Moments after his Vicksburg Gators were beaten in the Class 4A State Tournament by Moss Point, Gators coach Dellie C. Robinson knew things would’ve been different if his star guard in Jonathan Phelps had been able to play.

Phelps, though, was not there having been injured in the first quarter of the North State title game in Oxford against New Hope. He had played just six minutes but still, the Gators came within a 3-pointer of sending the game into overtime. New Hope went on to win the 4A title while the Gators finished 29-8, their best season since Robinson directed Vicksburg to the Class 5A title in 2003.

“Had we had Phelps, I definitely think we would have seen New Hope again. And I feel like we would have a great opportunity to beat New Hope in the championship game,” Robinson said.

Robinson’s consolation prize was a trip to coach the Mississippi All-Stars in the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Classic and the 2008 Vicksburg Post’s Basketball Coach of the Year. It’s the seventh time Robinson has earned the award and the first since his team’s magical run to the gold ball in 2003.

“All of these are great honors. It shows I’ve been there and done good. It was just unfortunate Phelps got hurt, because I really feel we could’ve won a second one.”

At mid-season, it didn’t look as if the Gators were going to do much of anything. They were 2-2 in a tough Division 3-4A with the bulk of the next 10 division games on the road. They were 12-5 overall, but were still struggling on the offensive end. That’s when Robinson moved sophomore Kelsey Howard into the starting lineup.

The move worked like magic. The Gators won their next 14 games, not losing until the divisional tournament finals against Callaway. They then won three more games in the north half playoffs until Phelps’ injury.

“Putting Kelsey in the lineup changed our season,” Robinson said. “He gave us that 3-point threat. Teams couldn’t double team Phelps as much. It allowed Phelps to go back and attack the basket and if wasn’t there, to kick it back out to Kelsey.

“We also got a lot of improvement from Mychal (Ammons) as the year went on. He kept improving with each game and by the end, he was averaging 12 rebounds a game. That played a big part.”

And then there was one more key ingredient.

“John Qualls started playing really well. He played so well, I had to bring Maurice (Williams) off the bench,” Robinson said.

Qualls, a senior like Phelps and Robinson’s son, Delmon, helped step up in the leadership role after Phelps went down. Qualls’ heady play nearly rallied the Gators against both New Hope and Moss Point after deep fourth quarter deficits.

With Ammons, Howard and Williams back, Robinson is looking toward the next two or three years. He initially thought about retiring after this season with Delmon going on to play football next fall at Mississippi State.

“With Ammons and Howard, I’m going to be around a little while longer.”