The Pleasant Home Lady Eagles fell to the Brantley Lady Bulldogs 52-40 Friday night in the 1A area 2 championship game in Brantley.

 

Sydnee Bryan came out of the gates on fire for the Lady Bulldogs, scoring 14 points in the opening period to give the Lady Bulldogs an 18-5 lead at the end of one. Bryan hit four 3-pointers in the period. Amahni Upshaw and SaQuaya Lane each had 2 points.

 

The Lady Eagles had trouble getting shots to fall early. River Baldwin and Johnnie Forehand chipped in 2 points each, and Jade Self finished the first period with 1 point.

 

“We turned the ball over way too much in the first half,” Lady Eagles’ head coach Jerry Davis said. “In the first period alone, we turned the ball over 11 times. You can’t do that against a team like Brantley, and expect to win.”

 

The Lady Eagles fell behind 32-13 by the end of the second period. Camille Holley and Forehand each connected from downtown, and Baldwin added another basket from down low.

 

Payton Burnett had the hot hand for the Lady Bulldogs in the second period. Burnett hit a pair of 3-pointers, and finished the second period with 8 points. Alexis Wilcox, Kassidy Wilcox and Upshaw had 2 points each for the Lady Bulldogs to close out the second period.

 

The Lady Eagles began scratching into the Lady Bulldogs’ lead in the third period. Self buried a 3-pointer, and finished the period with 5 points. Forehand found the bottom of the net on her second 3-pointer of the contest, and also finished the period with 5 points. Cassidy Godwin rounded out the scoring for the Lady Eagles in the third with 4 points.

 

Burnett remained heated up from the floor. Burnett’s 7 points in third period gave the Lady Bulldogs a 42-27 lead heading into the final period. Lane added two points, and Upshaw had 1 point in the period.

 

The Lady Eagles continued to play with intensity in the final period, and cut the lead down to 8 points before falling to the Lady Bulldogs 52-40. Baldwin put up 6 points in the final period to pace the Lady Eagles. Self knocked down another 3-pointer. Anna Bulger and Godwin pitched in 2 points each.

 

Burnett kept the Lady Bulldogs out front with a 6-point performance in the final period. Lane finished the fourth with 3 points, and Bryan added 1 point.

 

Burnett led the Bulldogs with 21 points, and Bryan totaled 15 points in the contest.

 

Baldwin and Forehand led the Lady Eagles with 10 points each. Self finished the night with 9 points. Godwin chipped in 6 points, Holley had 3 points and Bulger rounded out the scoring with 2 points.

 

“We knew what we wanted to do against them, but we just couldn’t execute in the first half,” Davis said. “We dug ourselves in such a hole in the first half, and you can’t do that against the No. 1 team in the state. The second half we turned the intensity up, and started playing like we knew we could. We just have to be able to do play like that the whole game, and not just a half.”

 

The Lady Eagles will now have to travel to McIntosh on Monday for their sub-regional matchup.