A great 19-7 season for the Clinton varsity girls came to an end Wednesday when they lost to Whiteville in the second round of the state playoffs. Final score was 52-49.

The Lady Dark Horses were up by 10 at the half, 37-27, and felt like they were on the verge of another victory.

“We jumped in there in the first half. We were in control of the game, but in the second half, the officials literally took it from us. Our girls got really frustrated because of the whistle,” Clinton head coach Chris Owens lamented after the game.

The way they played in the first half was suddenly not allowed in the second half, which basically shut the Dark Horse offense and defense down, the coach said.

They scored a total of 12 points in the second half compared to Whiteville’s 25.

“We had an awesome season. The girls played hard to get here and I hate for it to end like this for them. I’m proud of them and I thank all our fans for their support. It was just a great season and now we’ll start working on next year,” coach Owens added.