A tough end to Vicksburg’s basketball season Tuesday at DeSoto Central won’t diminish the strides the rebuilding program made in 2012.

Vicksburg lost to the homestanding Jaguars 46-43 in a North State Class 6A satellite game. The loss ended the Gators’ season at 10-18. Vicksburg’s last six losses were by six points or less. The defeat to DeSoto Central (28-1) was a bitter one.

Last March, Vicksburg played for the Class 6A state championship behind All-State forward Mychal Ammons. Ammons has moved on to a successful start of his collegiate career at South Alabama. Three other starters, Josh Gaskin, Dominique Brown and Kienta Ross, are finishing up their freshmen seasons at the junior college level.

Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson decided to move up an entire sophomore class to fill the shoes left by seven departed seniors. The young Gators took their lumps, going winless on the road until beating Mendenhall on the final day of the Mendenhall Holiday Tournament.

Vicksburg appeared to turn a corner when it upset Greenville-Weston 72-65 at home to move to 9-9. Unfortunately, they would not win again until they met Greenville-Weston in the Division 3-6A Tournament in Clinton. The Gators won again, 69-64, to earn a berth in the

division finals against Clinton. The Arrows defended their home court and won the divisional title with a 66-60 win.

Robinson explained after a two-point loss to Yazoo City a week before the divisional tournament what the Gators must do before next season.

“We definitely got to get bigger on the baseline,” Robinson said. “If you look at us, we’ve got some size, but we’re not physically strong. We’ve got to get a lot stronger.”

Tre’Darius Carter, a 6-foot-8 center, and the lone upperclassman on the team as junior, had trouble finishing shots near the goal. He had a team high 11 points at DeSoto Central.

Sophomore point guard Edward “Red” Davis had a tremendous season capped by a 20-point, 11-assist effort in the division finals. He finished the year averaging 12.5 points and four assists per game. Another, DeAngelo Richardson finished as the team’s top scorer at 13.7 points per game.

Robinson was pleased with how the Gators played in the divisional tournament which earned them a playoff game at DeSoto Central.

“No question about it, we’ve had a lot of tough losses, but that’s only going to help us for the future,” Robinson said.