Vicksburg has enjoyed two trips to the state tournament and been arguably one of the top teams in Mississippi over the past four years, but one thing it did not have was a divisional tournament title.

Friday night before a packed house, the Gators took care of that problem. Vicksburg won its first divisional title in basketball since 2005 by crushing defending champ Greenville-Weston 76-45.

Gators coach Dellie C. Robinson was elated to have a trophy for a change.

“We’ve been the runner-up in these things for awhile,” Robinson said. “No question, it’s great to pull this off.”

Vicksburg won a state title in 2003 and won a division title in 2005 but lost out at South State. The Gators placed second in the division tournament in 2007, 2008 and 2010. During that span, the Gators have managed two trips to the state tournament.

Gators senior forward Mychal Ammons knows winning the division is an important step.

“Now, we just want to keep on going,” Ammons said. The South Alabama signee did his part, setting the tone on defense. He had three steals and three blocks in the first half. He then hit the floor three times for key charging fouls on the Hornets.

That’s pretty impressive when the team’s best player takes that many charges. It was not lost on Gator forward Kienta Ross.

“He did a great job of help-side defense,” Ross said. “It got things going for us. Our whole defense did well rotating to the ball.”

Robinson agreed. In two tournament games, the Gators held their opponents to under 46 points in a pair of 30-point-plus blowouts.

“Mike was outstanding on defense,” Robinson said.

Next up for the Gators will be a North State 6A satellite game at home Tuesday night against the loser of Saturday’s Division 3-6A title game between Murrah and Grenada at Madison Central.

Vicksburg (23-3) hit three 3-pointers in the first four minutes to grab a 13-1 lead. The Gators extended the lead to 19. The Hornets whittled it down to 14 at one point, but got no closer the rest of the way.The Gators nearly had six players in double figures. Ammons led the way with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Willie Gibbs and Josh Gaskin had 12 points each. Ross had 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists while Rashad Gaines had nine points and six assists.

(G) Clinton 37, Warren Central 33

Poor free throw shooting and ill-timed turnovers cost Warren Central a chance to win the Division 4-6A Tournament Friday night. With the loss, the Lady Vikes will have to travel to the winner of the Division 3-6A Tournament Monday night.

The Lady Vikes (9-16) used their rebounding strength to good use in building a 25-13 lead in the second quarter but they could not hold it. Clinton (17-10) rallied to claim the tournament title by forcing 13 second-half turnovers. WC missed all six of its free throw attempts in the fourth quarter.

WC coach Jackie Martin felt her team let a championship slip away.

“Free throws and useless turnovers,” Martin said. “It’s something that has killed us all year. Elayne (Robinson) did well rebounding. We had the game right where we wanted it and then we just froze up and became tentative. We forgot how to attack.”

Clinton came back behind former Vicksburg High guard Cortni Cooper, who hit six free throws to pull the Lady Arrows to within eight by halftime.

Clinton then hit three of its first four shots in the third quarter to close to within one at 25-24. A basket by Michelle Jones was WC’s only score of the quarter but it was enough for a 27-24 lead going to the final quarter.

Cooper turned three WC turnovers into points to give Clinton its first lead since the opening minutes.

Robinson led WC with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Cooper had 12 points, four steals and four assists for Clinton.