6-5A victory Friday

By

ADAM DAIGLE

NATCHEZ &045; With the numbers and talent Natchez High’s Lady Bulldogs have, they can run a number of different presses and defenses at anybody with efficiency.

But that full-court man-to-man really makes Ke’Airra Jones smile.

That’s because that defense worked like a thing of beauty against Forest Hill. The Lady Bulldogs didn’t necessarily create a ton of turnovers, but they kept the Lady Rebels guards and their entire offense from being able to catch their breath and set up an offense.

The Lady Bulldogs kept bringing in one group of fresh legs after another and came away with a 59-50 win in Division 6-5A action.

&uot;We’ve got a lot of speed on our team,&uot; said Jones, the sophomore who had most of her 10 points off fast breaks. &uot;Nobody can really stay with the speed we have. We’re doing a lot of (man) in practice, but mostly our 1-3-1 is what we play. Once we realize we don’t have many dribblers, the man-to-man is easy to go to.

&uot;It’s fun playing man to man.&uot;

That depth is perhaps the biggest blessing on a team that’s yet to really put everything together and play its best ball. While the Lady Bulldogs (2-2, 10-8) came off a little sluggish at the start and really didn’t pull away until the fourth quarter, the full-court man never allowed Forest Hill back into the game.

And if it was working, head coach Sue Johnson saw no reason to abandon it.

&uot;I just knew we needed to do something,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;One night something will work, and the next night it won’t. It’s just like your rotation. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We missed a few assignments, but that’s the gamble you take. But we’re going right back to the drawing board. As long as I see improvement, I’ll be all right.&uot;

The Lady Rebels (0-3, 4-15) never got back in the lead after taking a one-point lead at the start of the second quarter, but they did cut the lead down to two early in the third. The Lady Bulldogs had some breakdowns on both ends in that stretch, but they finished the quarter on a solid 9-2 run to take a 40-31 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Three minutes into the fourth quarter the lead grew into double digits.

&uot;They had such a quickness advantage on us,&uot; Forest Hill head coach Tommy Groves said. &uot;It kept us from getting into any kind of rhythm. We went through some spurts where we executed and did a good job. But I could see it in their faces all night &045; that quickness they had just kept us uneasy. We never could get any continuity where we could get a rhythm.&uot;

Brittany West hit a jumper in the lane to start the fourth quarter, and Kameshia Sproulls later put one back in at the 6:23 mark that gave Natchez a 45-33 lead. Jones followed that with a layup from the side for a 14-point lead.

Forest Hill cut it to seven with two buckets and Lauren Morrow’s 3-pointer, but Jasmine Woods put in a basket and followed that with a three-point play at the 2:05 mark for a 52-40 lead that put the game away.

Woods led Natchez with 13.

&uot;We’re working on (our offense) now and working on our layups,&uot; Jones said. &uot;Overall, we’re doing better. We came into this game saying we’re not going to let anybody come into our house and beat us. You’re not going to let anybody come in come in your house and jump on you. We wanted to come out of this game 2-2 and not 1-3 (in division).&uot;

The Lady Bulldogs struggled at times on the offensive end, but they really had trouble at the start of the second half when Forest Hill abandoned their man for a 1-3-1 zone. Natchez led 31-25 at the break, but no one scored for nearly the first three minutes before Dominique Walker scored with 5:12 left for the Lady Rebels.

Tore’Jalia Sudduth followed with another bucket at the 4:37 mark that cut the lead to 31-29.

&uot;We changed our zone up because they weren’t shooting well from the outside,&uot; Groves said. &uot;We really did a good job, but then we gave up some easy baskets. If we wouldn’t have given up any easy baskets, we might have hung in there. But they play a lot of people, and that makes it tough.&uot;

Wennifer Noble scored the Lady Bulldogs’ first bucket of the second half at the 3:47 mark, and that just broke the ice. Sproulls and Noble each came with a basket for a 37-29 lead, but Kimberly Ward broke the run with a bucket for two of her game-high 21 points.

Sproulls’ basket with 38 seconds left put the score at 41-30 heading into the fourth quarter.

&uot;We had a lot of opportunities that we blew, but we’ll get them together,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;We play the same (1-3-1) defense. It’s just that we were missing shots. I’ve been very patient with them. I’ll keep talking to them and try to get our confidence back where it needs to be. All I can say is those layups will start falling at the right time. I’ll take missing them now than when they really, really count.&uot;