JACKSON —  For the second time in less than a week, Vicksburg let a double-digit lead in the second half slip away.

Ridgeland rallied from am 11-point deficit late in the third quarter to take a 52-48 win over the Gators in the semifinals of the Division 3-4A Tournament.

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Friday, 5:30 p.m. – Vicksburg vs. Yazoo City, at Callaway

The Gators, who had just five turnovers in the first three quarters, had seven in the fourth quarter. They were also just 5-of-15 from the field in the second half after going 12-of-22 in the first half.

“I really don’t know what happened to us in the fourth quarter. Turnovers, probably,” Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson said. “You can’t expect to keep a lead if you turn it over. We got outhustled and they seem to get every loose ball.”

The loss means VHS will have to travel to Northeast Mississippi in next week’s Class 4A satellite rounds.

Today’s consolation game with Yazoo City at 5:30 will determine if the Gators (19-8) head to the Division 1-4A champion or the runner-up. Ridgeland (22-6) will meet host Callaway tonight at 8:30 for the division title.

Last Friday, Vicksburg let a 10-point lead vanish in the fourth quarter and lost 59-57 to Brandon.

And like the Brandon game, Vicksburg had a shot with 10 seconds left to either tie or take the lead against Ridgeland. Kelsey Howard’s baseline cut was blocked and much to the dismay of Robinson, no foul was called.

“There was no question that was a foul. The guy had a hand on Kelsey’s back,” Robinson said.

Robinson, however, was quick to add that his Gators should not have been in that situation. They had Ridgeland reeling, down 39-28 with two minutes to go in the third quarter. A putback by Dononvan Ross and a 3-pointer from Calvin Johnson cut the lead to 39-33. The Gators needed two free throws from Howard with no time left in the third quarter to take a 41-34 lead into the final quarter.

After Ridgeland cut it to three at 41-38, Mychal Ammons seemed to steady the Gators when he drained a 3-pointer at the six minute mark to up the lead back to six.

Then Vicksburg had two rebounds taken away from them by the ball swiping Titans. That led to five straight points for the Titans that made it 44-43. A couple of missed shots and two more turnovers helped Ridgeland grab its first lead since early in the second quarter after a putback by Twan Luckett and a driving layup by Jeff Stubbs made it 47-44 with 2:22 left.

Up four with about a minute to play, Ridgeland got sloppy. A steal by Jeremy Squire led to two free throws by Ammons after he was fouled going for a basket following Squire’s pass with 57 seconds left. Vicksburg then came up with another steal, leading to a Howard breakaway basket to tie the game at 48 with 30 seconds left.

After the inbounds play, Stubbs passed over the Gator press and found Jamall McCoy near the block against one Vicksburg defender. McCoy won the battle and scored to put Ridgeland back ahead, 50-48 with 26 seconds left.

With 12 seconds left, Howard got the ball on the right elbow and tried to go baseline but was met by McCoy. His shot went under the rim and the Titans rebounded. Stubbs was fouled and he iced the game with two free throws with 8.9 seconds left.

Vicksburg trailed 15-12 after the first quarter but used a tough zone defense to force seven Titan turnovers and convert the miscues into easy baskets. Squire had nine of his 12 points in the quarter to key the rally that gave Vicksburg a 29-22 lead at halftime.

“I didn’t think we played that bad in the first half, Vicksburg just played better,” Ridgeland coach Roderick Davidson said. “But at the half we made an adjustment. We couldn’t keep letting Vicksburg’s big guys get in the paint. Even when we got down 11, I just felt our guys dug down deep and just kept playing good defense.”

Howard led the Gators with 18. Squire ended with 12 and Ammons had 10. Denzell Erves had 13 rebounds.

Stubbs led Ridgeland with 18 points and McCoy had 10.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com.