With things not going so well early, Westlake still found itself within striking distance late but the Lady Lions were unable to pull off the comeback en route to a season-ending 51-44 loss to Norcross in the GHSA Class AAAAA state semifinals Thursday afternoon at the Gwinnett Arena.

Sharnea Boykin scored 14 points and fellow senior Danielle Spencer added 10 for Westlake, (24-4) which had its 15-game winning streak ended.

“We just got off to a slow start,” said Westlake coach Hilda Hankerson. “We were evenly matched (with Norcross) in every quarter except the first. The game was lost in the first quarter.”

Before things were finalized, the Lady Lions had a chance to finally pull even or take the lead after trailing for much of the game.

With just over a minute left, Boykin drilled a 3-pointer to cut the margin to 46-44. Then senior Shaniece Sheffield (seven points) made a steal, but Westlake turned the ball over. Norcross added a free throw to push the lead back to three before Boykin had her 3-point attempt blocked by freshman Kaela Davis with 30 seconds remaining.

“I appreciate the girls’ effort down the stretch,” Hankerson said.

Norcross added four more foul shots to earn a spot in the title game.

In the first quarter, Westlake struggled with taking care of the ball, resulting in a 16-10 deficit. Then the Lady Lions went without a basket during the first four minutes of the second quarter, but entered the locker room down just seven (23-16) at the break.

Westlake was able to fight back in the second half due to the effectiveness of its full-court press.

Overall, the Lady Lions had a very successful 2009-10 season. They went 17-1 in Region 4-AAAAA, claiming first place for the second straight season since entering the region. Boykin will play at Mercer next year and Spencer at Georgia Southern.

“The girls made me proud to be their coach,” said Hankerson. “The seniors had the best class of any four-year group of kids.”