NATCHEZ — With the ball in her hands, two free throws by Natchez High’s Kiara Johnson would have tied the game and sent it to overtime against Terry High School Tuesday night.

But Johnson missed the first shot, and the game was called with no seconds left as Terry survived 43-41.

The loss gave Natchez High its first of the season, and head coach Sue Johnson said not capitalizing on scoring opportunities doomed the Lady Bulldogs.

“We didn’t play our caliber of ball game the first half, and we let ourselves get in a hole,” Johnson said.

“We dug ourselves out of it, but we didn’t capitalize on opportunities that we had to put it away. We just flat out didn’t capitalize on it. They fought back hard, and I’m proud of them for that, but we missed too many opportunities at the end that would have sealed it.”

Down 36-27 to start the fourth quarter, Natchez stormed back to take the lead on a 14-2 run in the first three and a half minutes. Kiara Johnson made a two-pointer, and Ashley Minor hit a big three-point basket that cut Terry’s lead to 36-32.

Terry’s Ashley Gresham hit a two-pointer with 5:54 left, but Minor followed up with another huge three-pointer to make it 38-35 with 5:40 to go. Keyana Miller shot the Lady Bulldogs’ third three-point basket in a row with 4:46 left, and Minor managed to steal the ball on the next Terry possession.

After hitting a two-point basket and drawing the foul, Minor banked the free throw to put Natchez High ahead 41-38 with 4:35 to go.

But Natchez would fail to score again, and Terry came back in the final minute and a half to take a 43-41 lead. Kiara Johnson drew a foul at the end of regulation before missing her first free throw.

Minor led the Lady Bulldogs with 12 points, and Johnson said her play picked up in the second half, along with the rest of the team.

“Her shots weren’t falling the first half, and she adjusted with the ball,” Johnson said. “When her shots fell, she got her confidence back, and then knocked another one down.”

Natchez fell behind 13-12 after one quarter, and trailed 26-19 at the half. The Lady Bulldogs displayed poor shot selection in the first half, and Johnson said the girls had trouble adjusting to a new basketball.

“They want to blame the ball on it, but Terry was shooting with the same ball, and they just had to adjust to it,” Johnson said. “They shot with it yesterday, and it was going in, so it was just a mind thing.

“I told them, ‘Don’t shoot as hard,’ and after that, the shots outside started falling. We were shooting layups too hard in situations and sometimes too soft, instead of focusing. We blew enough layups at the end to put it away by 10 or 12 points.”

Natchez’s Rebecca Minor fell hard on the floor after coming in contact with a Terry player, and team trainers examined her for several minutes before helping her off the court.

“The trainer said he thinks she’ll be all right,” Johnson said. “I don’t think anything’s torn, I think she just had a hard fall. I think she banged into someone’s knee when she went to dish the ball.”

Natchez High’s Ricarla Shotwell, who finished with two points, missed the first half for “team disciplinary reasons,” Johnson said.

Natchez High (8-1, 1-1) will host Jim Hill Friday.

TERRY 64, NATCHEZ 62

Despite three players scoring in double digits, the Natchez High boys fell to 3-6 on the year, 0-2 in district play.

Trevon Chatman scored 23 points for the Bulldogs, followed by Jonathan Griffin, who tallied 17 points. Rashaun Bates added 12 points.

Natchez will host Jim Hill Friday.