GREENVILLE — The Hornets Nest proved again to be a hard place for the Vicksburg Gators.

Greenville-Weston used its home-court advantage to upset the second-ranked Gators 61-56 and win the Division 4-6A Tournament Thursday evening

The Hornets (13-13) earned a host round Tuesday night in the North State 6A satellite round against the runner-up from Division 1-6A while the Gators (24-3) must hit the road to the Division 1-6A champion.

Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson could only lament his team’s second loss at Greenville-Weston. The Gators had reeled off 13 straight wins since last losing here on Dec. 18.

”No question about it, this is a tough place for us,” Robinson said. “Kelsey (Howard) got in foul trouble early. We still had a chance at the end. We got no one to blame but ourselves. It was one of those games.”

The Gators found themselves down 14 midway through the third quarter, but made a strong rally that tied the game at 53 with a minute left. Greenville-Weston, however, made its free throws as Danny Bolden hit four straight and Nate Watkins made two to hold off Vicksburg and seal the upset.

“I had no idea we would play that well,” Hornets coach Ernie Watson said. “We had a great atmosphere in here and I didn’t think we would get much support because we were playing at an odd hour. We made some big free throws there late which is something we haven’t done all year.”

The Gators had a sloppy first half, turning the ball over 13 times. Howard was also called for three fouls and went to the bench without a point. The Hornets, meanwhile, made 12 of 17 shots in the first half to grab a 33-21 lead. Point guard Dominique Brown was the lone Gator scoring option, tallying 14 points.

Howard came back in the third quarter and hit for five straight points to cut a 14-point deficit at 40-26 to nine at 40-31. With 12 seconds left in the quarter, Mychal Ammons was fouled on a 3-point shot and given three free throws. He made all three to pull Vicksburg to 44-39 going into the fourth quarter.

Greenville-Weston came out and scored the quarter’s first five points to go back up 10, 49-39. Howard started dropping shots, making three in a row, including a putback and a baseline dunk to make it 53-49.

Two more Hornet turnovers allowed Vicksburg to tie the game at 53 after scores from Chris Miller and Howard with 1:14 left.

Bolden made two free throws to put the Hornets back up. Ammons had a chance to tie the game again but his 12-footer was short and he called for a push in the back after going for the rebound with 37 seconds left. It was Ammons’ fifth foul and sent him home with 13 points and five rebounds.

Nate Watkins then made two more free throws but Howard nailed a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left to make it 57-56 game. The Gators nearly swiped the inbounds play but on the second chance, Brown was called for his fifth foul. Bolden made both free throws for a 59-56 lead. Vicksburg never got a chance at a tying shot because Howard was forced out of bounds by a Hornet double-team.

Bolden finished with 25 points and was named the tournament MVP. Davon Hayes had 10.

Brown led the Gators with 17 points and Howard had 16.

Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com