In Vicksburg’s guards the team will trust.

The Gators are heading into their third matchup this season against Neshoba Central in the third-place game of the Division 4-5A tournament. In the previous two meetings, the Rockets claimed 24- and 22-point victories.

It’s a matchup that makes Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson uneasy, especially when a loss will end the season.

Tip off is at 5:30 p.m. at Lanier High School in Jackson.

“Neshoba’s a bad matchup for us,” Robinson said. “They have all those great shooters on their basketball team. Plus they’re an experienced basketball team as well.”

If the Gators (9-16) have a good night shooting the ball — similar to their games against Brandon and Greenville last week — and get forward Kirk Parker involved with one-on-one situations in the post, then Robinson believes they could go toe-to-toe with the Rockets (24-3).

However, if they succumb to their substantial weakness of shooting the ball and can’t feed Parker, it’ll result in forced offensive production.

Robinson hopes to get a consistent scoring performance from guards Kenneth Murphy and Dentarius Richardson to force Neshoba to guard the perimeter, which will open up the inside.

“The guards are going to be the key for us,” Robinson said. “If we’re going to have an opportunity to win, it’s going to be about our guards’ ability to make shots. The key for us is, we got to play good defense because we’ve got to get to their shooters and we have to be able to score.”

Vicksburg ran zone and man-to-man defense against Neshoba Central in the prior games and neither style was successful. Robinson knows he has to switch up his defenses, instead of sticking to one throughout an entire game.

Neshoba runs an efficient motion offense and the Gators have been watching film to see when their defenders need to switch and close out on shooters.

“We got to do some things we haven’t been doing the last two times,” Robinson said. “We’re going to get in the 1-3-1 and trap them, we’re going to get in the 1-2-2 and trap them and play them straight man-to-man.”

The Missy Gators face a similar situation as the boys team in their division tournament title game against Lanier Friday at 7 p.m. Vicksburg dropped its previous two matchups to the Lady Bulldogs, losing by 66-43 at home on Jan. 22 and by five in Jackson two weeks later.

VHS coach Barbara Hartzog touched on the similarity between the two teams and how well they match up against each other.

“The fact they have certain players they depend on, we have certain players we depend on. We have some that play a role. I think we go deeper on our bench if our girls are playing right. We’re going into their house and we play well on the road,” Hartzog said.

Whatever happens in Friday’s game against Lanier, the Missy Gators will play another home game next week. With a win, they’ll earn a first-round bye in the Class 5A state tournament and will have a week off. If they lose, they’ll play Monday night.

In an effort to bring a new dynamic to this third meeting, the Missy Gators will head into this game with confidence and a “take care of business” attitude.

“I don’t see where the pressure is on us,” Hartzog said. “To me the bracket doesn’t matter because if you’re going to win you’re going to end up playing the best teams anyway so just go play.”

For preparation, the Missy Gators continued to work on their free throw shooting. It’s a weakness that has haunted them all season. They were 13-of-33 from the charity stripe in a 47-45 win against Ridgeland in Monday’s first round, and are shooting 40 percent for the season.

Hartzog isn’t worried about the third game this season against Lanier (15-10). She said the pressure on them was erased with Monday’s victory against Ridgeland.

Vicksburg (12-15) has not won a division championship since 1999. This is only its third appearance in the division tournament title game since then, although it did make it two years ago.

“We’re going to have to make sure we’re patient on their press and not allow them to trap us. We have to make sure we don’t let (Brittany) Rose take over the game. Other than that if we come out and play we’ll be OK,” Hartzog said.

Division 4-5A Tournament

At Lanier High School

Girls

Friday

Neshoba Central vs. Ridgeland, 4 p.m.

Vicksburg vs. Lanier, 7 p.m.

Boys

Friday

Vicksburg vs. Neshoba Central, 5:30 p.m.

Lanier vs. Ridgeland, 8:30 p.m.