NATCHEZ &045; As the win streak continues to grow, so does the family.

It’s the family of Natchez High Lady Bulldogs, and they’re growing closer together.

The Lady Bulldogs put away Jefferson County early Friday night to extend their winning streak to nine in a row. You couldn’t ask for a better time with Tuesday’s regular-season finale at Callaway before the Division 6-5A tournament, and that’s how they’re approaching it.

Like a family.

&uot;We just sat down, talked and let everyone know what we have to cut down on,&uot; said senior Delequa Drake, one of four players in double figures Friday. &uot;Everybody is listening to the constructive criticism and not taking it personally. I think that’s a big part of our turnaround. We’re a family. If one falls down, we’ve got to pick up the slack.&uot;

That’s been all too true for the Lady Bulldogs this season, who had senior point guard Brittany West sitting behind the bench on crutches with a knee injury suffered two weeks ago. That came after Jasmine Williams went down with an injury the first month of the season.

&uot;With all of this happening, they’ve stepped it up,&uot; Natchez High head coach Sue Johnson said. &uot;Mind you, I have to stay on them. Some days they want to come in and don’t want to practice. We’re just trying to keep them together and keep them focused. It’s a job in itself, but we’re going to do it. We’ll get the job done as a coaching staff, trainers and players. Everybody plays an important role on this team.&uot;

The Lady Bulldogs picked it up a notch against the Lady Tigers but did it with a different look at times &045; with a 2-3 zone. The Lady Tigers struggled on the offensive end and were forced to get most of their looks from the outside.

When the Lady Bulldogs weren’t going with the press, they stayed back in the zone and were effective. They led 31-8 with 2:42 left in the second when Erica Jackson put in a layup on a fast break off a past from Drake.

&uot;I can’t really explain it, but it’s just basic fundamentals to defense,&uot; Drake said. &uot;Play aggressive without fouling. The zone kind of gets us laid back, but tonight everyone moved around and worked well in that zone. Everyone played their area.

&uot;We started off (the season) running a zone, but we didn’t have it quite together. We’ve been working on it more and more in practice. I must say we’re getting there.&uot;

The Lady Tigers had trouble with turnovers on their end, many of which the Lady Bulldogs would turn into baseball passes down the floor for uncontested buckets. Natchez opened the second quarter on a 17-1 run before Stacy Thomas converted a three-point play with 2:01 left for Jefferson’s first field goal of the quarter.

The Lady Tigers had success early in the second half by keeping the Lady Bulldogs scoreless for nearly the first four minutes, but they had just a LaToya Jackson bucket and Vanteska Williams 3-pointer to show for it.