The Natchez High Lady Bulldogs were held scoreless through the final 3:47 of action in a six-point district tournament loss that ended their season.

After going on a 12-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to tie the game, the Lady Bulldogs were outscored 6-0 in the final minutes to fall 50-44 to the fourth-ranked Forest Hill Lady Rebels.

“That’s been our story all year,” Forest Hill head coach Tommy Graves said, referring to letting leads slip away before coming back to win. “Nothing’s been easy. All year we’ve kind of found a way to win. This wasn’t a shock.”

Courtney Marbra scored 15 to lead the Lady Rebels (27-4), and Bianca Powell and Santika Willis pitched in 12 and 11, respectively.

The Lady Bulldogs (11-14) were led by Ke’Airra Jones, who was the only Natchez High player to score in double figures, with 13.

Forest Hill appeared to have the game firmly in hand heading into the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 14 before building a 44-32 lead.

A flurry of steals and big shots pulled Natchez even, including a lay-up by Kierra Stringer to tie the game and fire up a sparse crowd at the early 4 p.m. game.

The Lady Bulldogs could not get over the hump however, as Forest Hill scored six points — all on free throws — to close out the game.

Natchez High head coach Sue Johnson said the game had been a microcosm of the season.

“One thing might not have worked, so we kept having to find what could work,” she said. “You never know who’s going to come out to play, so you have to find them. We came back, we got some things done but some costly turnovers just killed us. That was it — turnovers killed us.”

Wingfield boys 74, Natchez High 52

The Wingfield Falcons controlled the action in the first half en route to a big halftime lead as the defeated the Natchez High Bulldogs 74-52 in the first round of the Division 6-5A Tournament at Natchez High.

Wingfield, ranked No. 4 in Class 5A and No. 8 in the Clarion-Ledger’s Super 10 poll, improved to 23-7 overall and will face the Forest Hill-Jim Hill winner in the championship game Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Led by Jermaine Mallett, Darius McMillan and Chris Lewis, the Falcons took a 20-10 lead at the end of the first quarter and then outscored the Bulldogs 19-8 in the second quarter for a 39-18 halftime lead.

Mallett led all scorers with 25 points while McMillan and Lewis chipped in with 11 points each.

Even though the Bulldogs played better on the offensive end in the second half, the 21-point halftime deficit was too much to overcome.

Jason Bruce led Natchez High (9-16) with 22 points and DeShawn Griggs added 14 points.