FAYETTE — Kirdis Clark led Natchez High School with a game-high 23 points and Skylar Morgan added 15 points as the Lady Bulldogs rallied to defeat the Jefferson County Lady Tigers 66-62 Friday night.

But as Jefferson County head coach Flora McKnight said after the game, “Natchez didn’t beat us. We beat us. No disrespect to Natchez, but we beat ourselves. We���re going to grow from it.”

The first quarter went back and forth, but with very little scoring to show for it. When the quarter was finally over, the score was 7-7. Natchez High narrowly outscored Jefferson County 15-13 in the second quarter for a 22-20 halftime lead.

Led by Antrell Gales, Diamond Smith and Kailyn Hammett, the Lady Tigers responded with a 22-17 advantage in the third quarter for a 42-39 lead. Gales finished with 20 points. Smith also had 20 points and nearly had a triple-double with 10 blocks and eight rebounds while Hammett had 16 points.

“We need games like this to get ready for January and February. We respect all, but we fear none,” McKnight said.

But the Lady Bulldogs took advantage of some missed free throws by the Lady Tigers and outscored the home team 18-15 in the fourth quarter to take the game into overtime tied at 56-56.

“We could have won it in regulation. We know it. Free throws win ball games. That’s where we lost it,” McKnight said. “We don’t point fingers.”

Natchez High went on to win the game with a 10-6 advantage in the extra session. Ernesha Chatman and Zyaire Ewing scored 11 points each for the Lady Bulldogs.

“We understand what we did wrong. I told my girls to keep their heads up because they played hard enough and well enough to win,” McKnight said. “We led for the majority of the game.”