BRANDON — Every time Vicksburg made a run at Brandon, the Bulldogs ran a little farther away. By the end of the game, they were so far in the distance it would have taken a pair of binoculars to spot them.

JaQuevias Tervin hit four 3-pointers and led five Brandon players in double figures with 20 points, as the Bulldogs routed Vicksburg 81-53 on Friday night.

Brandon hit seven 3-pointers as a team and used several big runs in the second and third quarters to pull away from the Gators.

“It seemed like we made one good play and then made two or three plays bad and they pulled right back off,” Vicksburg coach Kelvin Carter said. “This season we’ve been fighting a lot of senior-oriented teams, especially senior guards, and that’s been a big blow to us.”

Ke’Darrion Parson scored 16 points and Jameson Norfort eight for Vicksburg (5-9), which has lost five of its last six games heading into Tuesday’s Division 4-5A opener at Callaway. The Gators also have another division game at Ridgeland and a home game with crosstown rival Warren Central on the schedule next week.

“I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but it’s just the inexperience. This lack of floor experience is really wearing on us,” Carter said. “We just have to continue to keep working. It’s going to get better. We anticipated we were going to have to work a little bit this year. We lost six seniors last year and only played eight guys.”

Brandon led 21-15 after one quarter, but bookended the second period with a pair of huge runs. The first was a 12-0 surge to start the quarter, capped by a 3-pointer by Tyree Cochran that made it 33-15 with 5:17 to go.

Vicksburg chipped away at that deficit, getting it down to eight at one point, until Brandon closed the half with a 10-2 run. Tervin drilled a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left to make it 44-28 at halftime and erase all of the hard work the Gators had done to recover from the first run.

In the third quarter, Vicksburg again got as close as 12 points and appeared ready to make a game of it. Tervin made another 3-pointer, however, to push the lead back to 54-39 with 2:35 remaining. It was 63-43 at the end of the quarter and the Gators never threatened again.

Cochran finished with 12 points for the Bulldogs (13-5), while Kevin Taylor, Carl Porter and Willie Miller each scored 11.

(G) Brandon 68, Vicksburg 40

Vicksburg girls’ coach Troy Stewart wasn’t sure how many turnovers and assorted mistakes his team made Friday night against Brandon. Eventually, he stopped counting.

The Missy Gators committed more than two dozen turnovers, went 14-for-27 from the free throw line, and lost by 28 points in their first game of 2018.

“It was turnovers, and we couldn’t make free throws. Free throws have been killing us all year. We’re playing faster and getting the things we’re trying to get accomplished done, and we cannot finish on one end,” Stewart said. “We can’t push the tempo. Every time we get on defense we’re in foul trouble, so we can’t get a rebound and take off.”

Kayla Simmons scored a game-high 23 points for Brandon (11-6), while Jamya Blue added 12, Alexia Gaylor had 11 and Tandria Minor scored 10.

Brandon was ahead 30-13 at halftime and its lead never dipped into single digits in the second half. It used a 16-2 run early in the fourth quarter to end any thoughts of a comeback by the Missy Gators.

Kemari Smith led Vicksburg (8-6) with 13 points. Karmen Davenport scored nine and Shakora Knight had eight.

The Missy Gators have lost two in a row after winning their previous four games.

“The majority of our turnovers were self-inflicted. They didn’t do anything to us. We just turned it over,” Stewart said.

(B) Warren Central 62, Greenville 52

Chavis Smith scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half to lead Warren Central (12-3, 1-0 Division 4-6A) past Greenville (10-6, 0-1).

Jalen Glass aded 14 points and Jalen Allen scored eight for the Vikings, who were 13-for-17 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Smith and Allen hit 10 of those. In the first three quarters, WC had gone 4-for-10 at the line.

(G) Warren Central 35, Greenville 34

T.T. Sims scored 13 points, Cocoa Fultz added 11 points and five assists, and Amber Gaston had seven points and nine rebounds as Warren Central (13-4, 1-0 Division 4-6A) edged Greenville (10-7, 0-1).
Dee Dee Caldwell grabbed eight rebounds for Warren Central.