Kirdis Clark has experienced the highest of highs after winning the state championships after both her freshman and sophomore years.

She also has the taste of disappointment, having fallen in the first round of the MHSAA Class 5A playoffs last year as a junior.

Now, as a senior, Clark has learned from all of her past experiences and has taken on a new role this season for the Lady Bulldogs.

“(Being a senior) gives me responsibility; I have to take on the leadership side,” Clark said. “Whereas before I could just sit back and say stuff when I needed to say it. Now I have to be vocal and also show it on the court.”

As a freshman on the championship team, Clark said that she played a bigger role than she gives herself credit, but her main responsibility was to ignite the offense. In her team’s championship game win over South Jones, Clark scored five points to help Natchez win.

“They needed me to score when we were down, or pass the ball or (making a play) defensively,” Clark said. “I was just the person to give us a spark of energy, because I never got tired. I was that person that kept motivating to keep pushing and a better outcome would come in the end.”

This season, Clark leads the Lady Bulldogs, averaging more than 19 points per game while pulling down four rebounds to go along with 3.6 steals and 1.6 assists per outing.

“She’s a good player now, but her potential is still limitless,” first-year Natchez coach Tim Richardson said. “She has things she can improve on, and she is constantly coming in the gym to get better. She’ll be a pretty good player on the next level, and where she goes from there is completely up to her.”

The 2014 championship ended a 21-year girls championship drought that was last won by the Lady Bulldogs when Clark’s mother, Katrenia McNeal, served as a member of the team.

But Clark has not only shined on the court, but off it as well, where she boasts a 4.12 grade-point average.

“If I have B, then (my mom) won’t let me play,” Clark said. “I try my best in the classroom, because I want to play sports.”

The senior guard has earned all of her high school credits, and with the help of the Natchez Early College Academy takes college courses at the Copiah-Lincoln Community College Natchez campus.

“They’ve put me on the right track,” Clark said. “I’m majoring in biology.”

Richardson said Clark uses her intellect on the court, helping other players grasp both sides of the court.

“She’s a coach on the floor for us,” Richardson said. “Her vast knowledge of basketball plays a big part in what we do offensively and defensively on the court.”

During the past two championship runs, Clark was accompanied by upperclassmen Zyaire Ewing, Skylar Morgan and Ernesha Chatman, who have all now graduated from Natchez High.

“With everyone leaving, it’s on me to help the younger players get better,” Clark said. “When I’m gone, it’s going to be them that’s going to have to step up to the plate. So I’m just trying my best to help them out before I leave.”

Natchez currently boasts a 4-6 mark, but Clark remains adamant a turnaround is imminent.

“I knew it was going to be hard because a lot of the players are inexperienced with court time,” Clark said. “We still have a good team, and I feel like once we come together and start playing like we know how to play, that we’ll be a good team.”

Natchez will next host Raymond High School at 2 p.m. Tuesday.