NATCHEZ — The Natchez High School Bulldogs stayed in command throughout the game despite their slow start against Franklin Parish High School in a 72-50 victory Tuesday.

The Bulldogs had three players in double figures, with De’Arius Griffin leading the way with 19 points, making 13 of 15 from the free-throw line. Gary Woods and Daryl Jones had 13 and 11 points respectively, while the Patriots couldn’t get any players to score in the double digits.

The game started slow for the Bulldogs when they saw themselves down 6-2 on J.T. Allen’s steal and breakaway lay-up at the 4:47 mark of the first quarter.

But once the Bulldogs’ Michael Wimley rebounded a missed free throw and put it back up for a second-chance layup to tie the game at 6-6, the Bulldogs never looked back.

Natchez went ahead 11-8 at the end of the first and stretched their lead to 19 by halftime on a 26 to 10 run that was led by Griffin’s eight points, all which came from going eight for eight at the line.

Woods struck first for the Bulldogs in the second quarter with a three-pointer from the wing in the opening seconds, and before the Patriots knew it, NHS went on a 10-2 run with just three minutes scraped off the clock to extend the lead to 21-10.

Natchez finished the quarter on Wimley’s first jump shot of the game to send the game into halftime with a 37-18 advantage.

The Bulldogs slowed things down in the third quarter, only scoring 11 points to Franklin Parish’s 17.

The Patriots came out of the locker room swinging in the third quarter when they managed to score a fast break lay up off of a missed Natchez lay-up attempt, and then came right back to get a three-pointer by Reginald Carter. Devon Foy’s floater in the lane took the Patriots on a 7-0 run to go in the final quarter down by 13 points, 48-35.

But Natchez didn’t make it easy for Franklin Parish in the fourth quarter as they scored 24 points powered by even scoring from seven Bulldogs.

Though Jordan Powell put the Patriots on the scoreboard first, Natchez followed up with a three-pointer by Dominique Mazique and went on a 6-0 run before Franklin Parish’s Foy got a lay up to go at the 5:00 mark to put the score at 63-39 before the Bulldogs finished the game off 72-50.

Jones said though the Bulldogs pulled out a big win, there are still some things that need some tightening up.

“We have a lot of stuff to improve on like our defense, playing as a team and playing together,” Jones said.

The Bulldogs made a lot of their second half points through their fast break. Jones said that was a result of their hard work in practice.

“We work on conditioning every day, and it paid off, but we still have some work to do,” he said.

NHS will play again Friday against Jefferson County High School, and Jones said they would be working on their communication on the court in preparation of that game.

“We have to talk more in the game to help our defense,” he said.

The Bulldogs will tip off with Jefferson County at 7:30 p.m.

Natchez High girls 63, Franklin Parish girls 43

The Lady Bulldogs continued their dominant ways Tuesday night with a 63-43 victory against Franklin Parish.

Natchez built their lead early with a 16 to 7 run in the first quarter and an 18 to 8 run in the second quarter.

Rashonae Rice led the Lady Bulldogs with 20 points and Kiana Jones and Zyaire Ewing both produced double figures with 12 and 10 points respectively.

The second half was tougher for the Lady Bulldogs, though head coach Alphaka Moore made sure to give several players playing time.

When Franklin Parish went on an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull within 54-41, Moore made some coaching adjustments that resulted in a 9-2 run before ending the game 63-43.

The Lady Bulldogs will play at Jefferson County at 6 p.m. Friday.