At least that's the way Capital coach Colleen Wells felt after her Cougars fought hard but wound up on the short end of a 59-50 score against Thomas Jefferson on Friday at the 4A district tournament at Puyallup High School.
"They played better than us," Wells said. "They've got a good team."
The loss drops Capital into the losers bracket of the district tournament, meaning the Cougars must win two more games to advance to the state tournament.
Capital will next face Decatur at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Puyallup and must win in order to stay alive.
Friday, the Cougars looked crisp at times and ragged at others, producing a game that saw them hold the lead in every quarter but not play with a consistent enough effort to retain it.
"Sometimes we made some stupid mistakes," Capital's Alissa Wright said.
Offensively, Capital's offense never really found a rhythm, as some poor passes stopped possessions and some tough breaks negated baskets.
"We didn't run our offense," Wells said. "People weren't in the right place so people couldn't pass to their teammates. To tell you the truth, Jefferson had a lot to do with that. They're aggressive and they pulled us out of our game."
Defensively, the Cougars were prone to critical lapses. In the third quarter, Capital held the Raiders to one point for the first seven-plus minutes of the period to build a 38-35 advantage.
But just like that, Jefferson reeled off seven easy points in 1:11 to end the quarter with a 42-38 lead.
In the fourth, Capital rallied to take a 45-44 lead on Wright's 3-pointer with 5:41 remaining. But the Raiders responded with an 8-0 spurt that essentially sealed the Cougars' fate.
"We had no intensity at times," Wright said. "That was killing us."
Wright and Alyssa Ferdaszewski each scored 12 points to lead Capital, while Jennell Day chipped in with eight points.
"We gave it everything we had," Wright said. "It never felt like we gave up. In the end, with 14 seconds left, we never gave up."
The Cougars will need that kind of fighting spirit in order to keep their state hopes alive.
"We've overcome tough losses before," Day said. "In fact, we kind of play better after a loss."
Wells said that her team has the right makeup to bounce back from the defeat.
"Oh, yeah, these kids are a great group," she said. "If they put their minds to it, we can go to state."
Thus Wells' post-game comments were short and sweet.
"I told them, 'We have practice tomorrow and Monday, a game Tuesday, a game Thursday and then we have state.' "
Boys
- 4A District: Olympia vs. Kentwood, 4 p.m. at Puyallup; Shelton vs. Auburn, 8 p.m. at Foss.
- 3A District at Saint Martin's: Yelm vs. Columbia River, 2 p.m.
Girls
- 3A District at Saint Martin's: Black Hills vs. Chehalis, noon.
- 2A District at Montesano: Forks vs. Castle Rock, 6 p.m.; Tenino vs. La Center, 7:30 p.m.
- 2A District at Battle Ground: Elma vs. Ilwaco, 6 p.m.; Woodland vs. Hoquiam, 7:30 p.m.
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