At this point of the season, Vicksburg girls basketball coach Barbara Hartzog has seen every scheme thrown at her team.

Zone and man-to-man defenses, full- and half-court presses, are checks marked off of the “been there, beat that” list of styles she’s run into.

So when the Missy Gators venture out on the road in the second round of the MHSAA Class 5A girls basketball state tournament Friday night against Oxford, the key elements they have to embrace are to stay focused, have faith in their teammates and simply play their brand of basketball.

“There’s nothing Oxford can throw at us that we don’t know how to handle. It’s just they got to do it and they have to have that focus. You can’t be at Vicksburg when we’re playing in Oxford,” Hartzog said. “I think they’re hungry for it.”

Personally, Hartzog enjoys playing on the road because it strips away the distractions associated with playing at home. She said teams have to play on the road to win a state championship.

This is the last round of the state tournament played at school sites. The quarterfinals are at Jackson State, and the semifinals and finals at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.

The Vicksburg-Oxford winner will play either Hattiesburg or Laurel in the quarterfinals on March 4 at 5:30 p.m.

“We’ve had good games on the road,” Hartzog said.

Oxford (24-4) went undefeated in Region 2-5A play this season and has a 16-game winning streak coming into Friday’s game. Three of its four losses came in a single week in December. Oxford lost to Lafayette, and then to Lovett from Atlanta and Pulaski Academy from Little Rock, Arkansas in the Smoky Mountain Classic.

The Missy Gators, however, are beginning to click at the right time.

Vicksburg (13-16) beat Ridgeland — which handed Oxford its other loss back in November — in the first round of the division tournament to clinch a spot in the state tournament. Vicksburg was the No. 4 seed in the tournament.

The Missy Gators then used a late surge in the fourth quarter to beat Germantown in the first round for its first state tournament victory since 1999.

This is only the third state tournament appearance for Vicksburg since 1999, although it is the second in three seasons.

“Nobody thought they would be there,” Hartzog said. “You go in No. 4 they think you’re through. We won at the right time, guarantee us a ticket to the playoff, got a home game and … this bracket was best for us.”

Hartzog said everyone on the team has to show up in some form or fashion against Oxford and, while there might be some who are known to have a lot of on-court responsibilities, others have to be there for support and backing.

“The competition we played on our schedule is tough,” Hartzog said. “We might not have the wins other people have but we’re playing teams that are making us better.

“We had some tough games at the end of our season that helped us with district. I really believe that helped us at the right time. I know we’re in the best bracket for our team.”

With everything coming together for her team at the right time of the season, neither the Chargers’ record nor their depth intimidates Hartzog heading into Friday.

It’s about whomever wants to win the game the most come Friday.

“I’ve seen who they played and I’ve never seen the teams but I’ve seen the names. It seems like we’re even,” Hartzog said. “I think they go about seven deep. We can go pretty deep and still be OK, where some are deep with seven deep and the two coming in (off the bench) aren’t really a threat.”