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PITTSBURG — One of the best Gladewater girls basketball seasons over the past 20 years came to a startling end during Monday night’s Class 3A Region II quarterfinal loss against Mount Vernon. The Lady Bears were slow out of the gate, so a 77-47 third round playoff defeat wrapped up a 28-5 campaign.

“I think we started with some jitters,” Gladewater girls basketball head coach Jermaine A. Lewis said. “I talked to them at halftime. We missed 11 layups and nine free throws in the first half, and that was the difference in the ballgame.”

Mount Vernon used a 17-1 run in the first quarter to set up an advancement to this week’s regional semifinal. The 17-7 Lady Tigers will face the Gunter/Edgewood Tuesday winner in their fourth-round playoff matchup.

An underclassmen duo helped Mount Vernon heat up in the game, and pull away in the first half. Sophomore Pacey Ford’s early three-pointer gave the Lady Tigers a 3-2 lead at the 4:35 mark. Seconds later, freshman Trinity Barron stole a Gladewater inbounds pass, and scored a layup off the forced turnover to make it a 5-2 game. Barron scored all 13 of her game points before halftime, while Ford earned all eight of her points in the first two quarters.

Barron, Aaliyah Traylor, Alyssa Rodriguez and Katelyn Dunavant added two-pointers, Natalie Norwood made a three, and Ford recorded a free throw to make it a 14-point game before the second quarter.

That was only countered by Alexis Boyd’s early Gladewater field goal and Kiyona Parker’s successful free throw attempts in the first period.

Mount Vernon then scored 19 of the first 22 points of the second quarter to expand its lead to 36-6. The Lady Tigers got a nine-point boost from Barron during this time.

But, Gladewater ended the first half by scoring five of the final seven points before halftime. Kyla Lincoln was successful on a pair of charity stripe attempts to launch her 12-point outing, while Jakiyah Bell earned a trio of free throw makes.

Mount Vernon regrouped in the third quarter with a quick 12-4 run to earn a 50-15 lead with 3:12 remaining in the frame. Norwood produced a pair of threes during the stretch, and five in the second half to set up a game-high 21-point performance.

The Lady Tigers also received four points from Summer Rogers, and two points from Traylor during their fast start to the third period.

Gladewater answered with 12 of the final 19 points of the quarter to face a 57-27 deficit heading into the game’s final frame. The Lady Bears than matched Mount Vernon’s 20-point quarter in the fourth period.

Bell scored 11 of her 16 game points after Gladewater’s 35-point deficit, but that was nearly matched by Anna Stephens’ 10 Mount Vernon points in the fourth quarter.