JACKSON — Big plays by its key players are sending Vicksburg to the Big House.

Down 14 points in the third quarter, junior guard Kelsey Howard led a furious Gator comeback and then steadied the ship when Callaway rallied late to tie it with a little over a minute left. At crunch time, it was Howard who made the big shots while sophomore forward Mychal Ammons came up with two big defensive rebounds as Vicksburg upset Callaway 58-52 Friday night in the semifinals of the Class 4A North State Tournament inside Callaway’s band-box gym.

The win clinches a 4A State Tournament berth for the second straight year for the Gators (22-9). They will face Ridgeland in tonight’s North State title game at 7:30 at Callaway. The Chargers (27-6), the favorite to win Class 4A, must win the consolation game today at 6 against New Hope loser to get into the state tournament.

Howard, who finished with 26 points, was grinning ear to ear afterwards.

“I like big games just like that,” Howard said. “We had lost three straight times to Callaway, so it was motivation for us tonight.”

Howard appeared as if he had a special radar on the basket. He made 11 of 13 shots from the field and it didn’t matter if he was falling away from the basket or shooting right over a hand in his face, the ball found the basket.

“I knew I could shoot over the top of anybody who guarded me. This feels real good, we’re going to the (Mississippi) Coliseum,” Howard said.

“There is no doubt Kelsey Howard is one of the best players in Mississippi. Tonight, he just carried us,” an elated Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson said.

Vicksburg’s suddenly stingy man defense once again came up big. After hitting its first three shots in the third quarter to go up 37-23, Callaway missed its next seven as the Gator ‘D’ and Howard brought the team back.

“The kids just had to believe they could do it and I knew they wouldn’t quit. Since we’ve gone to the man-to-man defense, we’re 3-0. We took away their wings. That’s how they hurt us so bad the last time here. When they drove, we guarded the kick out and if (Julysses) Nobles wanted to shoot over Mike and Denzell (Erves), he could have all that he wanted,” Robinson said.

Callaway coach Wayne Brent tried to caution his team about playing with a lead.

“I told them this was not the time to relax and then Kelsey comes down and hits a three,” Brent said. “You just have to credit Howard and Ammons. Their two biggest people stepped up the biggest.”

Howard followed up his 3-pointer and then hit a putback after a Gator defensive stop. Then his steal and dunk cut the once 14-point Charger lead in half at 37-30.

The 12-0 run continued with a bucket in the lane by Ammons and a 19-foot jumper by Howard that made it 37-35 going into the fourth quarter.

Deville Smith, who finished with 21 points, finally broke the five-minute Charger drought. Callaway was up five at 41-36 with five minutes left when Darius Williams hit a 3-pointer to bring the deficit back to two. Ammons then tied the game with two free throws with 4:23 left.

Nobles continued to have trouble shooting over the 6-foot-5 Ammons and the 6-7 Erves. His third miss led to an over-the-back foul. That sent Erves to the line, where he made one of two foul shots to give Vicksburg its first lead since 2-0.

Maurice Williams followed with a 10-footer and then Ammons blasted a deep 3-pointer with 2:40 left to hand the Gators a 48-41 lead.

Howard stuck in another 12-footer to keep the lead at seven, but Smith answered with a 3-pointer to charge up the Charger faithful with 2:20 to go.

Vicksburg’s problems handling pressure then reared up again as Smith swiped two straight steals from Darius Williams and converted both into baskets. The last wiped out Vicksburg’s lead and tied the game at 50 with 1:44 left.

Howard then untied it, hitting a 17-foot jumper with a defender draped over him. Montrell Tims countered for Callaway with a runner to tie it up at 52 with 41.7 seconds left.

The Chargers didn’t wait for Howard to make another shot. They went ahead and fouled him with 26.4 seconds left. Facing a one-and-one, Howard made both free shots to put Vicksburg up 54-52.

Nobles tried to hit a 12-footer but was short and on the scramble, Ammons dove up through a mass of players to grab the rebound.

“Best rebound this year,” Ammons said.

“Man, that was a great rebound,” Robinson said.

Ammons was quickly fouled and with 14.8 seconds left, made both free throws for a 56-52 lead. One last three-point shot by Smith missed and Ammons again rebounded and was fouled. His two free throws with 1.2 seconds left sealed it at 58-52.

Ammons finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Nobles had 13 for Callaway.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com