In control and on the road to a victory, the Vicksburg Gators let one get away on Friday.

Vicksburg wasted a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, and missed two shots in the final eight seconds that would have sent it to overtime as Brandon rallied for a hard-fought, 59-57 win. Brandon outscored VHS 18-6 in the last six minutes-plus.

Gators coach Dellie C. Robinson saw both good and bad in his Gators.

“We had an opportunity to win against one of the finest teams in the state and only lost by two, so that’s a good thing,” Robinson said. “But then we also had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, and lost it. We had two bad turnovers, two bad shots and Brandon came down and hit two 3s.”

Vicksburg (19-7) appeared to be in control after Kelsey Howard’s 3-pointer gave it a 51-41 lead with 6:48 to play. Brandon would also have to rally without 6-foot-9 sophomore center Tyler Adams, who fouled out with six points and seven rebounds.

But rally the Bulldogs (24-3) did.

Diminutive point guard D.J. Evans made two free throws and then punched out the ball for a quick steal and layup to cut it to six. That was followed by a bad shot by VHS and Kenyada Wallace answered with a 3-pointer to make it 51-48 just 56 seconds after Howard’s trey.

Denzell Erves made a free throw to stop the Brandon run but Caleb Jett came back to hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game to make it 52-51. Another turnover by the Gators allowed Evans to put his team in the lead for the first time since the opening quarter on two free throws with 4:49 left.

Vicksburg committed two more turnovers on a walk and a carry violation, allowing Brandon to go up 57-53. Mychal Ammons hit a deep 3-pointer to make it 57-55 but Rob Agee answered for Brandon to keep it up four at 59-55 with 1:30 left.

The Gators got a break when Jett fumbled a pass out of bounds. That set up Erves, who converted two free throws with 40.8 seconds left to make it 59-57.

Instead of holding the ball and letting Evans get fouled, Agee took a 12-foot jumper with 22 seconds left. The shot missed and Ammons grabbed the rebound, setting up a last shot for Vicksburg.

After getting a look at Brandon’s defense, Robinson called another timeout with 14 seconds left. Following the inbounds pass, Howard got his look from 18 feet with eight seconds left. The shot was short. The ball bounced in the lane, and Maurice Williams had a quick flip at the end but it too, was short.

Brandon coach Mark Barnes credited his team’s defense.

“Caleb Jett had a real good recovery to get a hand in Kelsey’s face. He got back in the play. Our defense was good in the fourth quarter. We showed that we have more than one good player. We have several good players like D.J. Evans and Jett,” Barnes said.

Evans, who was 8-of-9 from the free throw line, finished with 16 points and Jett had 14.

Ammons led Vicksburg with 18 points and eight rebounds. Maurice Williams had 14 points and three assists while Erves had six points, seven rebounds and four blocks.

Brandon girls beat Vicksburg, 77-52

Brandon (20-6) shot 55 percent from the field to spoil senior night for Vicksburg High’s Kamiko and Ebony Martin.

Vicksburg (10-15) tied it for the last time at 8 midway through the first quarter and then Brandon scored the last 15 points of the period and never looked back. Alicia Aultman scored 10 of her 19 points in the run for the Lady Bulldogs.

Brandon built a 30-point lead after three quarters at 68-38 as the five starters combined to go 27-for-48 from the field. Joncyee Sanders fired in a game-high 26 points, including 17 in the second half, and Delexis Hill had 14.

The Missy Gators got 12 each from Donyeah Mayfield and Alexus Stirgus. Mayfield also had nine rebounds. Kamiko Martin had 10 points and seven rebounds.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com.