For a time it looked like the Long County High School girls’ basketball team might find a way to pick up its first win of the season against visiting St. Vincent’s Academy.

But a tough fourth period resulted in the Lady Tide falling 42-26 to the Saints.

"When we play hard, we can compete. We played 28 minutes of basketball, but those other four minutes are what cost us the game," Lady Tide coach Ryan Bailey said. "I’m trying to instill in the ladies that you have to play four whole quarters. If you let up an inch, the scoreboard will show it, just like it did tonight."

Both teams took a while to warm up. St. Vincent’s managed a 6-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 17-6 at halftime.

Long County began a run in the third period, sparked by 3-pointers from Brittany Hall and Jameka Boyd. Shameka Richardson added 5 points as the Lady Tide outscored SVA 13-7 in the period to narrow the gap to 24-19.

That was as close as they would get. In the final period, the Saints outscored Long County 18-7 to seal the win.

Richardson and Toni Johnson led the Lady Tide with 8 points each. Hall and Boyd finished with 5 points apiece.

"Miranda McDowell played the whole game, and did a good job, and Shameka (Richardson) and Jameka (Boyd) also had a good night especially on defense," Bailey said,

The loss drops Long County to 0-11 while St. Vincent’s improves to 10-5.

The boys were off Friday, but both the Lady Tide and the Blue Tide played Saturday night at Appling County.