Vicksburg started its Thursday night showdown against Provine with a flourish, hitting three 3-pointers and two dunks while building a 12-point lead in the first quarter.

Then, little by little, Provine sapped the energy and the lead from the Gators. In the end, there was little more than a resigned sigh as Mychal Ammons’ tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds bounced off the rim, allowing the Rams to escape with a 57-54 victory.

It was a deflating first loss of the season for Vicksburg (3-1), but also one that coach Dellie C. Robinson said would pay dividends down the road.

“I think what we’ll take with this loss is how hard you’ve got to play to win a championship,” Robinson said. “Those guys know how to win championships, and we have to get the same mentality.”

Ole Miss signee Jarvis Summers led Provine (4-0) with 19 points and five assists, while Roger Woods had 18 points. The real difference for the Rams, however, was an attacking offense that got to the rim often and got the Gators into foul trouble.

Three Vicksburg starters fouled out. The other two, Ammons and Dominique Brown, finished with four fouls apiece. Provine went 20-for-33 from the free throw line, while Vicksburg was just 4-for-7.

Joshua Gaskin and Willie Gibbs led VHS with 12 points apiece, while Ammons had 10 points and six blocked shots.

“That was our strategy, was to attack,” Provine coach Luther Riley said. “We knew they had a few key guys and we wanted to get them into foul trouble.”

Vicksburg raced out to a 21-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the fouls started to pile up in the second and third quarters. As the Gators got a little more cautious, and Provine grew bolder, VHS’ offense also went cold.

The Gators scored just 20 points in the second half and went 7-for-16 from the field — totals that nearly matched their red-hot first quarter. They were 9-for-17 from the field in the opening period, including three 3-pointers.

“We got stagnant in the offense,” Robinson said. “We normally do a good job, but tonight the ball started to stick in one place.”

Provine tied the game for the first time at 44-all late in the third quarter, and took its first lead early in the fourth. Still, it never was able to pull away. The Gators did just enough to keep the game within a couple of points either way until the final minute.

Summers hit a pair of free throws when Gaskin fouled out with 44 seconds left to put the Rams ahead 56-54. He had two chances to ice it after that, but hit just one of four free throws on two more trips to the line to leave it a 57-54 game with 10.8 seconds to play.

Vicksburg grabbed the rebound of the last miss and advanced it into the frontcourt. After a timeout, they got the ball to Ammons for a 3-point attempt on the right wing, but it hit the rim and bounced away as the horn sounded.

“We played them pretty good,” Robinson said. “I thought we could’ve won.”

(G) VHS 57, Provine 51

Shaniqua Butler and Donyeah Mayfield hit back-to-back 3-pointers to break a 44-all tie midway through the fourth quarter, and Vicksburg (2-2) never trailed again in beating Provine (1-3).

Mayfield finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, and scored eight of the Missy Gators’ last 13 points — including two layups in the final minute to ice it. Shanequa Hill had 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals, and Butler finished with 10 points.

Kristen Shannon had 14 points for Provine.

(B) Franklin 67, Tallulah Academy 62

Cedrick Allen scored a game-high 28 points, and Franklin Academy (1-1) used a big third quarter to beat Tallulah Academy (2-2). Franklin outscored the Trojans 20-6 in the third quarter to overcome a five-point halftime deficit.

Cameron Machen led Tallulah with 21 points, Todd Harrell had 15 and Jake Busby scored 14.

(G) Tallulah 53, Franklin 19

Megan Givens scored 21 points to lead Tallulah Academy (4-2) past Franklin.

Allie Kate Gossett added 11 points and Kathleen Oliver scored 10 for Tallulah, which led 37-9 at halftime.