felicia Lofton said of her third-ranked team. &#8220It was a struggle for them.”

Lofton was looking for a bounce-back effort after suffering through the first loss of the season at the hands of top-ranked Tupelo in the finals of the Northwest Rankin Holiday Tournament.

&#8220Last Thursday was uncharacteristic of us and I felt we needed to respond tonight with a bounce back game. We settled down after a shaky start,” Lofton said.

Guard Sheena Johnson did her part in getting Clinton going. She hit a 3-pointer to key the first quarter rally and then added nine of her game-high 25 points in the second quarter to hand the Lady Arrows a 31-15 halftime lead.

&#8220We started playing better as a team,” Johnson said. &#8220We stepped up and got rebounds and we started passing the ball better and got better shots.”

Any hopes of a Vicksburg turnaround were dashed in the third quarter as Clinton made 8 of its first 10 shots. Lewis had 12 of her 24 points in the stanza that increased the lead to 55-28.

But just like last month’s game with rival Warren Central, the Missy Gators scraped together a 9-0 run to close back to 18 at 55-37, following a 3-pointer by Tiffany Williams with 5:56 left.

Lofton put her starters back in to stop the rally. The two teams traded baskets the remainder of the game.

Jenkins, Williams and Keisha Collins all had 11 points for Vicksburg. Taylor Ammons chipped in nine. Goodlett scored 13 for Clinton.

(B) Clinton 61, Vicksburg 50.

The offensive struggles of the Vicksburg boys continued with Tuesday night’s home loss to the visiting Arrows.

Clinton (13-3) got 20 points from Timmy Izonfuo and 14 from Courtney Nelson to turn back the Gators.

&#8220We don’t score a lot of points but we did pretty good tonight, and to win here at Vicksburg, is a nice effort,” Clinton coach Bruce Robinson said. &#8220Timmy is capable of scoring like this, but we really need his rebounding to get us going.”

VHS coach Dellie C. Robinson said his team couldn’t establish an offensive rythmn.

&#8220We just can’t execute on offense,” he said.

Clinton jumped out to an 11-0 lead to start the game before the Gators began a slow chip away at the lead. They got it down to 28-26 early in the third quarter but then Izonfuo scored seven of his 20 points, extending the Arrow lead to 43-35.

Jonathan Phelps had 15 to lead the Gators (10-6), while Brandon Harper had 14..