The Pike County Lady Bulldogs’ season come to a close with a 30-24 loss to Wicksburg in round one of the Class 3A Area 4 Tournament on Monday.

“We couldn’t make a shot. We played pretty good defense, but we came up short,” said Bulldogs head coach Todd Reynolds. “There is just not enough offense when you’re playing with seventh- and eighth-graders. We did a pretty good job at holding the score low. We just couldn’t make enough shots.”

Precious Vaznaian led the Lady Bulldogs with 12 points, while Kyah Rouse and Keeyah Rodgers had six.

The Bulldogs were able to change up their defense heading into the contest and they were able to take an early lead heading into the second quarter at 9-8.

“We used a modified defense to kind of key on their two scorers,” Reynolds said. “We were successful, but we missed some easy transition shots.”

The Panthers were able to gain a slim 14-12 lead heading into halftime.

After playing a neck and neck for the all of third and most of the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs had an opportunity to even the score when Rodgers stepped to the line for a one-and-one opportunity. Rodgers missed, giving the Panthers possession and ultimately the win.

“There at the end we made some mistakes that showed our age,” Reynolds said. “They had just enough senior leadership to pull it out.”

The Bulldogs entered the season as a young team with a second-year coach, and Reynolds’ goal was to see his team improve. They finished the regular season with a 4-17 record.

“I set the goal around eight wins,” Reynolds said. “We had 11 games this year that were decided by 10 or less points. That is more close games this year, than they have had in the last 10 years combined. There were some good things that came out of it. It’s process when your trying to change a mentality and a concept. It takes time and I was real proud of their effort.”