Down 10 points late in the third quarter, the Vicksburg Missy Gators had to dig deep to rally past Wingfield Thursday night, 57-52.

Led by sophomore point guard Alexus Stirgus, Vicksburg did just that, scoring nine points to close out the quarter to pull within one. Then in the fourth, a three-point play by Stirgus put the Missy Gators (2-1) ahead to stay at 48-45 with 5 minutes, 40 seconds left.

“Defense brought us back,” Stirgus said of the second-half effort. She finished with 21 points, 7 assists, 5 steals and 4 rebounds for the Missy Gators, who won their second straight in the Vicksburg Warren Classic. On Saturday afternoon, they meet archrival Warren Central at 2 p.m. at WC.

VHS coach Barbara Hartzog said the hustle her team showed is something she has been striving for in her third season at Vicksburg.

“We had excellent effort and I’m glad that we showed that heart. We’re getting there. We didn’t shoot the ball well but you’re going to have nights like that. We showed heart, hustle and we stuck together,” Hartzog said.

Vicksburg made just 22 of 70 shots from the field, but relentess hustle kept giving it second chances.

Six-foot senior center Taylor Ammons had 18 rebounds to go with her 15 points. Ebony Martin had 13 points, including a key steal and basket with 2:52 left that put Vicksburg up 52-49.

With 51 seconds left, Stirgus was fouled after a steal at midcourt and made one of two free throws to give Vicksburg its first two-possession lead of the game at 54-50. Two more Stirgus free throws with 19.1 seconds left locked it up.

“When we got down 10, we just started playing defense,” said Jasmine Walker, who had five steals.

Wingfield (0-2) was led by Fivian Cowards with 17 points. She scored nine in the first quarter to stake the Lady Falcons to an 18-12 lead.

Vicksburg’s cold shooting plagued them until it got down 10 at 41-31 with three minutes to go in the third quarter. Then VHS began converting chances as Ammons made two baskets in a row to cap the 9-point run. Kamiko Martin kept it going hitting a 3-pointer in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

(B) VHS 76, Wingfield 59

Jonathan Phelps tossed in 28 points as the Gators (3-0) remained unbeaten. Vicksburg led 34-23 at the half, but the Falcons closed to within seven by the end of three quarters at 50-43. A 26-point fourth quarter turned the game into a rout for the Gators.

Maurice Williams had 14 points and Mychal Ammons chipped in 12. Chris Wallace led Wingfield with 18 points and Darrius McMillian had 14.

(B)P. Gibson 50, Natchez 45

Jamarious Sykes, the Blue Waves’ 7-foot-2 junior center, scored six points in the fourth quarter and grabbed a crucial rebound in the final 10 seconds to key Port Gibson (3-2) past Natchez.

Sykes finished with 18 points. Kadeem Fleming led the Blue Waves with 20. Port Gibson had a 13-point lead going into the fourth quarter, but Natchez pulled within four before two free throws by Fleming and Sykes’ rebound iced it.

(G) Natchez 67, P. Gibson 39

Keesha Bradley scored 24 points to keep Natchez (2-0) unbeaten in the Vicksburg Warren Classic.

Aleah Frank added 14 points as the Lady Bulldogs held Port Gibson to just three points in the opening quarter.

Natchez led 27-16 at the half. Reege McDonald led the Blue Wavettes (1-4) with 11 points.