The Lady Bulldogs were running on empty Monday night as they fought for a win at the Division 3 South semi-finals, ultimately succumbing to the Ashland High Clockers.

“We ran out of gas,” said Coach Bob Hohne. “We never seemed to get into a flow.”

The fifth-seeded girls basketball team started out the game with a two-pointer scored by senior Abby Offringa, followed by one point from a free throw by sophomore Gabbie Reuter.

The defense put up a good fight, at times giving the competition no way out.

By the end of the first quarter, ORR and Ashland were tied 5-5.

The scores slowly crept up in the second quarter, with points by Reuter and senior Haley Dickerson.

With 9-15 at half-time, victory still looked like a possibility, and the ORR crowd was quiet, but hopeful. But, the ninth-seeded Clockers pushed ahead in the third quarter with several rapid fire goals that left ORR further behind.

ORR seniors Hannah Bouvette, Haley Dickerson, Katie Wilbur all scored, but it wasn’t enough to pull ahead. By the end of the third quarter, ORR was down 18-40.

“I was very disappointed in the defense in the third quarter,” said Hohne. “That’s the most points we’ve given up in a quarter all year.”

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the final quarter was more of the same. Ashland increased its lead while the ORR girls scored only three more points, finishing the game at 21-50, and their season at 18-5.

“We’ve been an energy team all year especially on defense,” said Hohne. “They seemed to have more energy than we did tonight. I think maybe the moment got to us, and we weren’t clear from a mental point of view.”