FERRIDAY, La. &045; The Huntington offense finally came alive, but it was too late to save their swiftly dying hopes of making the Class A State Tournament.

The Lady Hounds scored 22 points in the fourth quarter, nearly matching the 25 they had in the first three quarters combined, but it wasn’t enough as they fell 56-47 to Central School in the opening round of the Class A South State Tournament Wednesday night. Central secured a spot in the state tournament with the win.

The Lady Hounds had trailed by as many as 17 points in the game.

&uot;We didn’t lose for lack of effort,&uot; Huntington coach Penny Moak said. &uot;We came back from 17 down to make it close. It was just the little things, the missed layups, rebounds off of missed free throws. That’s a lack of intensity.&uot;

Both teams struggled with offense. Huntington went without scoring for several stretches, including one in the second half that may have cost them the game.

Central also had its offensive problems, missing 12 of their 18 free-throw attempts in the game and struggling at times to beat an aggressive Huntington press.

&uot;It’s good to win, because we didn’t play very well, especially on offense,&uot; Central coach Ginger Snead said. &uot;I had to take my point guard out of the game, she couldn’t handle the ball.&uot;

Four of Central’s players were at the doctor’s office as recently as Tuesday after a bout of flu struck the team earlier this week.

&uot;Most of our girls have been sick, so it’s a good win given that,&uot; Snead said.

Leading 32-19 at halftime, the Lady Pioneers came out in the second half in a 3-2 defense that appeared to severely disrupt the Lady Hounds offense. After burning Central for three quick baskets to open the second half and cut their deficit to just seven points at 25-32, Huntington went scoreless for a six minute stretch in the third and fourth quarters that all but ended their shot at victory.

Before Erin Hedrick scored for the Lady Hounds to end the drought, Huntington had trailed by as many as 17 points.

&uot;They changed defenses on us in the second half and nobody wanted to take it to them,&uot; Penny Moak said. &uot;No one wanted to take that shot. When they finally did it, we got 22 points in the fourth. One positive is that some of the ones who did step up are coming back next year.&uot;

In that fourth quarter, Huntington’s offense finally came alive behind the play of

Erin Hedrick, Katie Moak and Jessie Lee, who combined for 15 points in the final period. Moak led her team with 16 points in the game.

When the Lady Hounds really turned it on, it was probably already too late. Trailing 52-39 with 1:59 to go, Katie Moak hit a 3-pointer. Huntington’s Emily Anders hit another 3 on the team’s next possession with 1:37 remaining to make it a seven-point game.

The Lady Hounds stole the ball from Central seconds later but were called for a three-second violation and lost the ball. A traveling call against the Lady Pioneers gave them the ball right back.

Amber McGlothin’s basket with 57 seconds left in the game made it 47-52, the closest the Lady Hounds had been since midway through the second quarter and the closest they would get. Central’s Jessica Cowdin put back a missed free throw to make the final 56-47 and end Huntington’s season.

In the first half, Huntington got out to a good start and led 7-5 after getting two fast break baskets and a three-point play from Hedrick. The Lady Pioneers came back to take the lead &045; which they would hold for the game’s final 28:11 &045; though Huntington kept things close until the first half’s final minutes, when a Lady Pioneers 8-0 run put them up by 13 points at the break.

Central’s Kelly Daniels led her team with 16 points and teammate Cassie Snead chipped in 13.