Missy Gators defeat Greenville, 58-54

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Vicksburg now has two wins over the Honey Bees. Coupled with Saturday’s road win at Warren Central and the Missy Gators have enjoyed the best four-day stretch in coach Barbara Hartzog’s tenure at VHS.

“Yeah, it’s been a good week and this was a good win, but we still have got a lot of basketball to play,” Hartzog said. “When we beat them up there (Dec. 18), that one was really good because we were down 15 and came back and won. Tonight, we played defense on (Breanna) Lewis. Shavedra Farris gave us a lift in the first half and Shanequa Hill got more comfortable in what she is doing.”

Vicksburg (12-5, 3-1 Division 4-6A) had just four turnovers in the second and also shot 60 percent (9-of-15) in the game’s final 10 minutes. Greenville-Weston (14-3, 0-2) a favorite to win a Class 6A title, is now last in the division with both losses coming to Vicksburg. The Honey Bees were ranked No. 2 in Mississippi during the Christmas break and feature the state’s best shooting guard Lewis, who had 19 points. Sixteen of her points came in the first half but she was limited by foul problems, playing just three minutes in the second half before fouling out with 25 seconds left.

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VHS point guard Alexus Stirgus also had foul problems caused by having to guard Lewis. Stirgus still made one of the biggest shots of the game, hitting a 3-pointer with seconds to go in the third quarter to cut a four-point Honey Bee lead to one at 41-40.

The Missy Gators then opened the fourth hitting their first three shots to take a 47-41 lead. Hill, who had 15 points, five rebounds and five steals to lead Vicksburg, finished off a 2-on-1 break for a 56-50 lead with 2:18 to go.

Greenville had a chance to close to within two with 48 seconds left but Sharniqua Brown missed two free throws. Hill made one of two for the Missy Gators with 37 seconds left, and then 12 seconds later Lewis fouled out.

Stirgus finished with nine points, seven assists and four steals. Donyeah Mayfield had 11 points. Brianna Wright helped the Honey Bees with 16 points and 10 rebounds.