BRANDON — After missing an alley oop dunk on his previous attempt, there was no doubt that Mychal Ammons was going do something special on his next try.

It was. Taking a feed from Kiente Ross, who had just swiped a pass from midcourt, Ammons brought down the house with a thunderous, windmill dunk with three minutes left in another Gator romp. It was the last of his 20 points as the Vicksburg Gators booted host Northwest Rankin into the consolation bracket of its own holiday tournament Monday night, 74-54.

“I was going to call it a Mychal Ammons Special, but one my teammates said a better name would be ‘Rest in Peace,’” Ammons said. “The only other time I’ve ever tried that dunk was in practice.”

It helps to have quick-handed teammates. Ammons and running mate Kelsey Howard were fed constantly. Howard dropped in eight effortless jumpers in the first half while Ammons powered in three dunks among his eight field goals.

“They have an excellent 1-2 combination between Mychal Ammons and Kelsey Howard,” Northwest Rankin coach Jason Broom said. “They were just able to out-muscle us around the glass.”

The Cougars (3-12) had even bigger problems with Vicksburg’s speed. The Gators (12-2) forced 21 turnovers and disrupted any half-court game Broom tried to have his team run.

“Our defense is improving,” Gators coach Dellie C. Robinson confirmed. “We’re quick.”

With the win, the Gators get an old playoff nemesis tonight at 8:30 when they face Ridgeland. The Titans beat the Gators in the North State 4A finals last year at Callaway.

“We played them four times last year. We know they’re good. The Luckett kid is real good and they have a 6-8 kid to go with him,” Robinson said.

The Gators tuned up by taking care of the Cougars in the second quarter. They forced five turnovers and Ammons had two blocks and a 3-pointer to start a 13-0 run that put the Gators up 25-12. Howard kept it going with 12 points in the second quarter. He finished with 22.

Roosevelt Harris had a solid game with 13 points, four steals and four assists. Ross had nine points, four rebounds and four steals off the bench.

Darius Short led Northwest with 16 points.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com