A day after the Buffaloes season ended with a regional playoff loss at Dan River, the Lady Buffs came up two points short in a hard-fought game with Gate City to bring the 2013-14 run for a repeat state championship to a close, losing 64-62 at the final buzzer.

Gate City’s Blue Devils, looking for revenge for getting knocked out of the state semi-finals by Floyd last year, celebrated the two-point basket that sealed the victory as time ran out after the Lady Buffs tied the score with less than a minute to play.

The tie came after Floyd lost the lead midway through the fourth quarter in a close game they led for most of the night.

The loss ends the team’s defense of last year’s state championship.

Gate City came with a strong full-court press that one-upped the usually dominating one that is a Lady Buffs trademark.  This time, however, Gate City forced the turnovers and turned steals into points,  The team also controlled rebounds and limited a Lady Buffs offense that normally scores 80 points or more in a game.

Yet Floyd led 12-7 at the end of the first quarter and 32-23 at the half.  The Blue Devils cut that lead to 42-40 by the end of the third quarter and closed to within one point more than once before taking the lead halfway through the final period and led 56-51.  The lead swapped back and forth until Amanda Hollandsworth of Floyd tied the game at 62 all with seconds left, but Gate City drove down the court and took the win with a final two-points as time ran out.

Four Lady Buffs scored in double digits: Ashley Gallimore 12, Emily Boothe 11, RaganWiseman 10 and Hollandworth 10.

The loss leaves the Lady Buffs at 23-2 for the year and watching from the sidelines as Gate City and Central Wise for the regional championship Friday night at FCHS.