Even though the weather warmed up a bit on Friday, the Vicksburg Gators spent most of the night trying to ice skate uphill.

After falling behind late in the first half against Pearl, the Gators made several runs at the lead but never got it back. Undone by turnovers and missed shots down the stretch, they lost for the third straight game, 61-54.

“We turned the ball over too much. That’s one of our main problems,” Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson said. “Turnovers, missing assignments, everything we’re doing right now, we’re just out of sync. It’s something we can fix, but we’ve got to fix it in a hurry.”

Robinson’s sense of urgency stems from the fact that Friday’s game was the beginning of a tough stretch for the Gators (10-6, 0-2 Division 4-5A). Five of their next six games are within the division, and there’s also a Friday-Saturday back-to-back next week with a game against Lanier and then the Red Carpet Classic against Terry.

The Gators’ ultimate goal is to avoid finishing third, Robinson said, and having to go on the road for the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.

“You can get out (of the division) being third, but you’re going to have to go on the road and play a hell of a ballgame,” he said. “If you just want to make it to the playoffs, third is fine. It’s not good enough for us.”

Neither are their recent efforts.

The Gators fell behind 28-23 at halftime, then never got it going again in the second half. Pearl crept out to an 11-point lead by the end of the third quarter.

Vicksburg cut it back down to three, at 43-40, before Xavier Howard hit a long jumper and a 3-pointer for Pearl (15-4, 2-1).

The Gators got within five again, on a 3-pointer by Khris Walker with under a minute to play, but D.T. Richardson was called for an intentional foul while trying to foul to get Pearl to the line.

Pearl’s Brandon Boston missed both free throws, but scored on a layup on the ensuing possession. Howard then had a steal of an inbounds pass and an assist to Christopher Cooper to put the Pirates ahead 59-50 with 20 seconds left, and the game was over for all intents and purposes.

“That was it, once they got the intentional,” Robinson said. “We’re just not playing well down the stretch at all.”

Cooper led Pearl with 17 points, Boston scored 16, and Cameron Walker had 12.

Khris Walker scored a game-high 19 points for Vicksburg, while Kirk Parker had 12, K.J. Murphy 10, and Tyler Smith nine.

(G) Pearl 76, VHS 43

Madyson Wade scored 20 points, LaQuandeline Wright added 19, and Pearl (11-5, 2-1 Division 4-5A) embarrassed a poor-shooting Vicksburg team on its home floor.

The Missy Gators were 16-for-69 (23.2 percent) shooting from the floor, and 11-for-23 (47.8 percent) from the foul line. They trailed by 20 points at halftime and didn’t get much closer at any point in the second half.

Karry Callahan had 15 points, 18 rebounds and five blocked shots for Vicksburg (10-7, 0-2), which lost its third consecutive game. Ruddie Shears had six points and seven rebounds, and Keiyana Gaskin scored nine points.

Felicia McCloud and Adrianna Horne scored 11 points apiece for Pearl, which has won six of its last seven games.

(G) Pelahatchie 77, St. Aloysius 29

Claire Gamble had nine points and seven rebounds, and Michelle Howington finished with eight points and nine rebounds, but St. Aloysius lost to Pelahatchie in a Division 7-1A matchup.

(B) Pelahatchie 103, St. Aloysius 87

St. Aloysius had its highest scoring game of the season, but gave up even more and fell on the road against Division 7-1A rival Pelahatchie.

Connor Smith led St. Al with 26 points, and Luke Eckstein had 16 points and nine rebounds.