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NATCHEZ — Natchez High School’s varsity basketball teams had a mixed bag of results against various opponents earlier this month that left both the Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs hanging around the .500 mark for the season.

On Tuesday, Dec. 15, Natchez High played host to Raymond High School. The Lady Bulldogs held on for a 53-51 win over the Raymond Lady Rangers behind a game-high 26 points from Kelsey McNeal. Nya Poole and Olivia Davis added eight points each. Kyla Butler had seven points and Destiny School had four points.

Leah Sutton led the Lady Rangers with 22 points and Erriona Miller poured in 13 points.

However, the Bulldogs could not complete the sweep of Raymond as they fell to the Rangers 58-51. Dionte Thomas led the Bulldogs with 14 points while Travis Berry scored 12 points and Trevon Jackson chipped in with 11 points. Cam’Ron Bailey added eight points while Cedrick Jones contributed with four points and Kameron Carter scored two points.

Raymond was led by Jabari Robinson with a game-high 19 points. Tremaine Dixon finished with 16 points and Keith Miller ended up with 14 points.

Then on Friday, Dec. 18, Natchez High made a short trip to Meadville to take on Franklin County High School. In the battle of the Bulldogs, the Franklin County Lady Bulldogs got past the Natchez High Lady Bulldogs 58-45 while the Natchez High Bulldogs edged past the Franklin County Bulldogs 60-54.

In the varsity girls’ game, Franklin County was led by Te’kysa Thompson with a game-high 18 points and Ja’Sherreah Hunt with 16 points. Jakya Brown added 14 points. Natchez High was led by Butler with 15 points and McNeal with 13 points.

In the varsity boys’ game, Jackson led Natchez High with a game-high 20 points. Thomas added nine points while Kendall Reynolds had eight points. Berry and Ethan Williams each scored seven points. Franklin County was led by Kobe Marshall with 17 points while Michael Covington and Ken Malone poured in seven points each.

Natchez High traveled to Magnolia for the South Pike Holiday Tournament on Dec. 21 and 22. The Lady Bulldogs lost to the Tylertown High School Lady Chiefs 47-31 on Dec. 21 and then to the host South Pike High School Lady Eagles 45-32 on Dec. 22. McNeal was the leading scorer in both games for Natchez High. She had 15 points against Tylertown and 10 points against South Pike.

Those three losses in a row dropped the Lady Bulldogs’ overall record to 3-4 overall.

The Bulldogs cruised to a 51-40 win over the Tylertown Chiefs on Dec. 21. Jackson led the way for Natchez High with 18 points and Bailey poured in 13 points. Then they lost a heartbreaker to the host South Pike Eagles 67-65 despite having five players score in double figures.

Natchez High was led by Jackson with 17 points and Berry with 13 points. Bailey, Carter and Jones added 10 points apiece. Jaborri McGhee led South Pike with a game-high 23 points.

Those mixed results at the South Pike Holiday Tournament left the Bulldogs with an overall record of 4-3.