AFTON-A season full of high hopes came crashing down in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s Region 1-A semifinal.

Cloudland High School finished Monday night’s game on an 8-2 run over the final 5:31 to end the state’s fifth-ranked Cosby Lady Eagles season.

The late-game run, which was propelled by a number of Cosby miscues down the stretch, by the Lady Highlanders allowed them to claim a 39-35 win to advance to Wednesday night’s Region 1-A championship game against Hampton High School.

The loss ends Cosby’s season with a 25-4 record.

The night was marred by one of the worst offensive nights of the season by the Lady Eagles. Cosby made only 9-of-36 shots from the field and only sophomore guard Bethanie Williams reached double figures with a 20-point night.

“Offensively, we didn’t execute at all,” Cosby coach Richard Coggins said. “We played way too tight and we didn’t come over here tonight and do what we knew how to do.”

“You just have to play when it counts and tonight, we didn’t,” Coggins said.

For the full story, see the February 26 edition of the Newport Plain Talk.