Vicksburg beats Germantown in Red Carpet Classic
Published 11:37 pm Saturday, January 21, 2017
Following a moment of silence for head coach Dellie C. Robinson, who has been hospitalized for nearly two weeks with an illness, Vicksburg dominated Germantown in a fast-paced game to close out the 2017 Red Carpet Basketball Classic with a local victory, 56-36.
“The guys came out pretty good,” interim Vicksburg coach Kelvin Carter said. “They kind of got flat after a while, but they were playing pretty hard. We were making some shots early on and then it kind of tapered off a little bit. We went into a dead period where we couldn’t make shots consistently.”
Early fouls didn’t allow Vicksburg to get ahead as much as it would have liked because of its strong defensive play and kept the Mavericks at the Gators’ tails.
“We started fouling them early, putting them on the free throw line, which enabled them to stay in the game early. We were trying to keep them off the free throw line by playing defense, and we picked up a few cheap fouls,” Carter said.
The Gators got out to a quick start by pressing, setting a fast pace and forcing turnovers. Vicksburg grabbed the lead before cooling off a bit, but all the while continued to stay ahead and went into halftime up 23-13.
“We got about a 10-point lead, and we didn’t go up or down for a little while. Later on in the third quarter we started to ease off a little bit,” Carter said.
Carter might have felt the team lost some intensity as the game wore on, but Vicksburg never led by less than 13 the entire third quarter. It went into the fourth ahead 39-25.
The Gators then snapped out of whatever funk they were feeling and upped the lead from 12 points to 20 in 2 1/2 minutes. The game got more physical as it progressed with two Gators, Joe Thomas and Kirk Parker, even going for dunks in the second half.
“I believe they can play a little harder than they’ve been playing, and I think in the later part of the game they really showed that. The referees let them play too,” Carter said.
Parker led Vicksburg with 16 points, and Thomas had 10. Bryson Thompson led Germantown with 11 points.
Carter felt the game was a genuine team effort. Moving forward, the main thing they are focusing on is continuing to play together and following the team plan all the way to the playoffs, especially for Robinson.
“I think it was a collective effort tonight,” he said. “We did good as a team offensively and defensively. When we scored, we scored as a team, and when we defended, we defended as a team.”
(G) Germantown 54, Vicksburg 42
The Vicksburg Missy Gators never gave in, but didn’t win either as Germantown muscled its way to a win in the Red Carpet Classic.
Germantown’s Andy Duran scored 20 points, and Briasha King had 12.
“They outplayed us,” Vicksburg coach Barbara Hartzog said. “They got down the floor quicker than we did. Our shots aren’t falling right now. We’ve got to start hitting our shots.”
The teams got through the first quarter tied at 12, but Germantown outscored Vicksburg 17-5 in the second quarter and led 29-17 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the teams played pretty evenly, but because of Germantown’s big lead it was in control going into the final quarter 43-29. The Lady Mavericks pushed their lead to 15 close to the end, but the Missy Gators got a late 3-pointer to cut into the deficit. Vicksburg actually outscored Germantown 13-11 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough.
Practicing harder, working together and making better decisions are areas the team needs to refine, Hartzog said. Getting the whole team on the same page, at the same time is her goal as the Missy Gators turn into the final stretch of the season.
Vicksburg has three division games in the next 10 days — Tuesday against Ridgeland, Friday against Neshoba Central, and Jan. 31 against Lanier. All of them are at home.
“We’ve just got some areas we’re got to improve on,” Hartzog said. “We’ve got to come together as a team.”
As tough as the game was, she said the Missy Gators never gave up and continued to push until the end.
“They’ll be all right as long as they don’t give up,” Hartzog said.