RIDGELAND — Clinton lost its cool in the heat of the moment. The Vicksburg Gators stayed calm, steady and patient all day and walked away with a win Friday afternoon.

Sophomore forward Kirk Parker scored a game-high 17 points as the Gators carved up Clinton with a game plan designed to get him the ball in the post, and some sharp free throw shooting late allowed them to earn a 62-52 victory in the Ridgeland Shootout.

Vicksburg (8-3) had attempted an average of 15 3-pointers in its first 10 games, with mixed success. It tried two on Friday — a made 3 by Antonio Moore in the first quarter, and Tyler Smith’s 50-foot heave at the third quarter buzzer that bounced off the rim.

“We’ve been working hard on trying to get the ball down to the big boy inside,” Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson said, referring to the 6-foot-5 Parker. “He’s been open a lot of times and we’ve jacked up some threes. So we’ve tried to be a little more patient with it, move the ball around and make them double team down there so we can make some outside shots and drive the ball to the basket. We worked on that for three days, so they did a good job tonight of being patient and getting the ball down to the big boy.”

The strategy led to victory for the Gators, but they did have to work for it. Neither team led by more than seven points until the final minute, when the game turned on one ill-timed flinch by Clinton’s Renaldo Ellis.

Ellis was battling for a rebound with Vicksburg’s Khris Walker when he was called for a foul with 1:11 left in the game. Ellis reacted to the call with a sharp shrug and immediately had a technical foul added to the count.

Walker hit both free throws from the initial foul and K.J. Murphy hit one of two off the technical to give Vicksburg a 54-48 lead. On the ensuing possession, Walker found Parker under the goal for a wide open layup that stretched the lead to eight, and the Gators closed the game out by hitting their last seven foul shots.

The Gators went 19-for-30 from the line in the game, but hit nine of their last 10 over the last 2 ½ minutes. Eleven of their last 13 points came from the line.

Murphy finished with 16 points — the eighth time in nine games he’s been in double figures — and Justin Selvy added 12 for the Gators.

K.J. Chambliss led Clinton (5-6) with nine points, while Amias Lewis and Malik Wilson scored eight apiece. It was the first time this season that the Arrows had lost by 10 or more. Their first five defeats were by a total of 17 points. Vicksburg and Clinton will meet again Dec. 27.

(G) Clinton 58, Vicksburg 49

The Vicksburg Missy Gators came all the way back from a 17-point halftime deficit, but missed two potential game-winning free throws in the last 30 seconds of regulation and didn’t make a field goal in overtime as they lost to Clinton in the Ridgeland Shootout.

With starting point guard Keiyana Gaskin sitting out the first quarter for disciplinary reasons, the Missy Gators fell behind early and spent the rest of the afternoon digging out of the hole. They trailed by 17 points at halftime, and by 15 with three minutes left in the third quarter.

They did keep digging and chipping away at the deficit, however. When Clinton went more than five minutes without scoring, the Missy Gators got rolling and chopped it to 45-42 with less than two minutes to go.

Monique Jones scored a basket with 45 seconds left, and Gaskin hit the first of two free throws to tie it with 23.2 remaining.

Gaskin missed the second free throw, however. So did Ruddie Shears, who split a pair with 9.8 seconds left to tie the game but not give Vicksburg the lead.

“I don’t know what it is. We shoot them and shoot them, and make them in practice,” said Vicksburg coach Barbara Hartzog, whose team was 14-for-23 from the foul line on Friday and is shooting 46.7 percent for the season.

The game wound up in overtime, where Clinton regained its mojo.

Destiny Cyprian scored six of her 17 points in the extra period and Porshea Young scored four as the Lady Arrows went on a 12-3 run. Vicksburg didn’t score until Karry Callahan hit all three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt with 14 seconds remaining.

“For us to come back like we did shows a lot of character. But we still shouldn’t have been there. And free throws at the end hurt us,” Hartzog said.

Callahan had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Vicksburg (8-3), which had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Kiana Walker led Clinton (9-3) with 19 points and Olivia Jordan added 13.