Gators fall short against Madison|[02/17/07]

Published 12:00 am Saturday, February 17, 2007

GREENVILLE – Vicksburg could not find enough offense to derail defending Class 5A boys champion Madison Central Friday night in the finals of the Division 3-5A Tournament at Greenville-Weston.

Madison Central’s 6-foot-8 center Malcoln Kirkland made four free throws in the final seven seconds to key the Jaguars’ 53-49 win.

Madison Central (21-11) advances to host Grenada Tuesday night in a North State 5A satellite game. Vicksburg (18-11) must hit the road to face former No. 1 Starkville Tuesday. The game will be a rematch of the 2003 Class 5A championship game, which the Gators won.

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Gators coach Dellie C. Robinson said his team had a shot to get a home playoff game instead of now having to travel to Starkville after their latest misfire against Madison Central.

Madison has beaten Vicksburg six straight times over the last two seasons – including two years in a row in the division tournament.

&#8220We couldn’t make any shots, until Phelps got hot at the end. They ran a box and one against him and that means someone else has got to step up and they didn’t,” Robinson said.

Phelps had a game-high 29 points, including 13 in the final quarter after the Gators fell behind the Jaguars 40-29 with six minutes to go.

&#8220Phelps is an extra special player and we’d run someone at him and then bring a trap and he’d just split the trap,” said Madison Central coach Jeff Heath. &#8220I’m just glad he didn’t do it all game. I think our defense did a good job for the first three quarters.”

The Jaguars, though, were sluggish at the start and trailed the Gators 19-18 at the half.

The third quarter saw Madison exert its authority by making 7 of 10 shots from the field to go up 36-29 by quarter’s end. Two more baskets to open the fourth quarter put the Gators down 11 at 40-29.

A 3-pointer by Jaybri Williams, just one of three shots made by someone other than Phelps, made it a five-point game at 40-35 with 4:52 left.

Then the Gators killed themselves with back-to-back turnovers and two airballs, leaving the Jaguars in control.

Phelps scored the Gators’ last nine points in a 35-second span but it was only good enough to get them within two points of Madison Central. The Jaguars made 8 of 10 free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

Kirkland was 5-of-6 from the field in the fourth quarter and finished with 16 points to lead the Jaguars. Reggie Welch had 14 points and Bradley Patterson scored eight off the bench.