Faithful Vicksburg High basketball fans packed the gymnasium for the school’s first home game of the season Tuesday night, and the Gators gave them a good show.

Joe Thomas scored 22 points and the Gators opened a 20-point lead early in the second half as they beat South Pike 72-29.

“First of all let me congratulate the fans for coming out and watching us play the first game,” said VHS coach Dellie C. Robinson.

The Gators found success defensively with a halfcourt trap that led to a number of forced turnovers and easy layups.

“We work on our trap everyday and that’s what got us away from Germantown,” Robinson said, referring to a 66-37 win in the season opener on Saturday. “In the second half we came out and put more pressure on them in that third quarter and it was a different ballgame.”

Dentarius Richardson had active hands in the passing lanes to come away with three steals in the third quarter and dished an assist to Thomas for a 30-10 lead early in the second half.

In addition to his point total, Thomas was able to grab several offensive rebounds when forward Kirk Parker was being doubled in the paint.

Robinson said Thomas’ ability to see plays before they happen, combined with his quickness, gives him great instincts to steal the ball and become a strong defensive player.

“He’s very active on defense but his offense came around tonight,” Robinson said. “If he stays on the backside of Kirk, he’s going to score 10 to 12 points every night because they’re going to double team Kirk. Joe did a good job of staying on the backside and getting that rebound and putting it back in.”

K.J. Murphy started slow but picked up the pace in the second quarter by scoring four points on tough layups through traffic. Parker also got off to a slow start, which is credited to the physical defense played by the Eagles.

Murphy and Parker are the Gators’ returning scoring leaders from a year ago and the team is built around them.

“Those guys got to perform every night if we want to be successful,” Robinson said. “They’ve got a good supporting cast around them in Dentarius Richardson, Kardell English, Trey Warren and Joe Thomas.”

(G) South Pike 45, Vicksburg 40

Pleasure King’s 3-pointer with just under a minute left brought the Vicksburg Missy Gators within five, but they couldn’t get closer and lost in their home opener.

Ultimately, it was the ballhandling of Tomia Mitchell and South Pike’s offense that was he difference. Mitchell drew the defense to one side of the court, leaving a player open for an easy field goal.

Karry Callahan scored 15 points and grabbed 20 of the Missy Gators’ 39 rebounds. She even ripped the ball from an opposing player as they both were diving out of bounds to save the play.

“It’s kind of rough because we lost but I feel like we played our best,” Callahan said. “As far as moving the ball around and attacking, we did good. Our defense was better than last week’s.”