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JACKSON — Natchez High School senior guard/power forward Caleah Kennedy, who towers over most of her opponents at 6-3, had quite a performance last Friday night in leading the Lady Bulldogs to a 48-32 win over the Provine High School Lady Rams in an MHSAA Region 3-5A game.

Kennedy finished with a game-high 17 points to go with 10 rebounds and she also blocked 10 shots for a most unique triple-double. And she also had three steals. The only area where she struggled was from 3-point range, where she went 1-for-4.

Natchez High went 19-for-41 (46 percent) from the field, but it would have been even higher had the Lady Bulldogs done better from behind the 3-point line. There, they were just 2-for-11 as a team with fellow senior Roniya Ellis also going 1-for-4 from long-distance. She was the only other Lady Bulldog to score in double figures as she finished with 13 points.

The Lady Bulldogs had their way with the host Lady Rams throughout the first three quarters. And it wasn’t just Kennedy and Ellis playing good defense for the visiting Lady Bulldogs. It was Faith Guter, Hope Gutter, and even freshman Jaliya Curtis getting in on the action.

Natchez High led Provine 17-7 after one quarter of play and then the Lady Bulldogs outscored the Lady Rams 15-7 in the second quarter for a commanding 32-14 lead at the half. The Lady Bulldogs continued their presence on defense in the third quarter and outscored the Lady Rams 11-4 for a 43-18 advantage.

With both teams going deep in their bench, Provine was able to outscored Natchez High 14-5 in the fourth quarter to make the final score a little more respectable.

In addition to her 13 points, Ellis had seven rebounds, three assists, three steals, and one block. Faith Gutter had four points, three steals, and two assists. Hope Gutter had four assists and three blocks of her own to go with four points. Joy Gutter finished with four points and two rbounds.

Taniya Brooks and Zaniyah Washington each scored two points for the Lady Bulldogs while Madison Johnson had two points and three bounds. Curtis blocked two shots.

As a team, the Lady Bulldogs were 8-for-9 from the free-throw line and had 10 assists on 17 made shots. Defensively, they had 10 steals and blocked 16 shots.

Florence 31, Natchez High 27 (Saturday afternoon)

NATCHEZ — After making nearly 50 percent of their shots from the field in a road win over Provine High School last Friday night, the Natchez High Lady Bulldogs struggled to get shots to fall against a good Florence High School team and lost at home to the Lady Eagles 31-27 in a pivotal Region 3-5A game for both teams last Saturday afternoon.

Roniya Ellis and Caleah Kennedy with both held well under their scoring averages for the season by a stingy Florence defense. Both of them led the Lady Bulldogs with 11 points and went a combined 8-for-26 from the field. Kennedy went 1-for-5 from 3-point range while Ellis was only 1-for-7 from long distance. Faith Gutter also went 1-for-5 from behind the 3-point line and finished with three points.

Florence led Natchez High 10-6 at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Bulldogs appeared to have regained control of the game after outscoring the Lady Eagles 7-1 in an ugly second quarter for a 13-11 halftime lead. Both teams found somewhat of an offensive rhythm in the third quarter, one in which Natchez High edged Florence 12-11 for a 25-22 lead.

But the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as the Lady Eagles’ tenacious defense once again frustrated the Lady Bulldogs and forced either bad shots or turnovers. And that allowed Florence to outscored Natchez High 9-2 for the stunning come-from-behind win.

Two other factors determined the outcome of this game. Natchez High was just 4-for-8 from the free-throw line and they had just 15 rebounds as a team. Ellis also had four rebounds, three steals, and two blocks while Kennedy had just six rebounds, all on the defensive end, to go with two assists and two blocks.

With the loss, the Lady Bulldogs fell to 17-7 overall and 6-2 in Region 3-5A, slightly ahead of North Pike at 5-2 in the region standings. Florence is in first place at 7-1 with two games to go.

The Lady Bulldogs played host to region foe Brookhaven High School for Senior Night at 6 p.m. Tuesday.