King’s Fork High School’s girls’ basketball team lost to Monacan High School 74-65 in the 4A East regional championship on Friday.

KFHS will play Carroll County in the first round of the state tournament Thursday.

The Lady Bulldogs faced an undefeated Monocan on the road. Monacan took the win, but the Lady Bulldogs kept it close throughout.

This is the third time the two teams have met in a year. In last year’s regional championship, Monacan won pretty convincingly. They also played each other in the 4A East state semifinals, and Monacan won that game, as well.

With the results of the prior matchups in mind, the Lady Bulldogs came into Friday night’s game with some motivation.

After starting off the game missing a couple of easy shots, the Lady Bulldogs had dug themselves into a hole by halfway through the first quarter. By the end of the quarter, they were down 22-16. Monacan stretched that lead slightly in the second quarter, going into halftime with a 37-29 lead.

King’s Fork had a strong third quarter and tied the regional champs at various points of the quarter. But the Lady Bulldogs were unable to keep the rhythm going during the fourth quarter. Free throws were part of the difference for KFHS as the team missed 12 on the night.

“I think we did a great job,” Lady Bulldogs coach Maurice Fofana said. “We had a couple of miscues on some things I think would have made a difference in our game. We missed 12 free throws that could have made things different, but overall I felt we played well.”

Defensively Fofana wanted the Lady Bulldogs to match up and play as hard as they could. Megan Walker of Monacan, a University of Connecticut signee, led the Lady Chiefs with 24 points. Amesha Miller led all scorers with 30 points. Camary Harris added 15 for the Lady Bulldogs.

King’s Fork will take part in the state tournament this week. It is possible that these two teams could face each other again for the 4A state championship.

But the first order of business for King’s Fork will be Carroll County, whom they will play in the first round of the 4A state tournament. The game will be held at the Salem Civic Center at 7:45 p.m. Thursday.

“We have to be focused and stay grounded to what we have to do,” Fofana said. “We are not going to change anything up. Some of the kids have been there before, so they know what to expect. We are just going to continue to remain focused.”

Last year King’s Fork defeated Carroll County in the 4A state quarterfinal 55-51.

King’s Fork 65, Monacan 74

King’s Fork: 16 13 19 17 – 65

Monacan: 22 15 15 22 – 74