A good indicator of a blowout is when the cheerleaders from both schools engage in a cheer battle and it gets the crowd’s attention off the game and on to them. By the fourth quarter Saturday, the battle was on.

Vicksburg came away with a 51-36 victory over crosstown rival Warren Central. The Gators led the entire game and by as many as 20 points in the third quarter. The win is much needed for the Gators, who snapped a four-game losing streak and won for the first time since Nov. 12.

Kenneth Murphy, Dentarius Richardson and Raheam Moore all scored in double figures with Murphy finishing with 14 and Moore and Richardson 10 each.

“Any time you beat your rivals you got to feel good about yourself and your team,” Gators coach Dellie C. Robinson said.

Coming into the game, Robinson knew his Gators would have to slow down Warren Central’s guards and play the game on the perimeter. Both teams lack a physical presence in the paint. Vicksburg was able to do that with its quickness and a wide 3-2 zone defense.

Warren Central guards Jalen Allen and Shunterrance Walton only scored seven points apiece, while Jesse Wilson went 1-for-4 from the free throw line. It was Wilson’s only point.

“What we try to do is try to play it wide and try to guard those guards,” Robinson said. “Those guards are tremendous, they can shoot and drive the ball to the basket. I thought that was the difference, the guards never got a chance to get going.”

Moore scored all of his points in the first half, which helped the Gators take a 15-point lead early in the second quarter and a 25-15 lead at halftime. At the break, Robinson told his players they were right where they needed to be.

The Vikings came out of the gate slow, only scoring three points in the first quarter from a field goal by Kevin Virges and a made free throw from Walton.

“That kind of epitomizes the first half,” Vikings coach Bruce Robinson said. “The first two passes in, the guys were nervous in this environment. The focus just wasn’t there in the first half.”

Allen was able to cut the deficit to single digits midway through the fourth quarter, in the midst of forced jumpers and offense by the Vikings. Bruce Robinson said fatigue settled in and kept his team from capitalizing on the momentum. Warren Central never got closer than eight points.

“You can’t shy away from big games. If you want to play at a high level, you got to play in big games … you have to shine,” Bruce Robinson said. “This is what you live to do.”