Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

LORMAN — With the Natchez High School Lady Bulldogs trailing Jefferson County High School by double digits at halftime, something was going to have to change if Natchez High was to stage a comeback.

That something was the defense, which in turn allowed the Lady Bulldogs to take the lead late in the third quarter as they ended up defeating the Lady Tigers 36-32 last Thursday night in the start of a varsity doubleheader between the two schools.

“It was a close game all the way through. We went into halftime down 11 points,” Lady Bulldogs head coach and athletic director Alphaka Moore said. “We were pressing throughout the game. When we came out in the second half, we made some adjustments.”

Both the varsity girls’ and varsity boys’ games were played on the Shirley A. Gibbs-Walker Court inside the Davey L. Whitney Complex on the campus of Alcorn State University due to renovations at the Jefferson County gym, Moore said late Friday morning.

“I think it was a pretty intense game. They were getting adjusted to playing on the Alcorn floor,” Moore said. “it was good competition.”

Jefferson County led Natchez High 12-10 after one quarter of play. The Lady Tigers dominated the Lady Bulldogs on both ends of the court in the second quarter and a 13-4 advantage gave the ‘home’ team a 25-14 halftime lead.

Then the Lady Bulldogs turned the tide on the Lady Tigers, playing a couple of different defenses that led to some turnovers and easy lay-ups by the likes of Destiny Scott and Jahkiera Carter. Scott led NHS with 11 points and Carter finished with five points.

Natchez High outscored Jefferson County 16-3 in the third quarter for a 30-28 lead. Even though the Lady Bulldogs struggled offensively in the fourth quarter, they still managed to outscore the Lady Tigers 6-4.

“Offensively it was a joint effort. Jahkiera Carter and Destiny Scott had a big game. My point guard, Nyla Poole, she did a really good job of controlling the tempo once we were able to get the lead. We got some big-time shots at the end from Mercedes Sewell. We had a couple of big steals toward the end by Jailyah Wright.”

Sewell ended up scoring nine points and Poole, as well as Ikiah Proby, finished with four points.

Natchez High (4-2) plays host to Amite County High School Tuesday at 6 p.m.