HIGHLAND HEIGHTS – Bowling Green’s dream postseason run came to an end Wednesday with a 62-41 loss to No. 5 Elizabethtown in the opening round of the St. Elizabeth Healthcare/KHSAA Girls’ Sweet Sixteen Basketball Tournament at BB&T Arena.

Looking for a second straight win against a top-10 team, Bowling Green (20-13) stayed within striking distance for three quarters before the Panthers pulled away in the final period.

“(Elizabethtown) is a really, really good basketball team and they made it tough for us to score the basketball,” Bowling Green coach Calvin Head said. “Overall, I am very proud of our team for getting to this stage and really competing at a high level. I thought our kids played hard the entire time and didn’t give up. I’m proud of our fight and drive going down the last stretch of the season.”

Both teams came out rocky, but the Lady Purples were able to take an early 5-2 lead.

The Panthers scored four straight to take the lead before Keely Morrow’s jumper pushed BG back in front 7-6 with 58 seconds left in the first period. E’town answered with the final four points in the period to take a lead it would never relinquish.

The Lady Purples kept the deficit between one and four points for much of the second quarter before the Panthers closed the half with a 7-0 run to make the score 32-22 at the break.

T’Alla Brown’s 3-pointer to open the third quarter shaved the margin to six, but Bowling Green missed its next six shots from the field to allow Elizabethtown (34-2) to build a 13-point advantage.

Morrow’s 3 ended the drought – starting an 11-3 spurt that trimmed the deficit to five, before Elizabethtown’s Whitney Hay hit a 3 with time winding down to make the score 46-38 at the end of three quarters.

Elizabethtown carried that momentum into the fourth, scoring the first eight points to put the game away.

Bowling Green went 1-for-11 from the field in the fourth quarter – shooting 26.9 percent for the game.

“We just couldn’t get them to fall,” Head said. “The ball didn’t bounce our way, but a lot of it has to do with their defense as well. They are very long on their back line with their 2-3 zone. They make it tough to get in the paint.

“They kept us off the free-throw line, too. When we are successful, we are usually getting 20 to 25 free-throw attempts. We were nowhere near that (with 11 on Wednesday).”

Morrow, Bowling Green’s lone senior, led the Lady Purples in scoring in the final game of her prep career. The Lipscomb signee finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

“I told my teammates thank you for my three years at Bowling Green (after the game),” Morrow said. “It’s been a long ride. Nobody expected us to be here and I was proud of them for bringing me back (to the state tournament).”

Taylor Ragland added 11 points for Bowling Green, while Shalyn Whitson finished with nine points and four rebounds.

Hay led Elizabethtown with 20 points.

“They were able to make some runs on us, but fortunately in that fourth quarter we were able to open it up a bit,” Elizabethtown coach Donnie Swiney said. “I thought our transition was really good and I thought defensively we were spectacular.”

Despite the loss, Head said there was plenty for his team to be proud of. The Lady Purples earned a fifth region title since 2010 and reached the 20-win plateau for the 11th straight season.

“It’s been fun,” BG’s first-year head coach said. “It’s been fun to watch these young ladies sell out and we cash in their effort on a daily basis, especially going down the stretch. You saw how we had to get here (rallying to beat South Warren in the region final). To see that effort and energy displayed on the biggest stage in the state of Kentucky has been amazing.

“We are excited about our future, only losing Keely. Keely is big shoes to fill. She led us in scoring and rebounding. Somebody is going to have to take hold of that, but we are excited about the direction of our younger athletes as well.”

BGHS 7 15 16 3 – 41

EHS 10 22 14 16 – 62

BG – Morrow 14, Ragland 11, Whitson 9, Brown 3, Jones 2, M. Gray 2.

EHS – Hay 20, Walker 11, Murphy 9, Knight 8, Gattis 7, Clark 7.