By Cody Thomason
The Vicksburg Post

In the fourth quarter of last week’s game against Ridgeland a seemingly open layup floated toward the rim — until Vicksburg junior Jaymeson Norfort met the ball at its apex and sent it howling to the floor.
As he turned to run back on offense, Norfort gave the shooter a silent glare, as if he was daring him to try and meet him at the rim again.

It was Norfort’s 10th block in the game — he finished with 12 — and the latest monster performance in a stretch of three games where he’s averaged nine blocks a night. Norfort’s excellence on defense is nothing new, but his recent play has been on another level, even for him.

“It’s district time, I feel like I have to step up,” Norfort said. “If I get blocks it kind of turns the team up on defense.”

Vicksburg coach Kelvin Carter said Norfort’s impeccable defense is what’s been carrying the Gators (8-14, 2-3 Division 4-5A) through winning three of their last four games.

They’ll play a non-division game Tuesday at home against Pearl, and then will face Germantown at home on Friday night with a chance to sew up a top-three seed in next month’s division tournament.

The recent hot streak has also come after the Gators had lost nine of 10 in a monthlong slump.

“He’s stepped up tremendously,” Carter said. “Taking on the leadership role on defense, daring the other guys to play just as hard as he’s playing, he’s been tremendous on defense.”

Carter said he wasn’t surprised by Norfort’s recent dominance.

“It’s always been in him,” Carter said. “I kind of pull him back a little bit, because he gets a couple of fouls every now and then, but his timing is on a whole other level.”

Norfort, a 6-foot-4 forward, has had a knack for shot blocking for years, but he attributed his growth in that area to honing the mental aspects of the game.

Norfort has had at least two blocks in seven of the Gators’ last eight games. He’s also grabbed four rebounds or more in the same number of games, some of them off of his blocks.

“The smarter I get, the easier it gets,” Norfort said. “If I see it, then I can just capitalize on it.”

Just looking at Norfort’s block numbers doesn’t tell the whole story for how much impact he has on the defense. Even when he’s not landing the block, he alters opponent’s shots and makes it harder for them to get clean looks at the rim.

“They get to where they’re just throwing it up, changing their shots so I just can’t get it,” Norfort said. “It’s good, because most likely they’ll miss their shot if they change it.”

Carter said Norfort was an integral part of the Gators’ defense.

“You might say he is the defense right now, but we’re kind of working game by game for everybody else to get better at the same time,” Carter said.

Norfort’s also been trying to expand his offensive game so he can have a bigger impact on both sides of the floor. He’s currently averaging 3.8 points per game and has only scored in double figures twice this season.

“We’ve been coming back to the lab in the evening time, getting him to shoot a few extra shots because there’s some schools that are interested in him, but he’s got to be able to make that shot,” Carter said. “He has to be able to make that jump shot, 10-15 footer, and he should be in good shape.

“He’s actually been improving offensively, and he just hasn’t got a whole lot of looks,” Carter added. “He’s been a defensive player since eighth grade, that’s been his forte, so if he just continues to take it game by game, and improve his skills to try and get his team involved as well as him.”

Though the offensive strides are important, there’s still nothing quite like setting the tone with an emphatic rejection for Norfort.

“It’s my favorite thing,” Norfort said. “That’s what I look forward to when the game starts.”