Vicksburg High point guard Devin Jones brings the ball upcourt against Northwest Rankin’s Karl Calendar in a Jan. 28 game at Vicksburg. The Gators’ top scorer will lead the team into the Division 4-5A Tournament at Natchez starting on Tuesday. (Melanie Duncan ThortisThe Vicksburg Post)

The growing knot on the left side of his back was beginning to ache. The one on the right side was fresher, and just plain annoying. The twisted ankle he had been running on for a quarter, now that hurt.

But there was only one thing on Devin Jones’ mind during the final seconds of Vicksburg High’s 65-64 win against Warren Central on Feb. 1, and it wasn’t the pain he felt after taking two nasty falls and twisting his ankle in the second half.

It was winning, and Jones was going to do whatever he could to make sure the Gators did it.

First, he came up with a steal to deny WC one opportunity to take the lead. After a VHS turnover and a long timeout during which he hobbled around the court he jumped high in the air to grab a rebound of WC’s final shot and preserve the one-point win that gave the Gators the top seed in this week’s Division 4-5A tournament.

“It was a good effort,” teammate Roy Williams said. “I knew he was hurting, I could see it in his eyes. But he wanted to win, so he just fought through it.”

Jones’ play this season is a big reason the Gators went 22-7 during the regular season and earned the No. 1 seed for the division tournament.

In addition to his heroics against Warren Central, Jones is averaging 15.1 points, 3.5 steals, seven rebounds and four assists from the point guard position.

He has transformed himself from the pure scorer who first stepped into VHS’ gym four years ago to a solid point guard and team leader.

“No question, D.J. has done an outstanding job, and I don’t think there’s many in the state that are better than he is,” VHS coach Dellie Robinson said. “There’s no question about it, he’s the key. He’s the glue that holds us together.”

Jones’ defense often sets up the Gators offense. He often seems to know where an opponent is passing the ball before they do, and quickly fills the passing lane.

The steals generated by his anticipation usually lead to easy fast-break points, or result in a defensive stop at the very least.

“Most times I anticipate in my mind what I would do in that situation. He’s a high school player and so am I, so we’re on the same level and thinking the same things,” Jones said. “Most times I anticipate right. We’re (22-7), and I guess I’ve been anticipating kind of good lately.”

Robinson said Jones’ defense is more than just good anticipation. Jones often takes game tapes home to study, and it helps the point guard see more than just X’s and O’s, Robinson said.

“The biggest thing about him is, this kid understands the game. A lot of kids don’t understand the game, and by that I mean timeouts and fouls and situations, things like that. He understands those things,” Robinson said.

It was understanding a different type of situation that helped Jones’ career at the point take off in the first place.

Jones started his high school career as a shooting guard, but was forced to switch to point guard last season. D’Eldrick Taylor had been slated to be VHS’ starting point guard, but hurt his knee playing football and missed the entire basketball season.

Robinson had faith that the move would work, but Jones had his doubts.

“I can honestly say, I didn’t like it at first. I didn’t think a point guard was a scorer at first, and I do want to score,” Jones said. “But once I got used to it, I looked at it as the point guard being the captain, the general out there, and everything goes through me. I fell in love with that.”

Not only did he fall in love, he thrived at the point last season. Jones averaged 10.3 points, 5.2 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game, and was selected to the Vicksburg Post’s All-County team.

“He accepted the role quite well, because he understood that he was the leader of this basketball team and that’s what we needed him to do,” Robinson said.

As successful as last season was for Jones, the ending left a bitter taste in the mouths of he and his teammates.

The Gators seemed destined to make a run in the Class 5A playoffs, but were derailed by a home loss to Clinton in the first round of the division tournament.

The sting of that loss hasn’t been forgotten by this year’s players, including the four starters who were a big part of last year’s team.

“It burned us real bad, because we came so close … We just came up a couple of plays short. We worked all summer with that in our minds,” Williams said.

“This season, I think everybody is determined and focused. We’re all humble. We want to do something this year.”

They’ll start Tuesday night at Natchez at 5:30 p.m. The Gators handled Natchez easily in two meetings this season, but that means nothing if they can’t beat the Bulldogs for a third time on their home floor.

“We’ve got to win that first one. That’s the big one right there,” Williams said. “Especially with the stakes, where the one who loses goes home. It is extra pressure, because we lost in the first round last year and felt we could’ve gone somewhere.”

The Gators have plenty of talent to go where they dream in the playoffs. In addition to Jones, Williams is averaging 9.1 points and 3.1 steals, and L.J. Scott averages 11.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

“I’m not the type of player that’s going to forget my teammates. There’s too much talent on this team just to do it by myself,” Jones said.

When it comes to crunch time though, the Gators know they’ll be riding on the back of their point guard and leader. He’ll carry them as far as he has to, then go a few steps farther to put the Gators in a position to win.

“He’s going to be the key,” Robinson said. “If he stays out of foul trouble and can play 25 or 26 minutes for us, I think we’re going to move on in the playoffs.”

Warren Central’s boys will play the final game Tuesday night against Clinton, a team the Vikings lost to by 10 points in the last meeting.

On the girls side, Warren Central and Vicksburg will tip it off for the fifth time this season in the tournament’s first game on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

“They’ve had our number this year,” WC coach Donny Fuller said.

“They whipped up three out of four and I’d let them have four out of four if they’d let me have this one.”