The Natchez Lady Bulldogs overcame a game-high 25 points by Shalita Burns and a third-quarter rally by Jim Hill to defeat the Lady Tigers 53-46 Tuesday night in a crucial 6-5A game.

Natchez High jumped out to a 15-9 lead after one quarter as Christen West scored seven of her team-high 21 points in the quarter.

The Lady Bulldogs (5-12, 5-1) increased their lead to 10 at 31-21 despite Burns’s 15 first-half points, with nine of those coming in the second quarter.

It looked like the Lady Bulldogs were going to pull away from the visiting Jackson team after scoring five of the first seven points of the third quarter to take a 36-23 lead with 6:30 remaining in the period.

Then the Lady Tigers went on a 14-0 run in the next 4:45 thanks in large part to a full-court press defense that forced many Lady Bulldog turnovers.

Jim Hill took a 37-36 lead with 1:45 left in the third quarter on a jumper off glass by Burns, who also had 11 rebounds and three steals.

That was the only the Lady Tigers led in the entire ball game as Natchez scored the last four points of the quarter to take a 40-37 lead.

With the game tied at 44 with 5:43 left in regulation, the Lady Bulldogs scored nine of the last 11 points of the game for the final score.

West also hit two three-pointers and had four rebounds and Crystal Sylvester had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs.

In the boys contest, David Haywood and Jamal Bouldin combined for 34 points and five three-pointers as the Bulldogs survived a late rally by the Tigers for a 62-50 victory.

Bouldin had a game-high 19 points, 15 in the first half, made three threes and had three steals.

Haywood finished with 15 points, 14 in the second half, made two threes and had 10 rebounds.

The Bulldogs (17-7) appeared to be on their to an easy win after taking a 58-40 lead with about two minutes left in the game.

Then Jim Hill’s Korey Moore, who finished with a team-high 14 points, hit back-to-back threes to cut the lead to only 12 with just over 1:30 remaining.

Burton Browdy then hit two clutch to give the Bulldogs a 60-46 lead with 1:19 remaining to end any hopes of a Jim Hill rally.

Natchez plays at Jackson Provine on Friday.