The Forestburg Lady Horns return to the playoffs for the first time since 2018 was short-lived as they fell to a giant Graford team on Tuesday.
The Lady Horns lost 70-30 in a game where despite the score getting away from them early on they never stopped battling or enraging their opponents with their effort.
Forestburg came into the bi-district playoff game with the higher seed after finishing second in the district. The Lady Rabbits were a third seed, but not your normal third seed.
In a district with second ranked Newcastle on top and 14th ranked Throckmorton to battle for second place, state-ranked Graford were the favorites.
Featuring a huge and experienced backline, it overwhelmed the mostly younger Lady Horn team.
Midway through the first quarter Forestburg was competing well with the score tied at 5-5.
Only two minutes later, Graford started to flex its strengths and went on a 9-0 run to lead 14-5. The Lady Rabbits kept the run going until the end of the quarter, up 20-5 heading into the second quarter.
The Lady Horns were trying to press to keep up their energy, but Graford was quick to pass over the top and try to attack the back end before help could recover.
Even off of just defensive rebounds, the Lady Rabbits were looking to push the ball and run to get baskets in transition, taking advantage of Forestburg players trying to chase offensive rebounds.
The lead continued to grow as the game went along, though the Lady Horns never stopped coming. Despite getting blocked at the rim on some drives, Forestburg players started to try and use their bodies to draw fouls against the bigger foes and get free throw attempts.
It was not a constant parade to the free throw line, but it was enough to enrage Graford fans and annoy the players as the Lady Horns continued to rough it up like it was a two-point game.
The Lady Rabbits won 70-30.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.