RIDGELAND — The Vicksburg Gators kept feeding the ball inside to Kirk Parker, and he kept feeding it into the basket. Pass after pass, point after point, they all piled up to form one heck of a day for both the team and its resident superstar.

Parker totaled a career-high 35 points and 12 rebounds as Vicksburg beat West Point 64-53 Monday at the Titan Shootout at Ridgeland High School.

“That was my best game since I was in high school. I didn’t even realize it. I was just trying to help my team,” Parker said. “It felt kind of good going in. I pump-faked and they were going for it, so I just took it in. I powered up and my teammates kept giving me the ball.”

Raheam Moore added 14 points for the Gators (8-4), who finally had an easy time of it after a string of close games. Their previous four games were all decided by five points or less, and three of them were decided by two points.

On Monday, the Gators led by 11 at halftime and never let West Point (3-8) get closer than seven in the second half.

Austin Crowley led West Point with 29 points.

“It was nice to sit there at the end of the game and not worry about having to draw up a play to win or figure out who’s going to get the ball. It helped me tonight, I know that,” Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson said with a chuckle.

The biggest reason for the easy win was Parker. The 6-foot-5 senior forward had plenty of room to operate in the low post and took full advantage of it. He nearly outscored West Point by himself in the first half, totaling 18 points while the Green Wave had 19. Every point came either on free throws or shots from within 6 feet of the basket.

“Coach told us to come out aggressive and the middle was open. So when they drove the middle I just stayed baseline and was open. I was focused tonight,” Parker said.

Parker did the bulk of the scoring, but his teammates did contribute some timely baskets of their own.
West Point whittled its halftime deficit to seven, 35-28, midway through the third quarter. Parker converted a three-point play with 2:30 to go in the period, and then Moore drained a 3-pointer 45 seconds later to push it back to a 13-point advantage.

West Point hit two quick baskets after that, but Moore hit another 3-pointer with 28 seconds left and Kamari English drained all three free throws after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

English’s free throws gave the Gators a 47-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter, and West Point never got closer than nine points again.

Darius Johnson also scored six points off the bench in the second half, all of them on inside shots, to take some of the defensive pressure off of Parker.

Vicksburg will return to action Dec. 30 at 6:30 p.m., when it travels to face Jefferson County. After that, the Gators will have off until Jan. 6 when they return to Ridgeland to face the Titans in their Division 4-5A opener.

(G) West Point 63, VHS 31

Aamiya Rush scored 24 points, Jamia Hollings added 16 and Tyteanna Johnson had 12 to lead a balanced effort as West Point (7-2) demolished Vicksburg (3-8) in the Missy Gators’ final game of the Titan Shootout.

Vicksburg committed 31 turnovers and was a dismal 11-for-65 (16.9 percent) shooting from the field. For the season, Vicksburg is shooting just 22 percent as a team.

“They’re just not falling. We’re getting shots, but they’re not falling. We’re rushing it, maybe, or as soon as we catch it we think we’ve got to shoot it,” Vicksburg coach Barbara Hartzog said, her tone indicating she was as perplexed about the season-long dry spell as she was trying to explain its origins.

Jayla Sims led the Missy Gators on Monday with 10 points. Aaleah Harris had six points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots, and Maya Clay finished with six rebounds and two blocks.

The Missy Gators have one game left in 2016, on Dec. 29 at McComb. After that they’ll play their Division 4-5A opener at Ridgeland on Jan. 6 and then at Warren Central the following day.

Vicksburg is in the middle of a 10-game road trip and doesn’t play another home game until Jan. 21 against Germantown in the Red Carpet Classic.