NATCHEZ — When Kirdis Clark was in fifth grade, she saw her mother’s picture on a state championship banner in the Natchez High School gym, and Clark told her mother one day her picture would be right beside it.

Clark’s mother, Katrenia McNeal, was a part of the 1993 state championship basketball team at Natchez High. That was the last year the Lady Bulldogs won the title.

“I remember my mom saying ‘There goes our picture, you might not ever see another picture,’” Clark said. “I said just wait and see, when I get to high school, we’re going to have three more.”

That was a lofty goal for a fifth-grader, especially one who was a novice.

“In sixth grade, I couldn’t dribble that well and I couldn’t make a lay up,” she said. “All I could do was shoot.”

But Clark had the right people around her to develop her into the type of athlete she wanted to be. She received help from former Morgantown Middle School coach Willie Woods and McNeal.

“We went and bought cones and we used to dribble up and down the driveway and she taught me how to do a proper lay up,” Clark said. “Sometimes I didn’t want to do it, but I’m glad I did. Coach Woods worked with me because he saw potential, he told me I would be really good one day.”

And Woods was right.

Clark reached high school this past season, and made an immediate impact for the Lady Bulldogs as she was awarded team co-captain as just a freshman.

The Lady Bulldogs pulled together to win their first 11 games, and McNeal saw a lot of herself and the 1992-93 season in Clark and Natchez High.

It became the most evident, when NHS came face-to-face with South Jones High School.

Natchez received its’ first loss of the season against the Lady Braves and would meet up with them twice more in the south state title, and the championship.

“Every game was a really close game for us, and in order for us to win the title, we had to go through Harrison Central (High School) and we lost to them in south state,” McNeal said. “(When they had to play) South Jones (for the championship), I remembered the feeling I had when we played Harrison Central.

“I didn’t want them to feel the heartbreak of a loss, so I prepared her and told her y’all have to be ready with loaded guns.”

Just like before every game, McNeal texted her daughter an inspirational message, and Clark said she embraced it.

“I repeat in my head over and over what she sends me,” Clark said.

Seeing Clark run down the floor of the same Mississippi Coliseum McNeal won at brought back a lot of memories, McNeal said, and her nerves were shot as she watched her daughter play for the title.

“I was cheering a little while, then prayed a little while,” McNeal said. “I didn’t want to see them disappointed, because this is what they really wanted.”

McNeal was relieved when the final buzzer sounded and she could see her 1993 team rushing to center court to celebrate within the 2014 Lady Bulldogs.

But most of all, she was proud of her daughter who kept her word from fifth grade.

“I was proud of her and all of the accomplishments,” she said.

Clark and McNeal embraced after the game, and Clark took that sentimental moment and added a hint of comic relief.

“I just told her, “Ha-ha, I told you I was going to put a banner beside your banner.’”

Clark said the new goal is to win back-to-back titles, as she promised her mother three banners, not just one.

In pursuit of three titles, Clark said she also hopes to raise her 3.8 GPA to a 4.0 once she graduates and attend either Mississippi State University or Louisiana Tech University to go into physical therapy.