After a grueling couple of weeks, there’s no place the Vicksburg Missy Gators would rather start the postseason than home, sweet home.

The Missy Gators (17-12) played their way into a second-place finish at last week’s Region 2-6A tournament, which also gave them a home game in the first round of the MHSAA Class 6A girls basketball state tournament. They’ll play Center Hill (12-15) Friday at 5:30 p.m.

“Hopefully we’ll have a large crowd. It’s always best to play at home if you get the opportunity. Last week, after going to Neshoba three times, staying off the road is going to be a big advantage for us,” Vicksburg coach Troy Stewart said.

Under the current format for the state tournament, the first round is the only time games are played at campus sites. The second-round games are played at college arenas around the state, and the semifinals and finals are at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.

The Vicksburg-Center Hill winner will face either Olive Branch (20-8) or Neshoba Central (14-15) at Mississippi Valley State on Feb. 21.

The bracket has also been shortened to only four rounds, which Stewart said made having homecourt advantage for one of them even more important.

“It’s a lot bigger now, simply because they’ve taken one of the rounds of games out. This game catapults you into a college arena. There’s not two games to get there any more. It’s one game to get there,” Stewart said. “It feels good knowing that my girls have played their way into this. You want that home game. Nobody wants to travel that first game.”

The top two teams from each classification’s four regions will host games this weekend, and the Missy Gators earned their spot by winning two of their three games at the Region 2-6A tournament.

It was part of a late-season surge in which they’ve won four of six. Both losses — including the region tournament championship game — were to Callaway (26-3), which is ranked No. 2 in Class 6A.

“I think we’re peaking at the correct time,” Stewart said. “We’re playing as good as we’ve played all season, even though we have some big wins this year. Everything’s coming together. I think we’re looking real good right now.”

Beating Center Hill won’t be easy. The Mustangs started 5-13, but have gone 7-3 over their last 10 games to earn the No. 3 seed from Region 1-6A.

“They’ve got a decent team and they play solid defense everywhere. Hopefully we can get out and run on them, and if we can get up and down the floor it may be good for us,” Stewart said.

Vicksburg has been led all season by its “big two” of Zion Harvey and Cynia Johnson, both of whom are averaging in double figures in scoring. Lately, though, they’ve been getting significant contributions all over the lineup.

Jada Erwin made four 3-pointers and scored 12 points in a 53-46 win over Neshoba Central in the region tournament. Jordan Grace had nine points in a regular-season victory over Ridgeland on Jan. 28, and Ny’Keria Watson scored seven in another tournament win against Warren Central.

The more those players can contribute, Stewart said, the better the Missy Gators’ chances of advancing.

“When that supporting cast looks good, we look good,” Stewart said. “We have a whole bunch of options to get us the secondary scoring. I’m proud of the way they’re stepping up, too.”

MHSAA CLASS 6A TOURNAMENT
Girls – First round
Friday, Feb. 14
Center Hill at Vicksburg, 5:30 p.m.
Neshoba Central at Olive Branch
Pascagoula at West Jones
Hattiesburg at West Harrison
Lake Cormorant at Callaway
Columbus at South Panola
Forest Hill at Hancock
Picayune at Terry