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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

RANBURNE – The objective for the Vincent Yellow Jackets entering the night was simple: win and get a chance to host the area tournament at Vincent Middle High School.

Vincent took care of business thanks to a 65-59 win over the Ranburne Bulldogs on the road at Ranburne High School to clinch the regular season area title and guarantee that the Class 2A, Area 8 tournament will be at home.

Before that though, the Jackets had a tight matchup on their hands in the first quarter. Skylar McCrimon and Landon Archer each had multiple opening-period baskets as five different Vincent players combined for 13 points.

Ranburne started out well on the offensive end too though and trailed just 13-12 going into the second quarter.

That set up an explosive 21-point second quarter from the Bulldogs as three different players scored at least twice during the remaining minutes of the half.

The Jackets tried to keep pace in part thanks to six points from Camari Keller to add on to his two from the first quarter, but they still trailed going into the halftime break by a score of 33-25.

Vincent came out of the locker room needing a response, and Phoenix Maxwell provided just that.

After he scored three points in the first half, Maxwell dropped 15 points in the third quarter to provide a crucial spark for the Jackets offense. Skylar McCrimon added five points during that time while Keller added three more to give the trio all 22 of Vincent’s third-quarter points.

That helped swing the tide in the Jackets’ favor, but thanks to 15 points from Ranburne, they were behind by just one point at 48-47 going into the fourth quarter.

Maxwell passed the scoring baton off to Keller, who dominated in the fourth for five baskets from the field following a 3-for-3 run at the free throw line, giving him 13 points for the fourth quarter.

As a team, Vincent went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final period to rally and grab a lead that they would not relinquish in the final moments, sealing a five-point win.

Keller finished with a game-high 24 points while Maxwell dropped 17 points and McCrimon joined them in double figures with 10 points. Jay Posey and Taye Robertson each scored five points and Archer had four points on the night.

Vincent and Ranburne will square off against each other once again in the area semifinals on Monday, Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. at Vincent Middle High School. The winner will book a spot in the area finals as well as sub-regionals.