JACKSON — Don’t expect another five years to go by before Vicksburg High returns to the state tournament.

While the loss of star guard Jonathan Phelps to a knee injury played a key part in derailing a shot at a Class 4A title this time, Tuesday’s 63-57 loss in the state tournament against Moss Point did give Gator fans a look toward next season and beyond.

And it looks good.

Mychal Ammons, a talented 6-foot-5 star in the making, is just a freshman. Kelsey Howard, a potent outside shooter since joining the starting lineup in January, is just a sophomore and has two more years in Gator green.

Maurice Williams, a 6-3 forward, is a junior. Williams started for the first half of the season before becoming the team’s sixth man. He was generally the first player off the bench after Howard was moved into the starter’s slot at small forward.

With Phelps out, Williams handled the scoring load early, with 12 of his 14 points coming in the first 11 minutes of the game against Moss Point.

Afterward, Williams says he is looking forward to a new role with the 2008-09 Gators.

“I will probably be handling the ball more, even playing some at the point,” Williams said. “I think we will be real tough next year having both Mychal and Kelsey on the wing. Mychal has the range to make the 3-point shot and you can’t give Kelsey any room, or he’s just going to drop them all day on you.”

Departing senior Delmon Robinson said next year’s Gators will be fun to watch.

“What I think will happen is that Mychal will become more of a scorer. This year, we needed his rebounding. But next year he’ll go out to his natural position on the wing. He’s an amazing player. He’s hard to guard one-on-one. And then there’s Kelsey who can just about hit any open shot. If Mychal starts drawing all the attention, you can’t leave Kelsey open,” Robinson said.

The pairing of Ammons and Howard, the team’s Nos. 2 and 3 scorers this season, will go a long way toward replacing the 23 points a game Phelps’ departure leaves. The Gators may have also found a guard combination to replace Robinson.

“I think Roosevelt Harris showed his true colors,” Robinson said of the Gators sophomore, who played much of the second half and helped Vicksburg close a 13-point deficit down to two late in the fourth quarter.

“And I think the Yellow (Darius Williams) will be a factor, too. He played well against New Hope.”

VHS coach Dellie C. Robinson is also bullish on his team’s future prospects.

“Ammons and Howard are going to be a great backbone for at least two more years,” the elder Robinson said. “If we can get some other areas to come around, especially our guard play, we’ll be back.

“Having Ammons move to the wing is going to be a huge factor because he shoots well and so does Kelsey. We just need to do a little more work on getting both of them to do better at driving to the basket,” Robinson said.

One of the reasons why Ammons will be able to make the switch to his favorite position will be the improved play of 6-foot-7 junior center Denzell Erves, who played well in spot duty this season.

“We’ll have Denzell ready by next fall,” Robinson said. “The only question is at guard and I really liked some of the things Roosevelt did. He helped us get back into the game.”