HATTIESBURG &8212; The Natchez High Bulldogs knew they would be in for a battle against a Forrest County team that had won all of its games by double digits.

What Natchez High wasn&8217;t expecting was not only a solid team performance but a surprise visit by a member of the Bulldogs&8217; 1994 state championship team.

Fidel Woods, who currently lives in Atlanta, &8212; the uncle of Bulldogs sophomore Kenny Jackson &8212; was in attendance to watch Natchez High defeat Forrest County 52-30 Wednesday afternoon at the Hattiesburg Holiday Classic.

&8220;This was by far our best game as a team this season,&8221; Bulldogs head coach Mike Martin said. &8220;Better balance. Our defense in the third quarter held them to four points. They&8217;re solid. They execute well.&8221;

Woods watched as his nephew Jackson finished with seven points.

&8220;He&8217;s just a sophomore,&8221; Martin said. &8220;He had a little step to his game today.&8221;

Defense was indeed the key to Natchez High&8217;s stunning win over the Forrest County Bulldogs. The Natchez Bulldogs held Forrest County under 10 points in the final three quarters after giving up 11 in the first quarter.

Deshawn Griggs led Natchez High with 13 points and Jason Bruce contributed with 10 points.

&8220;I had a pretty good game,&8221; Griggs said. &8220;The team scored a lot of points in the paint. We played great defense. We didn&8217;t have very many turnovers.&8221;

Kendall Logan had eight points and just one turnover. Martin credited Logan&8217;s rebounding and passing as being &8220;the big difference&8221; in the game.

&8220;We played good defense. We played as a team,&8221; Logan said.

In a schedule change, the Bulldogs will not play Starkville today at 11:30 a.m. Instead, they will take on Columbia High at 1 p.m.

The Lady Bulldogs lost to South Pike in overtime Wednesday morning. No other details were available. They will take on Starkville today at 10 a.m.

Jefferson County girls 57,

Clinton (La.) 45

FAYETTE &8212; Sherita Wyatt scored 15 points and Veronica Miller added 13 points as the Lady Tigers overcame a 26-point performance by Clinton&8217;s Whitney Bankston to defeat the Lady Eagles at the Jefferson County Holiday Tournament.

Jefferson County was down 12-10 to Clinton at the end of the first quarter. That would be the only quarter in which the Lady Tigers were outscored by the Lady Eagles.

The Lady Tigers used a 12-6 advantage in the second quarter to take a 22-18 halftime lead. A 21-point third quarter helped give them the cushion they needed to put the game away.

Jefferson County boys 65, Clinton (La.) 39

FAYETTE &8212; The Tigers turned a close game into a rout thanks to a big second quarter en route to a 26-point win over the Eagles at the Jefferson County Holiday Tournament.

Joseph Kemp led Jefferson County (11-3) with a game-high 22 points and Joseph Kemp added 14 points. Luther Loyell led Clinton with 14 points and Joshua Robinson had 11 points.

The Tigers had a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. That would be as close as the Eagles would get the rest of the game.

Jefferson County put the game out of reach by outscoring Clinton 23-10 in the second quarter for a 38-19 halftime lead. The Tigers didn&8217;t let up in the third quarter as they outscored the Eagles 17-9.

Wilkinson County boys 52, Port Gibson 48

FAYETTE &8212; After trailing for much of the first half and down by three at halftime, the Wildcats finally got its offense going in the second half en route to a come-from-behind win over the Blue Waves Wednesday night at the Jefferson County Holiday Tournament.

Led by Mitchell Thompson, Kenny Harden and Corey Anthony, Wilkinson County (14-3) overcame a 23-20 halftime deficit by outscoring an upset-minded Port Gibson team 13-9 in the third quarter and 19-16 in the fourth quarter.

Thompson finished with 19 points. Harden had 14 points and Anthony added 12 points. Lawrence Cage, one of the Wildcats&8217; leading scorers, had just one point.

The Blue Waves did a good job defensively in the first half, but couldn&8217;t take advantage on the offensive end. They took a 10-8 lead at the end of the first quarter before taking the three-point lead at the half.

Port Gibson girls 61, Wilkinson County 33

FAYETTE &8212; Led by Katrina Wilson and Regina Grisgby, the Lady Blue Waves overcame a sluggish first quarter to defeat the Lady Wildcats by 28 points Wednesday afternoon at the Jefferson County Holiday Tournament.

