The Goshen Lady Eagles fell behind early and could never recover in a 52-48 loss to the Brantley Bulldogs.

“We just got off to a slow start,” said head coach Fred Lowery. “We just didn’t play very well.”

The Eagles got off to the slow start but kept pace in the second period. “We were neck and neck in the second quarter,” Lowery said.

The third quarter ultimately undid the Eagles when they only scored two points and fell behind by 16 points.

Lowery said the inability to hit free throws contributed to the lack of offense. The Eagles made a trip to the line 21 times and converted just seven.

“We missed 14 free throws tonight,” Lowery said. “We shot 21 free throws and made just seven.”

The Eagles fought back in the fourth quarter, in part thanks to their athleticism.

“Our transition game was really good tonight,” Lowery said. “Our best thing tonight was probably our pressure. We played pressure defense and that kept us in the game,”

A technical foul call against the Eagles late in the game sent Brantley to the line, where they converted three foul shots.

“It was horrible, but it shouldn’t have been that close,” Lowery said.

Since wrapping up the number one seed in the area tournament more than a week ago, the Eagles have dropped a pair of games.

“We have to work on free throws for sure,” Lowery said. “One other thing we need to work on is knowing where the ball is on defense. We know to find and stop the ball and play defense.”

Lowery believes that fatigue may be starting to catch up to his young players.

“They have a lot of miles on them,” Lowery said. “They have been playing a lot of games lately. It’s late in the season and we played three games last week. If you ask me if I have seen fatigue, I have.”

The Eagles will close out the regular season on Friday as they host Pike County for senior night. Tipoff is 5:30 p.m.