Before the season began, Vicksburg High girls basketball coach Troy Stewart sat down with his players Cynia Johnson and Zion Harvey to have a frank discussion about what was expected of them.

“I let them know before the season started that we would only go as far as they took us, and their attitude was going to mean a whole toward us getting far,” Stewart said. “It worked out. They’re special ladies.”

It worked out so well, in fact, that Johnson and Harvey wound up head and shoulders above the rest of the players in Warren County. They combined to average 50 points per game — as a team, Vicksburg averaged 61 — while leading the Missy Gators to the second round of the MHSAA Class 6A playoffs.

Now that it’s over, they’re standing tall again as The Vicksburg Post’s girls basketball Co-Players of the Year.
Harvey and Johnson were a perfect complement of skills. Harvey was a smooth, ball-handling point guard who averaged 27 points, six assists and four rebounds per game. Johnson was a bruiser in the post who averaged 23 points, 18 rebounds and three blocked shots.

“We fed off each other good. Cynia, she’d get her buckets and I’d be hyped because she would do her thing and it would get me started to do my thing,” Harvey said. “When a player’s hot you just keep kicking it to them and let them do what they do.”

Johnson said having two players performing at a high level was mutually beneficial. One or the other could carry the team if needed, but more often than not both were on and the Missy Gators were clicking. Vicksburg finished 18-13, an eight-win improvement over last season.

“If Zion’s not having a good game, then I’ve got to have a good game. If I’m not having a good game then Zion’s got to have a good game. Most of the time if one is off then the other one’s going to be on,” Johnson said.

The two players took different paths to high school stardom, but now seem intertwined.

Johnson has been part of Vicksburg’s program since she was in eighth grade, and a starter for the last two. Harvey transferred to VHS from Warren Central as a junior, sat out the 2023-24 season because of MHSAA transfer rules, and then blew up in her senior year.

Harvey was able to practice, but not play, with the Missy Gators last season. Johnson said that time together, plus a full summer schedule, had her excited about this season.

The Missy Gators came out hot at the start, with a 10-4 record before New Year’s. They cooled off some during the Region 2-6A schedule, but still finished second in the league tournament and reached the second round of the state tournament for the seventh time in eight years.

“After the summertime, that’s when I realized we could go somewhere,” Johnson said. “That’s the best point guard I’ve ever played with. She can see the floor real good.”

Harvey had similar high praise for Johnson’s skills, and the mutual admiration should continue a while longer. Both of them have signed to play at Holmes Community College.

“She could do everything she wanted to do, like rebounds, putbacks, kick-outs,” Harvey said. “Out of all the people, I would count on Cynia to get the rebound or make the layup. I trusted her to do what she had to do.”

Vicksburg Post Girls Basketball Players of the Year
2025 – Cynia Johnson and Zion Harvey, Vicksburg
2024 – Jae’la Smith, Porter’s Chapel
2023 – Layla Carter, Vicksburg
2022 – Destini Sims, Vicksburg
2021 – Yakia Burns, Porter’s Chapel
2020 – Destini Sims, Vicksburg
2019 – Aniya Sanders, Warren Central
2018 – Amber Gaston, Warren Central
2017 – Amber Gaston, Warren Central
2016 – Karry Callahan, Vicksburg
2015 – Karry Callahan, Vicksburg
2014 – Karry Callahan, Vicksburg
2013 – Ann Garrison Thomas, St. Aloysius
2012 – Ama Arkorful, Vicksburg
2011 – Donyeah Mayfield, Vicksburg
2010 – Donyeah Mayfield, Vicksburg
2009 – Sha’Kayla Caples, Warren Central
2008 – Sha’Kayla Caples, Warren Central
2007 – Sha’Kayla Caples, Warren Central
2006 – Sha’Kayla Caples, Warren Central
2005 – Cookie Johnson, Warren Central
2004 – Cookie Johnson, Warren Central
2003 – Cookie Johnson, Warren Central
2002 – JaQuita Benard, Warren Central
2001 – E.J. Willis, Porter’s Chapel
2000 – E.J. Willis, Porter’s Chapel
1999 – Catrina Frierson, Vicksburg
1998 – Catrina Frierson, Vicksburg
1997 – Cynthia Hall, Vicksburg
1996 – Lakeshia Blue, Warren Central
1995 – Tangie Cooper, Warren Central
1994 – Tangie Cooper, Warren Central
1993 – Tangie Cooper, Warren Central