NATCHEZ — If she’s not practicing or playing basketball for the Lady Green Wave, Cathedral’s Ana Perry likely has her nose in a textbook.

With only so many hours in the day, Perry said she can’t afford to waste any time if she wants to keep her grades up.

That attitude toward her studies has helped Perry maintain a 4.26 GPA and score a 24 on the ACT. Perry, a senior, plans to attend Ole Miss after she graduates and major in biochemistry in order to be an anesthesiologist.

“My grades are the most important thing to me,” Perry said. “I love sports — I cheerlead and run track. It’s a lot of work and it gets hard, but you just have to use your time wisely.

“If we have time in between practice and school, or time in between classes, I use that to study a little bit. I don’t want to just waste time.”

Perry said one class in particular has stood out to her since she started high school at Cathedral. Perry took AP English in Jean Biglane’s class during her junior year, and the amount of work made balancing studying and basketball hard.

“It was stressful during my junior year. It’s not hard work, but she gives you a lot,” Perry said.

That didn’t stop Perry from signing her teacher’s praises, however.

“She’s a great teacher,” Perry said. “Everyone that has had her says college English is a breeze because she teaches you to write really well.”

For Perry, basketball is something she grew into after growing up around a lot of boys.

“I’ve been playing since I was 7 or 8,” she said. “I grew up playing with Juan and JaMon Gray. Our moms are best friends, and I used to be at their house all the time.

“I have two sisters, but they don’t live here. I grew up around my two older brothers, and they’d always have friends over playing basketball. It’s just a boy thing that I picked up.”

Perry has attended Cathedral since kindergarten, and has been playing basketball for Cathedral since she was in seventh grade. If there’s any advice she has in balancing school and sports, it goes back to managing your time wisely, she said.

“That’s the whole key,” Perry said. “I know I have games on Tuesdays and Fridays, so I don’t get home until 9. I might have two or three tests the next day, so I might study on the way to the game or whenever you get time.

“If you want to make good grades, you’ll find the time. If you aren’t worried about it, you won’t do it.”

Perry also said her coaches preach grades first to her — and not just them.

“Our whole school preaches grades first,” Perry said.