Vicksburg High’s boys basketball team had two starters playing their first game of the season, and a freshman point guard running the show against one of the best teams in Mississippi.

All things considered, coach Kelvin Carter said, the result was pretty encouraging.

Ja’Veon Howard led three Holmes County Central players in double figures, with 15 points, and the Jaguars took advantage of Vicksburg’s cold spell down the stretch to escape with a 56-50 victory on Tuesday.

Vicksburg (1-3) only scored four points — on one basket and two free throws — in the last 4 1/2 minutes.

“It’s just a lot of inexperience. When you’re trying to run sets at key times of the game, the guys have to get acclimated to what we want,” Carter said. “It’s November. I’m starting a freshman point guard. It’s going to take some time for these guys to get acclimated. That’s going to be the biggest thing.”

The freshman point guard, JaQuez Jones, continued to shine early in his varsity career. He led the Gators with 15 points for his fourth consecutive game in double digits.

Jadarius Henderson and Decorey Knight Jr., the two starters who returned from the football field and had their first basketball practice Monday, finished with 11 and nine points, respectively.

Gary Brown had 12 points and Damarian Harris 11 for Holmes (3-0).

The Gators did not lead at all in the second half, but were within striking distance until the final seconds. Holmes’ biggest lead was six points, and Vicksburg had the ball down 52-50 with less than a minute to go.

Back-to-back possessions resulted in three missed shots, however, and Holmes closed it out with four free throws down the stretch.

Afterward, Carter said it was a good performance overall for the Gators that shows their potential for the region schedule and playoffs in January and February.

“You’re playing against a good team. They’re going to be in the Coliseum. You’ve got guys that can shoot, that can pass, they can play above the rim. It’s a good learning experience,” Carter said. “We played well enough to win, we just did not win. I think we’re going to get better game by game.”

Northwest Rankin 57, Warren Central 48
Caleb Hobson scored 18 points and Christopher Sanders had 10 as Northwest Rankin (2-1) pulled away late to beat Warren Central (0-3) on Tuesday.

It was a one-possession game with about a minute to go, but several missed shots for Warren Central and made ones by Northwest Rankin pushed the latter to the victory.

D.J. Gibbs led Warren Central with 22 points, six rebounds and four assists. Robert Williams had eight points and eight rebounds, and Davon O’Neal had eight points and five assists.

“We missed some key free throws and they hit some big shots on the other end,” Warren Central coach Keith Williams said. “We’re missing a lot of guys to football, but I like the direction we’re going.”

Warren Central will continue a challenging early-season schedule Thursday with a road trip to Brandon. The girls-boys varsity doubleheader will begin at 6 p.m.