NATCHEZ — Following her team’s loss to Terry High School Tuesday night, Natchez High girl’s head coach Sue Johnson said her team needed to improve on free throws.

She said her players needed to stop thinking, “How am I going to make this?” and start thinking, “I’ve got this.”

Jacquerra Williams evidently got the message Friday night against Jim Hill High School. After Natchez trailed most of the game, Williams drew a foul on a three-point shot in the final second, and proceeded to make all three free throws to give Natchez a 55-54 lead.

The lead would hold, and the Lady Bulldogs improved to 9-1 on the season, 2-1 in regional play.

“I told them, these last two games, they have not played their kind of ball game,” Johnson said. “The competition is the same, but they were not doing what they’re supposed to do.

“But what I love about this group is, they never give up. They fight until the end.”

Williams said she initially fell back into the self-doubt before taking the three final shots, but quickly snapped out of it.

“At first I was like, ‘How will I make them?’” Williams said. “Then I remembered what I did in practice, and I remembered the shots I had made earlier, and I said, ‘I got this.’”

Her laid back approach was also key to being able to repeat her shooting mechanics perfectly three times in a row, she said.

“I just laughed it off,” Williams said. “I knew I couldn’t get tight, because I have to play loose and have fun in order to do well.”

The Lady Bulldogs were tied with Jim Hill 20-20 at the half, and trailed 38-29 at the end of three. With 50 seconds left in regulation, Natchez finally pulled ahead on a two-point basket by Kiara Johnson that drew a foul. Johnson made the free throw, giving the Lady Bulldogs a 52-51 lead.

But Jim Hill came right back, as Jaliesa Hicks scored two to put her team back on top 53-52 with 43 seconds left. At the eight-second mark, Hicks added a free throw to make it 54-52 Jim Hill.

The Lady Bulldogs quickly got the ball down the court, setting up Williams’ three-point attempt that drew the foul.

“We worked on free throws and layups in practice,” Johnson said. “We found 100 ways shoot free throws and layups, and we’re going to go back to the drawing board until we get the layups right.”

Ashley Minor led Natchez with 17 points. Keyana Miller added 11 points, and Williams finished with eight points.

Jim Hill 57,

Natchez Boys 41

Despite a strong defensive performance by the Bulldogs, Natchez was unable to consistently score. And the defense eventually wore out in Friday’s loss.

“We played hard defensively, but were unable to score,” Haywood said. “Any time you hold a team to six points in one quarter (as Natchez did in the second), you’re doing well defensively.

“By the fourth quarter, the defense eventually got tired. We were missing layups and open shots, and it took the air out of the defense after a while.”

Trevon Chatman was the only Bulldog player to score in double digits. He tallied 13 points.

The Natchez boys and girls will travel to Lawrence County Tuesday.