Vicksburg had enough of the back-and-forth pace through the first three quarters against Germantown Monday night.

The Missy Gators used a 17 point fourth quarter – including a four-point play from Micha Williams, who scored all nine of her points in the fourth – to edge out the Lady Mavericks 46-38 in the opening round of the MHSAA Girls Basketball Championship tournament.

After a tightly played third quarter left the Missy Gators down by a point, Williams trigged a 10-0 run with a signature three-pointer from the left corner. During this stretch, Maya Clay grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback layup and Williams hit another 3 with 5:50 left in the game.

But what really was the shining moment of the fourth-quarter run was the four-point play from Williams as she was fouled while shooting a 3 from the same spot in which the run began. Williams calmly stepped to the free-throw line and capped off the sporadiac feat.

Teammates Keiyana Gaskin and Leslee Toole said that play boosted the teams confidence in closing out the game.

“I definetly think after the four-point play they felt like ‘Well what else is there to do?’” Toole said.

“They started to drop their heads and we just kept playing our game,” Gaskin said. “After the four-point play I think we just got a mentality that it was our win.”

Germantown broke the fourth-quarter slump with a three pointer from Essence Lambert after the Lady Mavericks looked frustarted as the chance to extend their season faded away with each ticking second.

Germantown’s Emily Duran hit a euro-step layup to try to trim the lead to single digits and Kyndall Hardeman put the game within reach at 43-37, however, the Lady Mavericks couldn’t capitalize on three consecutive offensive rebounds late in the game. Duran scored their final point on a free-throw attempt.

Scoring didn’t always come easy for the Missy Gators.

The Lady Mavericks jumped to an early 8-0 lead in the first quarter before Karry Callahan ended the drought scoring the first of her game-high 14 points on a post layup with 2:00 left in the first. Callhan also collected 18 rebounds.

Germantown also had a shot at two four-point plays in the second and third quarter, but failed at converting the extra points.

Gaskin and Toole ascribed the teams sluggish performance to time off and nerves.

“I think we just had to get loose and get the feel of it,” Gaskin said.

“I think after having a little bit of time off, we didn’t get to actually practice,” Toole said. “I felt like we were nervous going in. Even though we played (Germantown) before, we didn’t know if they were better or not.”

Once the Missy Gators shook off the rust and got traction underneath them, they would go on to outscore Germantown in the second and fourth quarter.

At times, it seemed as if luck wasn’t on the side of Vicksburg.

The team struggled with shooting the ball as it either fell shy of the rim or was thrown away as part of 17 turnovers made throughout the game.

Coupled with the Missy Gators’ nine total assist of the night, it averages to a turnover to almost every two possessions.

“I feel like we did a great job,” Toole said after the win. “We could’ve started off a little better but I still feel like we came together and pulled it off.”