NATCHEZ — After taking a 20-point lead in the first period, the Natchez Lady Bulldogs never looked back.

They routed the Ocean Springs Lady Greyhounds 85-49 to go 10-0 for the first time under head coach Sue Johnson.

“This has been a long time coming,” Johnson said. “We have had a lot of heartache and pain the last three years. We are finally coming together and playing as a team.”

The Lady Bulldogs used a combination of a balanced offense and aggressive defense to keep Ocean Springs off balance.

Alia Frank scored 14 or her team leading 22 points in the first period.

“We have set plays with multiple options to score,” Johnson said. “Alia just gets open.”

The Lady Bulldog defense held Ocean Springs to just 27 points in the first half while building their lead to 25 points.

“We wanted to be aggressive and play good defense,” Johnson said. “We never got relaxed.”

Even with the blow-out win, Johnson said there were still things they need to work on and fine tune.

“We still need to work on our passes, blocking out and executing better,” she said. “We still need to learn to slow down and be patient, but I’m proud of them. They never quit.”

Johnson said the hard work her team put in over the summer has paid off and they hoped to reap the rewards this season.

“Going to camp at Co-Lin this summer really helped us as a team,” she said. “Our goal is to win district, state and everything else. They realize we have a chance to this.”

Natchez High 49, Ocean Springs 48

Dwong Hughes hit two key free throws with less than a minute to go in the fourth quarter to give the Natchez High Bulldogs a 49-48 win over the Ocean Springs Greyhounds Friday night.

Hughes, who led all scorers with 18 points, gave Natchez High a 49-46 lead with his free throws. Ocean Springs made a basket at the end, but could not draw a foul that could have tied the game and sent it into overtime. Kendall Logan had 10 points for the Bulldogs, who improved to 7-3 on the season.

The Greyhounds nearly came back from a pair of six-point deficits, the first of which occurred at the end of the first quarter. D. Brown, a Clarion-Ledger Dandy Dozen selection, and E. Doley each had 15 points.