JACKSON — Ridgeland got hot at the right times during Saturday night’s North State 4A Tournament final at Callaway.

Led by senior guard Jeff Stubbs, the Titans made over 75 percent of their shots over a two-and-half quarter span to slip past Vicksburg 59-46.

Ridgeland advances to the 4A State Tournament as the North State champs and will get 10 days off before playing again on March 4 against the Callaway-Wayne County winner. Vicksburg (22-10), which upset Callaway 58-52 Friday night to punch its ticket to the state tournament, will go in as the No. 2 seed from the north for the second straight year. The Gators will face St. Stanislaus on Wednesday night at 8 at the Mississippi Coliseum. Stanislaus beat the Gators 46-25 in the Red Carpet Classic on Jan. 24 at VHS.

Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson felt his team had a letdown after playing so well to beat Callaway along with two other quality opponents over the last four days.

“No doubt about it, when we beat Callaway, that got us to the Big House. We were flat tonight and didn’t play well. Ridgeland, though, had something to do with it. They are so athletic and when you can’t stop Jeff (Stubbs) one-on-one, you’re going to have problems,” Robinson said.

Stubbs controlled the action, either by hitting runners or fades or getting fouled and making free throws. He finished with 18 points.

Down six at the half, Vicksburg fell behind by nine after Stubbs made a conventional three-point play for a 32-23 lead. A 3-pointer by Mychal Ammons got it back to six and an Ammons’ free throw following a Titan turnover brought the Gators to within five at 32-27. Stubbs, however, created two open looks for Jamaal McCoy and Deverick Wansley as the Titans pushed the lead back to nine at 36-27. A 14-foot fall away by Twan Luckett capped a 7-for-11 quarter for Ridgeland, which led 42-32.

Stubbs hit his first two shots of the fourth quarter to broaden the lead to 16 at 49-33 with 6:07 left. The Gators could come no closer than 12 the rest of the way.

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Jeff Byrd can be reached at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com.