In the span of 24 hours, the Vicksburg Gators went from facing some bleak prospects in the Division 4-5A basketball tournament to controlling their fate for a better seed.

Darius Johnson led a balanced scoring effort with eight points, and Ke’Darrion Parson had six points, 10 rebounds and five assists as the Gators beat Germantown 64-48 on Tuesday.

Eleven players scored for Vicksburg. George Gaskin added seven points, but no one had more than Johnson’s eight. Vicksburg built an 18-point lead entering the fourth quarter and cruised to its second win over a division opponent in two days. It had also beaten Ridgeland, which it will play again Friday at home.

It was the Gators’ third consecutive win overall, after they had lost nine of their previous 10.
The Gators (8-13, 2-2 Division 4-5A) pulled two games ahead of Germantown (3-17, 0-4) and into third place in the division, which would allow them to avoid a talented Callaway (16-4, 3-0) squad in the opening round of the division tournament.

(G) Vicksburg 62, Germantown 53

Tiarra Jones finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, and the Vicksburg Missy Gators (11-9, 2-2 Division 4-5A) bounced back from an ugly loss the night before by beating Germantown (13-8, 2-2).
The game was tied at 53 with just over a minute to go when Karmen Davenport scored to give the Missy Gators the lead for good. They went 8-for-11 from the free throw line in the final minute and closed the game on a 12-0 run.

Davenport and Yakia Burns finished with seven points apiece for Vicksburg, and Pleasure King scored eight.

Marvia Spann led Germantown with 16 points, and Makenzie Frith had 14 points and seven rebounds.

(B) St. Aloysius 60, Park Place 48

St. Aloysius let a seven-point lead slip away midway through the fourth quarter, but closed out the game with a 12-0 run over the last three minutes to beat Park Place for its second consecutive victory.

Thomas Trichell scored 25 points and Phillip Upshaw had 16 for the Flashes (8-9, 3-4 District 3-AAA).