Gators rock Lanier|Ammons, Howard lead Vicksburg past rival Bulldogs

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Tuesday’s crucial Division 3-4A battle between Lanier and Vicksburg had all the makings of a big-time prize fight.

Animated crowd. High stakes. And no knockout.

The two clubs traded jabs all night, but it was Vicksburg landing the telling blows in a 78-66 victory. With the win, the Gators (16-6, 8-4 in 3-4A play) remained in third place as they try to avoid a first-round matchup with division-leading Callaway in the upcoming division tournament.

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The key was better offensive execution and a defensive adjustment before the game that paid big dividends.

“I thought we ran the offense really well tonight,” Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson said. “Getting Kelsey (Howard) back was big too. I thought we ran our sets a lot better than we have the last couple of nights. We switched from our regular matchup zone to man-to-man and I thought that may have been the difference in the ballgame.”

The big storyline for the Gators was the return of Howard, back after a painful hip pointer that sidelined him for two games. Howard scored six of the Gators’ 18 first-quarter points and Maurice Williams brought the crowd to its feet as he hit a buzzer-beating jumper to put VHS up 18-16.

Howard finished with 15 points.

“It felt good to be back,” Howard said. “I was ready to play. It was a big win for us, because Lanier has become a big rival.”

In the second quarter, the Gators would land a jab here and there, but could never connect with a cross to send the Bulldogs to the canvas. Lanier’s cat-quick backcourt kept the Bulldogs within striking distance and they picked up a break early in the second when Denzell Erves, already saddled with two fouls, picked up his third in quick order. Terrance James swished the resulting free throws and Lanier was within three at 30-27.

But Mychal Ammons sparked the Gator offense, dishing three great assists to cutting teammates and dunking home a Darius Williams miss as Vicksburg took a 39-34 lead into the half. Ammons finished with a game-high 24 points.

In the second half, Marcus Harper swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the deficit to two at 41-39.

However, Robinson got big production off the bench as Christopher Miller, Roosevelt Taylor and Dominque Taylor hit key buckets in a 7-0 run to give the Gators a 54-43 lead. Miller added 14 points off the bench.

With the constant Lanier pressure, Robinson was forced to dig deep into the bench and they produced.

“It was huge for us because we played nine or 10 people tonight,” Robinson said. “When they press full-court like they did, you’ve got to keep them fresh. We had some kids come in and play real well for us.”

In the fourth, Vicksburg closed out the contest  by hitting 10 of 16 free throws to ice the victory.

Obarcus Taylor led Lanier (14-8, 6-6) with 17 points and James added 15.

Lanier girls beat VHS, 45-32

Despite being up only 22-18 at the half, division-leading Lanier (19-3, 11-1) closed out the third quarter with a 16-3 run to earn the victory. Donyeah Mayfield led the Missy Gators (9-12, 5-7) with 16 points. Kenya Wright scored 17 points and Jarerica Young added 10 for Lanier.

Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.