Natchez High’s boys held Franklin County to under 10 points in two quarters as the host Bulldogs defeated the Meadville Bulldogs 58-42 here Tuesday. Franklin County’s girls defeated the Lady Bulldogs 52-43.

Natchez’s boys (10-7) trailed Franklin County 17-12 after one period of play.

The home Bulldogs scored the final 12 points of the second half to take a 33-25 lead into intermission.

Edwin Harris started off the run with a basket after a steal.

&uot;We turned up the intensity,&uot; Harris said. &uot;We started moving the ball around better.&uot;

Jamal Bouldin hit two straight baskets and David Haywood followed that up with two baskets and a tip-in at the buzzer.

&uot;We started playing more aggressive and took care of the ball,&uot;&160;said Haywood, who led all scorers with 25 points. &uot;We were playing together and making the extra pass.&uot;

Natchez had scored only 12 points in the second half in a loss to Amite County last Friday.

&uot;We’ve been kind of shaky, but we’ve just had to keep our composure,&uot; Haywood said. &uot;We’re going to play a lot better after the holidays.&uot;

Franklin’s Jerome Pickett scored eight points in the third quarter to help the visiting Bulldogs pull back to within 40-36 after holding Natchez to five points in the third quarter.

But Haywood and Vasshun Newborne went to work inside and Bouding hit a couple of shots outside to help Natchez win the final period 18-6.

&uot;When you don’t have the defense, you have to get some,&uot; said Natchez forward Jovon Edwards. &uot;We talked at halftime about playing harder. We wanted to make up for how we played last time against Amite.&uot;

Bouldin added 14 points for Natchez.

Franklin, 6-9, was led by Pickett with 14 points.

Ricky O’Quinn tossed in 11 points for the visitors.

In the girls contest, Franklin County (7-5) outscored Natchez 15-8 in the third quarter to rally past the home team.

Natchez, 3-10, held the lead throughout the first half, but Franklin County scored 29 points in the second half.

Gerritia Gitchaway led Franklin County with 14 points, while Carletta Brown added 13.

Crystal Sylvester paced Natchez High with 18 points, while Christen West added 12.

&uot;We’re still in the learning process, but we’ll be all right by district time,&uot; said Natchez coach Mary Irving.

Natchez plays at Vidalia Jan. 4. The Bulldogs return home Jan. 7 with a Division 6-5A game against Forest Hill.

Franklin County returns to action Jan. 4 as the Bulldogs play host to South Pike.

Franklin County will compete in the Lawrence County Tournament Jan. 6-8.