The game didn&8217;t start the way Port Gibson (11-7) wanted to. The Lady Blue Waves found themselves trailing Wilkinson County 8-5 at the end of the first quarter. But the Lady Wildcats&8217; lead didn&8217;t last long.

Port Gibson went on a tear in the second quarter and there was nothing Wilkinson County (7-9) could do to stop it. The Lady Blue Waves outscored the Lady Wildcats 21-6 in that quarter for a 26-14 halftime lead and never looked back.

Wilson led Port Gibson with a game-high 19 points and Grigsby chipped in with 16 points. Toni Anthony led the Lady Wildcats with 18 points, but was the only player on her team to score in double figures.

Trinity Episcopal girls 42, Central Private 32

BROOKHAVEN &8212; Eliza Jones and Caroline Ketchings scored 10 points each and a defense that held Central Private to just eight second-half points proved to be the a big factor as the Lady Saints defeated the Lady Rebels Wednesday afternoon at the Brookhaven Academy Tournament.

Central Private held a slim one-point lead, 13-12, after one quarter of play, but Trinity started to take control of the game with a 16-11 advantage in the second quarter for a 28-24 halftime lead.

The Lady Saints then turned to their defense in the second half to put the Lady Rebels away, holding them to just four points in each of the final two quarters. The third quarter was key as the Lady Saints outscored the Lady Rebels 10-4.

Brandy Hall and Molly Butts had solid games for Trinity with nine and eight points, respectively. Sonni Kirkwood was Central Private&8217;s leading scorer, but she was held to just eight points.

Copiah Academy boys 59, Trinity Episcopal 56

BROOKHAVEN &8212; In one of the most unusual games in David King&8217;s nine seasons as Trinity&8217;s head basketball coach, the Saints&8217; fourth-quarter rally came up short as the Colonels held on for a stunning win at the Brookhaven Academy Tournament.

Unusual because it appeared that the Saints were well on their way to a win after leading 20-11 at the end of the first quarter. Then, inexplicably, that lead was gone by the third quarter, something that hasn&8217;t happened very much during coach King&8217;s tenure at Trinity.

The Colonels outscored the Saints 18-11 in the second quarter to trail just 31-29 at halftime. The third quarter was more of the same as Copiah outscored Trinity 19-9 to take a 48-40 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Saints tried to rally for a comeback win in the fourth quarter. They scored 16 points, but the 11 points that Copiah scored turned out to be enough to take the win.

Stevan Ridley led Trinity with 21 points and Parker Brumfield had 14 points. Jake Guess led Copiah with a game-high 22 points and Reed Daniels had 15 point.

Huntington boys 52, Silliman 44

BROOKHAVEN &8212; In the third meeting between the two teams this season, the Hounds had to rally in the fourth quarter behind the strength of their full-court defense to defeat the Wildcats at the Brookhaven Academy Tournament.

Antonio Jordan led Huntington with 18 points. Trey Corbett had 14 points and Ricky Dunbar had 10 points.

&8220;With this being a tournament, we backed off from our full-court press,&8221; Hounds head coach David Boystun said.

Which nearly backfired on Huntington, the No. 1 team in Class A. Adam Elam, who led Silliman (7-6) with 15 points, hit four three-pointers in the first half to help give the Wildcats a 25-23 halftime lead.

&8220;We changed our defense to a combination of zone and man and then to a man,&8221; Boydstun said. &8220;We then went to our full-court press. We were down five going into the fourth quarter. The defensive pressure and the up-tempo, that&8217;s why we played better offensively.&8221;

Huntington (15-1) trailed Silliman 37-32 at the end of the third quarter. With Boydstun realizing that the offense feeds off the defense, he had to make the change to give the Hounds a chance to win the game. The result was a 20-7 advantage by the Hounds in the fourth quarter.

&8220;I was thinking playing three games in four days, we didn&8217;t want to run too much,&8221; Boydstun said.

Brookhaven Academy girls 63, Huntington 29

BROOKHAVEN &8212; The Lady Hounds didn&8217;t have much of a chance against the Lady Cougars, one of the best teams in Class AA, at the Brookhaven Academy Tournament. Scoring two points in the first quarter didn&8217;t help matters, either.

Brookhaven Academy jumped out to a 15-2 lead once the first quarter was finally over. It only went from bad to worse for Huntington (3-14) as the Lady Hounds gave up 26 points in the second quarter as they trailed 41-8 at halftime.

Phyllicia Woods led the Lady Hounds with 11 points. The Lady Cougars were led by Kelli Snider with 18 points and Betsy Lynch with 16 points.