With one mighty heave, Alexus Stirgus shook the Vicksburg Missy Gators out of their malaise.

Stirgus banked in a 35-foot shot at the first quarter buzzer, sparking a huge second-quarter surge that propelled Vicksburg to an easy 56-22 victory over winless Pearl on Tuesday night.

Ten different Missy Gators scored at least one point, and nearly everyone on the roster saw some sort of playing time. Shanequa Hill led the way with 10 points and nine rebounds, while Stirgus and Alexis Hall scored 10 points apiece.

Alexis Jenkins led Pearl (0-14, 0-5 Division 3-4A) with nine points, and Ladeshia Lonie had nine rebounds. The Lady Pirates, though, shot just 8-for-34 from the field for the game.

“It gives an opportunity for those that are younger to play. But it can also cause some bad habits,”  VHS coach Barbara Hartzog said of the blowout, which could have been much worse. Vicksburg was outscored 9-0 in the fourth quarter as it tried to run time off the clock and got a little careless with the ball, committing six of its 12 turnovers in the final period.

The Missy Gators (6-7, 3-3 Division 3-4A) were also a little sloppy in the first quarter. They hit just two of their first 18 shots and led 10-5 as the final seconds ticked down. Then Stirgus got the ball near halfcourt, dribbled two steps into the frontcourt, and let fly with a high arching shot. It banked off the top of the square on the backboard and in for a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

“It started us off,” Stirgus said. “I was just trying to get the shot off. That was about it.”

That was it for Pearl, too. Vicksburg found its shooting stroke in the second quarter, going 10-for-19 from the field, while Pearl went 2-for-8. The end result was a 23-5 run for VHS over the length of the second quarter, and a 36-10 halftime lead. Donyeah Mayfield scored all of her eight points in a brief stretch during the period.

The Missy Gators also outscored Pearl 20-3 in the third quarter and led by as many as 43 points before calling off the dogs in the fourth. Pearl didn’t score a point in the third quarter until Jenkins put back a rebound with 30 seconds left, making it 53-12.

“I’m not one to just blow somebody out. You can beat a dog dead, but he’s already dead,” Hartzog said.

(B) VHS 57, Pearl 51

When the Vicksburg Gators got in trouble Tuesday, their big guns did the most damage.

Senior guard Maurice Williams and junior guard Kelsey Howard each scored seven points in the fourth quarter, helping the Gators gain enough breathing room to squeak by Pearl (9-8, 2-3).

Williams scored five points during a 7-0 run early in the period that gave the Gators (9-4, 3-3) the lead for good — and a 43-36 advantage that was the biggest lead for either team in the game. Later, he hit Howard on a long outlet pass for a clinching layup with 15 seconds left as VHS held off Pearl’s last charge.

“We just tried to get the ball to Kelsey. He hit some big shots for us,” Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson said. “I was trying to move Maurice off the baseline and up top, and that wasn’t working. He went to the baseline and got some drives. That got us going. We got that lead and was able to hold on.”

Howard finished with a game-high 26 points, while Williams scored 10. Denzell Erves had 11 points and 16 rebounds for the Gators. Twywond Howard scored 24 points to lead Pearl, but only had two in the fourth quarter.

That was symbolic of the way things went for the Pirates. They hit just 2 of 7 shots during a crucial stretch late in the fourth quarter, allowing Vicksburg to keep them at arm’s length.

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com.