NATCHEZ – Strong foul shooting and defense down the stretch were enough to help the Natchez High Bulldogs reclaim the lead and ultimately defeat Warren Central, 61-57.

After leading by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, two separate 10-0 runs by the Vikings gave Warren Central a five-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but a three-point play by Cameron Logan coupled with a traveling violation against Mario Luckett gave the Bulldogs the lead back.

Jason Bruce scored 26 to lead Natchez (9-15), and Luckett led the Vikings (13-15) with 23.

&#8220Coach just told me to be the leader I needed to be and lead the team,” Bruce said. &#8220We won with defense. I’ve got to give it up to the defense, they did a great job at the end.”

Warren Central head coach Jesse Johnson said the Vikings beat themselves.

&#8220The difference was poor decision making,” Johnson said. &#8220I’m not getting good play from my point guards right now. We picked a bad time of the year to start playing poorly. This is three straight games we’ve played bad now.”

Luckett opened the game with an alley-oop dunk, but that would be the only highlight for Warren Central over the next two and a half quarters as Natchez built a 40-27 lead midway through the third quarter.

The Vikings then went on a 26-8 run through much of the fourth quarter to take a 53-48 lead before the Bulldogs finally retook control.

(G) Natchez 45, WC 42

A third-quarter flurry of points helped Natchez High take a 45-42 win over the Lady Vikes.

After trailing through much of the game, the Lady Bulldogs went on a 13-2 run to close the third quarter and then held off a late charge from Warren Central (20-8) to take the win.

(B) St. Al 68, E-Lincoln 30

St. Aloysius concluded division play with a road romp in Lincoln County Friday night. All 10 Flashes who dressed also scored.

St. Al (17-8, 9-3) will be the second seed in next week’s Division 7-1A Tournament at Salem High School in Tylertown. The Flashes will likely play Enterprise-Lincoln again on Tuesday night.

Chase Smith led the Flashes with 16 points. Alex Lanier had 12 while Marsh Willis and Chip Donald each had nine.