MADISON — The ninth-grade Vicksburg Missy Gators are one win away from perfection and a championship.

Layla Carter finished with a double-double, totaling 16 points and 12 rebounds, as Vicksburg beat Clinton 40-25 in the semifinals of the Little Six Conference girls’ basketball tournament on Thursday.

Kalia Bland and Janiah Caples added eight points apiece for the Missy Gators, and Jalisa Tyler finished with six points and eight rebounds.

Vicksburg won despite making just 15 of 44 shots from the field (34.1 percent) and 10 of 20 from the free throw line. Coach Deatra Robinson-Cable said they were able to pull through by making adjustments on the fly.

Vicksburg led 23-16 at halftime, but never let Clinton get close in the second half.

“We did not shoot well. We got in a shooting rut and never got out of it, so we had to put the ball on the floor and get to the basket,” Robinson-Cable said. “That’s what I love about these girls, is they are coachable kids.”

Vicksburg (15-0) will play either Germantown or Northwest Rankin — who played in a semifinal later Thursday night — in the championship game Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Germantown High School.

Vicksburg’s ninth-grade team has not won the Little Six title since the 1990s.

Germantown’s only two losses this season came at the hands of the Missy Gators, while Northwest Rankin gave them one of their toughest games. Northwest Rankin jumped on the Missy Gators in the first quarter, before Vicksburg fought back and won by seven points early in the regular season.