Kirdis Clark scored 21 points to help Natchez High School erase a double-digit, first-half deficit to beat Cathedral High School 63-60 in the first ever meeting between the two programs.

“Just fighting through adversity,” Natchez coach Tim Richardson said. “Everything didn’t go our way, but we persevered and ended up coming up with a big win.”

Cathedral (0-1) stormed out of the gates, building a 24-11 lead after one quarter. The Lady Green Wave had a chance to tie the game on the final play, but were unable to get a shot attempt off following an in-bounds underneath their own basket.

“The first 12 or 13 minutes of the game, on your best dream you couldn’t have asked for more,” CHS coach Peter Arnold said. “You’re playing Natchez High, and we got up … then you hit a little bit of a bad wall and you have some bad decisions.

“All of a sudden, a 13-point lead and we’re down 10. I told them at halftime, ‘If we can build a 13-point lead once, then we can do it again.”

Senior Elizabeth Smith, who poured in a team-high 14 points to go along with six rebounds and one block, led Cathedral offensively while fellow forward Grayson Bryant tallied 13 points and eight rebounds.

Natchez (2-1) led at halftime 44-31, but the Lady Green Wave wouldn’t go away quietly, trimming the lead to one point with less than two minutes remaining.

“We switched to man, and everything turned,” Arnold said. “In the end, when we did well, we played at our pace. When it got to their hectic pace, it went entirely in their favor.”

Clark and the Lady Bulldogs, however, made enough plays at the right time to hang on for the win.

In addition to her high-scoring output, the senior guard tallied eight steals, six assists, two rebounds and two blocks.
“She’s a special athlete,” Richardson said. “Anytime you have a player like her on your team, it’s always a plus. Has a lot less things (as a coach) you have to worry about as far as Xs and Os on the floor.”

Jhanasia Dent had nine points

and three rebounds, while post players Destiny Lyles and Asia Carradine combined to pull down 19 rebounds. Candi Grey had 12 points for the Lady Bulldogs.

“We did a decent job rebounding, but we could do a lot better,” Richardson said. “We have two girls that are averaging double figures in rebounding. We were very effective on the offensive boards, just have to work a little bit better on putting them back in on the offensive end.”

Cathedral will attempt to get back on track Monday when it travels to rival St. Aloysius, while Natchez hosts Wilkinson County Tuesday night.