The Bainbridge Lady Cats (19-9) had high hopes for the State AAAAA Tournament this season. Unfortunately, the tourney came to an early close for Coach Kelvin Cochran and his team last Friday as they fell 45-36 in the first round.

“To me, we looked flat,” Cochran said. “We came out flat and low energy. I don’t know if it was nerves or what, but we didn’t play well. We didn’t play good enough to win.”

Nadia Marshall, a player led the Lady Cats averaging 21 points per game this season, only scored 10 against the Lady Tigers (21-8).

“She played hard,” Cochran said. “She wasn’t being aggressive. Shots didn’t fall. It was a different game than what we’ve been playing all year.”

Tyra Smart had nine points.

Freshman India Parris drained two 3-pointers in the first half, but was scoreless throughout the second.

“It was one of those nights where there was a lid on the goal,” Cochran said.

Fayette County outscored the Lady Cats 21-18 in the first half, but slow scoring in the second half killed any hope of a comeback for Bainbridge.

The Lady Tigers had 11 points in the third to Bainbridge’ six and finished strong with a 13-point fourth quarter.

Cochran said the Lady Cats’ 19 wins was a mark for a good year, but the expectations are even higher for next year.

Losing in the first round was not part of the Lady Cats’ plan, and now the pressure for a strong 2017-18 season is high.

“The season was 19 games, with no seniors,” Cochran said. “But being young is not an excuse to not be successful this season. I’m proud of the way they girls grew together. We played some good ball this year, we just didn’t play it in the state playoffs.”

The hardest part of every season is saying goodbye to the seniors at the end, Cochran said. This year, he didn’t have to do that. Every player on the Lady Cats team returns next season.

“That was the only silver lining of (last Friday) night,” Cochran said.

Fayette County advances to the second round of the State AAAAA Tournament against Carrollton on Wednesday.