NATCHEZ — If the Natchez High Lady Bulldogs want to sweep Jim Hill this season, coach Sue Johnson said they have to get back to basics.

That means making easy layups and scoring from the free-throw line, something the Lady Bulldogs (15-8) couldn’t do in a 62-59 loss to Lawrence County Tuesday.

“We missed 14 free throws and I don’t know how many layups,” Johnson said. “It’s just concentration. They know the proper technique.”

Alia Frank scored 27 and Keosha Bradley put up 25, but those free throws were key in the loss.

Johnson said it’s the same reason they’ve lost most of their games — lack of concentration.

“I just don’t know what else we can do,” she said. “We just keep going back to the drawing board, but until they learn to concentrate, it won’t work. We’re not doing our basic fundamentals.”

The Lady Bulldogs defeated Jim Hill 55-40 in their first meeting Dec. 12, and Johnson said they’ll go with the same game plan against the Tigers this time around.

That includes shoring up a defense that lacked a bit in Tuesday’s game.

“We are going to have to play good defense and make our free throws and our layups,” she said. “You have to do basic fundamentals to win any ball game — if you don’t you’re going to come up on the short end of the stick.

“You’ve got to do the little things because it’s the little things that count.”

The Natchez High boys will also be facing Jim Hill tonight for a bit of a revenge game.

The Tigers defeated the Bulldogs 66-59 in their last meeting.

Natchez is coming off a very close 75-74 win in overtime against Lawrence County, and that game was a bit of a disappointment.

The Bulldogs went into the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead, but their defense faltered to allow the Tigers to score 24 points in eight minutes, sending the game to overtime.

Jeremy McMorris’s free throw and block of a 3-point shot proved to be the game-winner, but the Bulldogs want a more solid win today.

The games start at 5 p.m. today with the junior varsity girls and then boys. The varsity girls will play next, followed by the varsity boys around 7:30 p.m.