The sun is still passing through the sporting constellation of basketball. The NBA is in the final stretch of its regular season and March Madness will soon have those invested promptly checking their brackets and sneaking away to catch a few moments of their collegiate teams try and avoid an upset in an emotionally charged four weeks.

But now a once hot, bright blue star has cooled and turned white and its collective name is “basketball in Warren County.”

Experiencing basketball among the Vicksburg-Warren County School District, Vicksburg Catholic Schools and Porters Chapel Academy was different. Mainly because of contemporary music was played to liven up the crowd .

Nevertheless, the four schools and eight teams whose home court is in Vicksburg played pretty good basketball and have players who show a lot of heart and love for the game.

The Vicksburg Gators play traditional basketball in the sense of getting the ball to the big man and letting him dominate his opponent. Even when teams would try to take their identity from them, Kirk Parker found a way to will his team to win as he did against Neshoba Central in their district tournament.

Anyone who watches Shaun Walton play basketball can immediately feel his passion for the game. He’s also one of the few players who haven’t given up on playing a very important part of the game called defense.

In the span of five days, Walton walked off the field for his Vikings in a playoff game and was able to start his 20 ppg season on the court. Walton’s three point shooting and rebounding are factors that make him a great player to study.

Speaking of rebounds, Karry Callahan was even a greater prospect to watch keep possessions alive, ignite a fast break, or find Micha Williams in her spots for a knockdown 3.

Both the Missy Gators and Lady Vikes played with intensity and equally dispise the taste of losing, which made for two great games.

St. Aloysius was a bit unorthodox sharing a coach but yielding two different results on the court. Watching the Flashes was a pleasant surprise with a crowd as supportive as Alcorn football. Both teams proved they were capable of beating anyone on the other side of the court.

Porters Chapel preservered through their season despite a season of unfortunate losses.

But, its season is the epitome of playing sports, which is never giving up and learning from tough times.