BRANDON — For some teams, there are certain opponents that can be labeled a thorn in the side.

To Brandon, Vicksburg High has become a railroad spike wrapped in barbed wire, covered in salt, and thrust straight through the ribs.

Kelsey Howard hit a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, then scored Vicksburg’s first seven points in the extra period as it rallied to beat Brandon 77-73 on Friday night.

It was the Gators’ second dramatic win over Brandon (22-6) this season. In December, Mychal Ammons tipped in a pass at the buzzer to give Vicksburg (24-2) a two-point win.

“They’ve got our number,” Brandon coach Frederick Barnes said. “We played well the first time and walked away with a loss. We played well tonight and walked away with a loss. Just some teams, they match up well with you and they definitely match up with us.”

Ammons led Vicksburg with 34 points and eight rebounds, but fouled out with 56.4 seconds to go in regulation. Howard took over from there.

After Brandon twice split a pair of free throws that could have iced the game, leaving it with a 66-63 lead, Howard drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to tie it with 11 seconds left.

“I saw that opening and I knew we had to have a 3-pointer. It was a tough shot,” Howard said.

In overtime, Howard continued to dominate. He hit a jumper from the top of the key, then scored five straight points from the foul line to give Vicksburg a 73-71 lead with 25.9 seconds left. Brandon missed a couple of shots from the field, and Dominique Brown and Roosevelt Harris each hit a pair of free throws in the waning moments to close it out.

In all, Howard scored 10 points in a span of four minutes. He finished with 25 points and eight rebounds.

“When Mychal went out, Kelsey stepped his game up big-time,” Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson said.

D.J. Evans led Brandon with 27 points and seven rebounds. Tyler Adams, a 6-foot-8 center, had 15 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots. Each of the Bulldogs’ stars missed a crucial free throw in the final minute, though, and as a team Brandon was just 10-for-20 from the line.

Vicksburg hit 23 of 28 free throws. Howard and Ammons each went 8-for-10.

“You have to be able to do the little things down the stretch,” Barnes said. “Mychal Ammons and Kelsey Howard weren’t missing their free throws down the stretch. We got our two big kids on the line and they missed free throws.”

 

(G) VHS 44, Brandon 34

Donyeah Mayfield had 12 points and nine rebounds in the second half, and finished with 15 points and 12 boards, as Vicksburg (17-8) finished the regular season with a win over Brandon (12-11).

The Missy Gators took a five-point lead after one quarter, then spent much of the game missing opportunities to put Brandon away. The Lady Bulldogs missed their first 10 shots in the second quarter, yet trailed by just eight points at halftime, 27-19.

Leading by nine late in the closing seconds of the third quarter, Vicksburg had a turnover on a possession that could have given it a double-digit lead. The Missy Gators were also a ho-hum 7-for-18 from the field (38.9 percent) in the second half.

Luckily, Brandon was 5-for-28 in the second half. After a fast-paced first quarter that ended with the score 17-12, Vicksburg outscored Brandon 17-15 in the last two periods.

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Contact  Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com