In the first round of the state tournament, the Douglas County Lady Tigers had home court advantage as they played host to Rockdale County on Tuesday night.

Although coming in as the number two seed from their region, the Lady Tiger's season would come to an abrupt end with a 77-69 loss to the 2-AAAAAA No. 3 seeded team.

"We played hard this year and being a young team, our youth showed on some occasions", said head coach Chet Forsh. "Hopefully this is a learning experience and we will grow before next year."

Both teams came out playing aggressive defense early and stayed at an even pace on both sides of the ball. After taking a foul and stepping to the free throw line, DC's Doris Ijeoma put the Lady Tigers up 9-8 with 2:33 to go in the first.

Although Rockdale fell behind slightly, they definitely were not giving up much ground. The Lady Tigers would hold to a close 19-14 lead going to the second.

Not staying behind long, Rockdale came out with a mission to take the momentum back before the half. Although persistent, DC continued to keep close quarters, even after Rockdale pulled away to a four point advantage before the four minute mark.

After a two point shot from Amadi Brooks, the Lady Tigers finally tied the game at 26-26 with 3:25 before halftime.

However, with time winding down, Rockdale fired off a couple of successful last minute attempts to take a 39-35 advantage at the half.

Looking to claw their way out of that four point deficit in the third, a layup from Brooks finally pulled DC to within one of Rockdale with 4:12 on the clock. Both teams continued their charge, but it was still Rockdale with a 59-56 edge to take it to the final eight minutes.

Not allowing much lead early in the fourth, both sides fought to maintain the upper hand for a chance to advance to the next round. Although DC stayed within a four point range most of the quarter, several fouls gave Rockdale a much needed chance to stretch the lead from the line.

With time quickly winding down, the Lady Tigers just could not make the shots to regain the lead and fell 77-69.

"They (Rockdale) just shot the ball well and we shouldn't have allowed them that many chances", said Forsh. "There were times we moved the ball well and forced passes or turnovers, but we just did not have a good answer for some of it."

Santasia Faust led the Lady Tigers with 22 points. Amadi Brooks had 14.