All stitched up, Vicksburg High’s Kelsey Howard is ready to go and lead the second-ranked Gators into tonight’s battle with third-ranked Starkville in a Class 6A North State Tournament showdown.

Howard, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, led the Gators Tuesday night to a 73-63 win in their playoff opener over Olive Branch with 36 points. Howard lit up the Conquistadors despite several different defenses and a hard foul in the fourth quarter that opened up a cut on his chin.

“Nine stitches,” Howard said during Thursday’s practice at VHS about his medical treatment. Because of the cut, Howard left Olive Branch with Vicksburg-Warren School District athletic director Lum Wright. After the four-hour drive back to Vicksburg, Howard said he had to wait a while longer before he got stitched up.

Howard expects no problems with the sutures as the Gators (25-3) take on the Yellowjackets (25-2) in another win or go-home road game. Starkville could be a problem, especially at home, where they are 9-0. This includes Tuesday’s 79-74 win over Grenada in the satellite round.

“They have some very good ball players on that team,” said Howard, who got to play on the same North all-star team in July with two of Starkville’s best players, 6-foot-5 forward Rashad Perkins and point guard Edward Townsel.

Perkins paces Starkville at 23.5 points and 13.7 rebounds a game. Townsel chips in 18.4 points, eight assists and 4.8 steals per game for coach Greg Carter, who played at Mississippi State.

“Perkins can jump out of the gym and Townsel is a good point guard,” Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson said.

Robinson is familiar with having to play at Starkville. In 2003, the Gators lost to the Travis Outlaw-led Yellow Jackets in the North State final.

“They beat us by nine at their place, but then we came back and beat them in the state championship game in overtime,” Robinson said in recounting the Gators’ state title run in 2003.

In 2007, the last year Vicksburg was in the Mississippi High School Activities Association’s top class, they lost at Starkville in a North State satellite game.

“We’re a little bit better team now. We know they like that 1-3-1 zone and they also use a man defense. That’s what we’ve worked on today,” Robinson said.

Starkville likes to run. They’ve hit 80 points in three of their last nine wins and almost did it again against Grenada.

Howard wouldn’t mind seeing another shootout.

“My best game this year was the 37 (points) against Forest Hill. We just have to block out,” Howard said.

Vicksburg’s challenging schedule has prepared them for this moment. The Gators are a combined 10-3 against Class 5A and 6A playoff teams, which includes seven wins against teams (Forest Hill, McComb, Ridgeland, Brandon and Greenville-Weston) that are in the top eight in their respective classes.

“We have some guys who had to change their roles because we’ve made the decision that we have to get the ball to Kelsey and Mike (Mychal Ammons),” Robinson said. “That means Chris Miller and Keinte Ross have to work harder to get their points and that means rebounding the ball. Kevin Brown has played well for us and we need another big game out of him because he’s got to guard Townsel.”

The winner of the Vicksburg-Starkville contest will face either Greenville-Weston (14-13) or Murrah (18-8) Saturday night at 7. There is no more consolation game as the MHSAA is only taking the top two teams instead of the top three, creating a Final Four.

Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com