JACKSON — Malik Newman scooped up the loose ball, broke into the open court and threw down a thunderous dunk.

Callaway’s crowd reacted with mild applause. Maybe they’d seen it before from their All-America guard. Maybe it wasn’t as good as it seemed. Or, maybe, by that point in the game they were worn out from cheering all the other highlight-reel plays the Chargers had turned in against Vicksburg.

Callaway hit nine 3-pointers — six of them in the first quarter — and threw down nearly a dozen dunks as it turned the rematch of last season’s Class 5A championship game into an 81-61 rout that wasn’t even that close.

Newman scored 21 points and Dimencio Vaughn had 18 for Callaway (14-2, 1-0 Division 4-5A), which led by 22 points at the end of the first quarter.

Khris Walker and Kirk Parker led Vicksburg with 13 points apiece, and K.J. Murphy scored 11.

“They got a couple of dunks and were ready to play, and we came out real slow,” Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson said. “You’ve just got to give them credit. They were one heck of a basketball team today. We tried to do a good job on Malik, but you’ve got to guard all of them.”

It was a long, frustrating night for the Gators (9-4, 0-1). They’d won four in a row coming into the game but were outclassed from start to finish.

With the defense focusing on Newman, Vaughn and a few other teammates scored most of the points during a 15-2 run to open the game.

“We wanted to see Malik pass the ball and see if those other kids could make those shots,” Robinson said. “Now we realize that you might want to let Malik have 50 and try to stop those other ones. When we see them again we’ll definitely do something different than we did tonight.”

Newman hit a pair of 3-pointers and threw down a dunk as the Chargers stretched the lead to 32-10 at the end of the first quarter. Newman scored 12 points in the period.

Vicksburg made several spirited efforts to get back in the game, but each time it started to make a dent in the deficit the Chargers responded.

Newman dunked twice early in the third quarter to put Callaway ahead 47-23, and after another run got the Gators within 17 late in the period, Marcus Summerville and Tennario Ransbrough drilled 3-pointers on consecutive possesions to make it 62-39.

The lead stayed around 20 points for most of the fourth quarter.

“I think it was just a message toward the district that even though we lost a couple of players, we’re still here,” Newman said.

(G) Callaway 49, Vicksburg 36

Tiara Robins scored 14 points, Sheba Henderson added 12, and Callaway took advantage of sloppy play by Vicksburg to get a win in the Division 4-5A opener for both teams.

Vicksburg (10-5, 0-1) committed 28 turnovers, shot 31.8 percent (14-for-44) from the field and just 36.4 percent (8-for-22) from the foul line.

Keiyana Gaskin led the Missy Gators with 13 points and three blocked shots. Karry Callahan finished with 10 points, 19 rebounds, six assists and four steals.

(G) Warren Central 49, Yazoo County 33

T.T. Sims had 12 points, and Decada Taylor and Shae Bracey added 11 apiece as Warren Central (8-9) beat Yazoo County for its first back-to-back wins since mid-November.

(B) Warren Central 51, Yazoo County 32

Mario Doyle scored a game-high 27 points, Jesse Wilson had seven assists, and Warren Central (7-10) outscored Yazoo County 29-12 in the second half to snap a three-game losing streak.

(G) McLaurin 55, St. Aloysius 44

Avery Parman had 10 points and three blocked shots, and Allie Willis scored 11 points, but St. Aloysius lost to McLaurin.

It was the second of back-to-back-to-back games for St. Al.

(B) McLaurin 71, St. Aloysius 47

Connor Smith and Drake Dorbeck scored 14 points apiece, but St. Al lost for the second straight night.