Liberty County’s rally came up just a little bit short against the much taller Lumpkin County girls basketball team.

The Lady Panthers cut a 15-point lead down to four in the last two minutes, but couldn’t overtake the visiting Lady Indians in a 39-33 loss Tuesday in the Class AAA girls state basketball tournament.

The Lady Indians improved to 18-9 while the Lady Panthers’ season ends at 15-9. Lumpkin advances to meet Jenkins, a winner over Douglass-Atlanta.

Lumpkin County never trailed and built a 15-point lead on Emerson Reese’s follow-up of her own missed shot with 1:16 to play in the third quarter.

But the Lady Indians did not get another field goal the rest of the way. Neveah Saddler’s layup, followed by her steal and layup eight seconds later, drew Liberty within 35-31 with 36 seconds to play in the game.

Lumpkin County’s Anna Kate Davis hit four free throws in the final 22.6 seconds to seal the win. She finished with a team-high 13 points.

Maddie Lee had 11 points for Lumpkin County, which was 8-of-12 from the free throw line in the second half after making just one of six in the first half.

Saddler topped Liberty County with 10 points, and Maritza Troche added eight points.