It came down to the wire, but the Bradwell Institute girls’ basketball team could not edge out a win against visiting Groves in a Region 3-AAAAA contest Tuesday.
Bradwell fell, 44-38, to fall to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the region. 
Lady Tigers coach Faye Baker said she was not happy with her girls’ performance. And it didn’t help that one of the team’s top scorers, Shaquoia Crockett, had to sit out of the game due to a disciplinary issue.
But Baker also gave credit to the Lady Rebels.
“They are a greedy team,” she said of Groves. “They are quick, and they outhustled us tonight. “We did play without Shaquoia … and that was a factor for us, but still we had an opportunity to win. We missed a lot of chip shots under the basket and didn’t rebound well.”
Still, Bradwell managed to keep the game within reach and, according to Baker, had chances to pull the game out in the fourth.
“They had more aggressiveness but we had more opportunity, especially in the fourth quarter,” she said. “We made a run and had an opportunity to tie and extend the lead, but we missed a few baskets right underneath the basket.”
Two Bradwell players  scored in the double digits: Leitia Leiataua scored 13 points and Latisha Fraiser added 12.
Ashley Wright and Marnesha Weston each dropped in 14 points for Groves.
Baker said the Lady Rebels also hit the boards harder, getting more second shots.
“When you play a team that is fairly decent, you are going to be on the losing end when you miss opportunities to capitalize,” Baker said.
With the loss behind them, the BI girls will pack their bags and head to Macon for games Saturday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Saturday’s schedule has the Bradwell girls facing Rutland High School at
2:30 p.m.
The Lady Tigers will play Northeast Macon on Wednesday and Northside Warner-Robins on Thursday.
Baker said all these teams are well coached and will give her team a big challenge.
“That’s great — that’s what we need,” she said.

Groves: 10 15 6 14 — 44
BI:          9  11 9  9 — 38

Bradwell: Leitia Leiataua 13, Latisha Frasier 12, Akeyla Richardson 4, Brittany Terrell 2, Symone May 2, Treniece Boles 2, Kelissa Hargrove 2.
Groves: Ashley Wright 14, Marnesha Weston 14, Sydney Anerum 9, Julyssa Brown 2, Courtney Knight 2, Jada Haynes 1.