Vicksburg’s Rachel Jenkins (53) puts up a shot against Collins’ Jessica McLaurin during the Missy Gators’ 66-56 win Thursday night. (Jon GiffinThe Vicksburg Post)

[11/19/04] After watching his team fall behind Collins late in the third quarter Thursday night, Vicksburg High coach Mike Coleman switched from the Missy Gators’ base defense to another set called “22 deny.”

The defense lived up to its name. It denied Collins a win.

VHS forced nine turnovers in the fourth quarter and outscored the Lady Tigers 32-12 in the last 10 minutes to claim a 66-56 victory.

“It’s just kind of a gamble defense, and you could see that at the end when they started to throw over the top of it,” Coleman said of 22 deny. “We went to that and it kind of turned everything around.”

Rachel Jenkins led the Missy Gators with 27 points, Cre’Tarsha Taylor had 14 and Tiffany Williams added 12. Kristin Ellis finished with seven points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Tiara Buckhalter had 24 points for Collins, while Michelle Agee netted 14. Agee hit four 3-pointers for the Lady Tigers (1-2), including a pair midway through the third quarter that sparked a 10-0 run.

The surge put Collins ahead 42-32, the first double-digit lead by either team to that point, but it was short-lived.

After the teams traded baskets, Vicksburg went on an 8-0 run to close the third quarter to cut it to 44-42. After a couple of missed layups that would have given them the lead, the Missy Gators finally went ahead 46-44 on Taylor’s 6-foot leaner off the glass with 6:30 to play in the fourth quarter.

“We knew we were playing kind of bad and we knew we had to step it up,” said Jenkins, who also had six rebounds and four steals. “We knew we were a much better team than what we were playing like in the first half.”

Vicksburg extended the lead to six points before Buckhalter hit two layups to cut it to 50-48. After a 3-pointer by VHS’ Kendra Sims, Buckhalter hit another shot to make it 53-52.

That was as close as Collins got. The Missy Gators finished the game with a 13-4 run, including an uncontested layup by Collins’ Amanda Barnes as time expired.

“We’ve been a team of spurts all year. At Greenville we scored 21 points in the third quarter and three in the fourth quarter. This time we played good in the fourth quarter,” Coleman said. “It’s great to see that. It makes me feel like we’re not going to be out of any ballgame.”

(B) VHS 84, Collins 69

Sedrick Williams scored 25 points to lead three Vicksburg players in double figures, and the Gators eased past Collins.

Fred Thomas added 16 points for VHS, Brandon Harper had 14 and Fred Denton scored eight. George Keys led Collins with 25 points, Jonathan Booth scored 14, and Willie Keys had 10.

Vicksburg trailed 18-17 after one quarter, but overtook the Tigers by halftime and had a comfortable 60-48 lead at the end of the third period.

“We would make runs, but they would always come back and answer,” VHS coach Dellie C. Robinson said. “Overall, we just got away from them as the quarter went by.”