The Pike County Lady Bulldogs lost a close battle with Bullock County 41-37 on Thursday.

The loss leaves the Bulldogs 0-5 on the season.

“It was nip and tuck all the way, we just came up short,” said Bulldogs head coach Todd Reynolds. “We battled the whole way. We were in it the entire game, and the players really felt like they should have won the game.”

Bullock County led from the opening tip, but the Bulldogs never trailed by more then seven points. The Bulldogs were able to cut the lead down to two points with about 2:00 minutes remaining in regulation. Bullock County was able to knock down big shots late to ice the game.

“They made a couple shots, and we just couldn’t capitalize there at the end,” Reynolds said.

The Yellow Jackets took control all the 50/50 balls and the Bulldogs struggled shooting their free throws, converting on just nine of 20.

“They always seemed to make the hustle play,” Reynolds said. “There would be a ball scramble, and they were the ones that picked it up and put it in the basket. There was a play where they missed free throws and after a long rebound they put up a three and made it.”

There were some positives to come out of the loss for the Bulldogs. Pike County won the turnover battle 19-14.

On the scoring front Keeyah Rodgers led the way with 17 points and had 18 rebounds, while Precious Vaznaian had 10 points and four steals.

The Bulldogs who finished the week 0-2 against Goshen and Bullock County will have a chance to revenge both losses next week when they travel to take on Goshen and when they host Bullock County.

“Bottom line is we are learning the game,” Reynolds said. “If you make mistakes learn from them. I am interested to see what they have learned from this week.

The Bulldogs will take on Goshen on Tuesday before turning around to host Bullock County on Thursday night.