Peyton Matt (22) picks off a pass during the first half of Tuesday's state tournament game. The Lady Panthers led at the end of three quarters, but a late basket by Trinity Christian eliminated them from the state tournament.

CHULA – Tiftarea Academy’s hoops season came to an end Tuesday evening, with the Region 3-AAA champions falling to Trinity Christian, 30-28, in the first round of the state tournament.

The Lady Panthers led the Dublin-based squad by four points at halftime and at the end of the third quarter but big shots by Trinity pushed the final score in their favor.

The contest was low scoring all the way and Tiftarea’s lead was just 19-15 at the end of the third period.

The Lady Crusaders jumped back into the game with a basket by Lindsey Tate to open the final frame. Abby Carswell put an offensive rebound back in for Tiftarea at 6:56, but it was the last basket for them for six minutes.

Ruthie Scott’s free throws tied the game at 21-all, but Shaunteria Taylor gave Tiftarea a 22-21 edge on a free throw. That was the last lead Tiftarea took.

Mary Ansley Tate gave Trinity its first lead since 2-0 in the first quarter. Ally Pate tied the contest when she hit the front end of a one-and-one, but could not connect on the second. A minute later, Karmen LeRoy made a three-pointer from the right corner and the Lady Crusaders’ lead was 26-23.

The score remained 26-23 until 38 seconds were left and Camille Rogers made one free throw for a four-point difference. Taylor and Tiftarea surged back into it when she was fouled on a drive to the basket. The free throw was also good, making the score 27-26.

Rogers gave a bit of a margin at 28-26 with 24 ticks remaining. Taylor drove to the hoop again to tie the contest with 14 seconds left on the clock.

However, Trinity got past Tiftarea’s backcourt pressure and Victoria Clayton hit a close shot with four seconds to go in the game. Tiftarea called two timeouts to set up a final attempt, but could not get a shot off.

Scoring was at a premium in the first half.

Carswell scored six points in the first quarter, more than than anyone else on the floor as Tiftarea began with a 7-4 advantage.

Clayton closed the gap to a single point to open the second quarter, but Taylor responded with a three-point play. With five seconds left in the half, Taylor increased the lead to four points – 14-10 – on a left-handed drive. Trinity had a chance to close that margin to one point when they were fouled at the end of the half, but missed all three free throws.

Carswell gave Tiftarea their largest lead of the game at 16-10 on a Taylor assist to start the third quarter. Trinity had just one basket in the frame, but clawed back to 16-15 before Carswell scored with 50 seconds left.

Taylor and Carswell tied for scoring honors with 12 points each. No Trinity player had more than seven points. LeRoy had seven counters and Scott added six.