Vicksburg High’s girls’ basketball program has reached the level where there is a sense of disappointment when it ends anywhere but the Mississippi Coliseum.

The Missy Gators did not get there this season. They lost 75-44 to Olive Branch in the second round of the MHSAA Class 6A tournament on Feb. 21, one game short of the state semifinals and a trip to Jackson.

Still, it was hard to label this season as anything but a success. They finished 18-13 — an eight-game improvement from last season — and started laying a foundation for the future. It all had coach Troy Stewart beaming despite a difficult exit from the state tournament.

“We overachieved. We were at a place, today, at Valley where we had an opportunity to play for a state championship. There are 24 teams in 6A and only eight of them had an opportunity to play,” Stewart said after the loss to Olive Branch. “No one saw us. No one in Vicksburg expected us to do as well as we did. So my ladies overachieved and I’m proud of them in every aspect.”

Vicksburg has reached the second round of the state tournament seven times in eight seasons under Stewart. It slumped to a 10-20 record in 2023-24 that included a first-round loss to Olive Branch, but rebounded well.

Led by the duo of point guard Zion Harvey and post Cynia Johnson, the Missy Gators finished second in the Region 2-6A tournament and beat Center Hill in the first round of the state tournament.

Harvey averaged 27 points, six assists and four rebounds per game. Johnson put up 23 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks. Both of them have signed with Holmes Community College.

“If you’ve lived in this city and you know Vicksburg Missy Gators basketball, they’ve carried us,” Stewart said. “They’re the backbone. They’re exactly what we’ve needed to get ourselves where we are now. Without Cynia and Zion, the season goes totally different.”

Harvey and Johnson carried a lot of the weight for the Missy Gators, but Stewart was also encouraged by the progress of a young core who pick up where the departing seniors left off.

Eighth-graders Alaina Williams, Aaliyah Mims and Madisyn Kimble, and freshman Zion Knox all saw significant playing time in the second half of the season. As much as they earned it, Stewart said putting them on the court so early in their high school careers was an investment in the future.

“I’m praying that it pays dividends,” Stewart said. “We never know how it’s going to pan out, but if I have any foresight at all I think that it will pay out for us because they got meaningful minutes in playoff basketball. They know what to expect, they know what to look forward to, and hopefully they get some fire in their belly and they want to get back here again.”

Stewart said he sees similarities between that group of rising players and another recent one. The core of Layla Carter, Janiah Caples and Kierra James, among others, also started as freshmen and won four consecutive region championships from 2020-23.

“I see a parallel simply because they’ve got every part of the game,” Stewart said. “They’ve got a big girl, they’ve got a great wing with Madisyn, they’ve got a point guard with Aaliyah Mims, and they’ve got two (eighth-grade) post players that are going to pan out. I just had too many post players in the gym this year to move them up. The summer should make them a lot better.”

The promise of a bright future provided some solace in an otherwise dismal day against Olive Branch.

The game was tied 18-all at the end of the first quarter, and then the Missy Gators went nearly five minutes without scoring in the second period. Olive Branch led by 21 points at halftime and by 33 at the end of the third quarter.
Johnson led Vicksburg with 20 points, Harvey had nine and Carjessa Albert scored eight.

“The pressure that they applied to us hurt us. We barely got it across halfcourt. The constant pressure they put on you worked,” Stewart said. “The girls played their hearts out. They worked as hard as they possibly could. If anything, we were just outplayed. They were a better team today.”

Stewart thanked Vicksburg’s fans and the community for their support throughout the season.

“We thank the community for coming out and supporting us the way that they did, especially today,” he said. “We meant to put on a better show, but the results came out like that. But the community supported us and we appreciate them.”