The Lady Bulldogs’ season came to an end with a 56-50 loss to Deep Creek High School during an intense affair Thursday night.

King’s Fork High School and Deep Creek collided for the third matchup between the two this season. Deep Creek, the No. 1 seed in Class 4 Region A, hosted the fourth-seeded Lady Bulldogs. King’s Fork came into the game 0-2 in the previous two meetings but didn’t go down without a fight Thursday night.

Deep Creek started off the game in control in the first quarter, but the Lady Bulldogs remained in striking distance. In the second quarter, Deep Creek went up as much as 25-15. However, a run by the Lady Bulldogs closed the game heading into the half as they were down 32-27. King’s Fork came out in the second half with some steam, as halfway through the third the game was tied even at 38.

The game wasn’t decided until the final four minutes. Deep Creek held a 50-47 lead, which the Lady Bulldogs followed up with a bucket to cut it to a one-point deficit. With 59.5 seconds left in the game, a turnover by King’s Fork led to free throws for Deep Creek, which extended their lead to 52-49. The last 30 seconds saw the teams trading free throws, but the Lady Bulldogs couldn’t catch up.

“The game could have went either way,” Coach Maurice Fofana said. “I hate for my seniors to go out this way, but we played with amazing effort. We weren’t expected to be where we were, and to have it come down to the wire showed the fight these girls had.”

Nylah Young finished with 24 points to lead King’s Fork. Quadara Coles added eight and Quadaja Coles added six. Fofana felt good about the team’s game plan going in. Even though the Lady Bulldogs didn’t have their best night, they still had an opportunity to win. King’s Fork shot 30 percent and missed more than 10 free throws, which would have turned the game in their favor.

“The game was still right there despite all of that,” Fofana said. “I think the girls handled the environment well. For some of these seniors, they have been through it, and our younger players learned. They fought it all the way out.”

King’s Fork finishes the season 18-5. With the players returning from this year’s team along with those coming into the program, Fofana is excited about the future.