NATCHEZ &8212; Don&8217;t ask Joseph Kemp what he was thinking when Natchez High went on a huge 13-2 run early in the fourth quarter.

It&8217;s not that he can&8217;t remember. The Jefferson County junior couldn&8217;t hear anything over the crowd noise in the jam-packed Natchez High gym. Any time these two teams get together in basketball, it always draws a crowd, and momentum swings call for the volume to get turned way up.

But one thing he did remember as soon as he could hear himself think was this &8212; get back to playing as a team because there&8217;s still plenty of time left in the game.

The momentum then shifted. The score went from seven points in the Bulldogs&8217; favor to five points in the Tigers&8217; favor thanks to a 12-0 run that kept the noise level high. And the Tigers finished off Natchez for a 70-63 win.

The victory was Jefferson County&8217;s first over Natchez in four seasons and the first in Natchez since 1998.

&8220;I couldn&8217;t hear much,&8221; said Kemp, who had six of his 12 points in the fourth quarter. &8220;We had to play to the crowd. We knew they were going to bring the crowd tonight. We played together as a team. Our point guard played hard for us, and our big men played hard for us. Everybody played together.&8221;

They had to in the fourth quarter after a stretch where the Bulldogs made just about about everything they shot, got turnovers on every Jefferson County possession and got all the tip-ins around the basket.

Jefferson County head coach Marcus Walton called back-to-back timeouts during the stretch, and things finally settled down when Kemp went to the line for free throws with 4:37 left in the game.

He only hit one, but Kadon Day got the rebound and put it back in.

Momentum then began to shift slowly.

&8220;I give credit to Natchez,&8221; Walton said. &8220;At that point in time, it was all guts and hustle. They really wanted it. Our kids kind of got lackadaisical, and Natchez turned it up and showed they wanted this game. They were getting into the passing lanes and playing aggressive defense.&8221;

Then the momentum really hit a snag for the Bulldogs on the next trip down the floor. Jeremy Houston was called for his fifth foul after almost single-handedly sparking the Bulldogs during that previous run.

Day went to the line and hit both to cut the deficit to 57-56. Then Dewong Hughes was called for his fifth foul on the other end at the 4:04 mark, and Shelbeon Trevillion hit two free throws there for a 58-57 lead.

Natchez High then had an in-bounds play under the Tigers&8217; basket and threw the ball away all the way on the other baseline. Three seconds later, Percy Turner put in a basket for a 60-57 JC lead.

&8220;We shot the ball too quick,&8221; said Houston, who finished with 15 points. &8220;We should have tried to milk the clock and get a shot a minute. We should have played better defense. (The free throws) gave them momentum. They would go to the line and get some easy points.&8221;

The Tigers went to the line nine times in the fourth quarter and hit eight of 10, including two from Turner at the 1:55 mark after the Bulldogs turned it over. DeShawn Griggs finally put the Bulldogs on the board at the 1:39 mark, but the Tigers got a bucket from Turner and a free throw from Ken Lowe for a 65-59 lead with 57 seconds left.

&8220;At that point in time it was just about stepping up, doing the little things, making free throws, giving them one shot at the basket and making them earn every shot they got,&8221; Walton said. &8220;The kids really showed tonight that they have a lot of heart. To be down seven and go back up seven, that&8217;s a 14-point turnaround. For the kids to turn it up a notch and believe they can do it, they just had a belief in one another.&8221;

Jefferson County led 46-37 late in the third quarter before the Bulldogs finished strong to cut the deficit to 46-42. Houston hit a turnaround jumper off a long rebound at the buzzer to give the Bulldogs a lift heading into the fourth, and a putback from Griggs at the start cut it to 46-44.

Later on the Bulldogs went on that 13-2 run, with Houston six of the final eight points.