The playoff scenario was simple: Beat Nocona and finish second in district and prepare to play a third-place team in the first round of the playoffs.

That didn't happen, and things just got a little more complicated. The Lady Bulldogs turned the ball over nine times in the fourth quarter - 21 for the game - and that was all Nocona needed to steal a 57-50 win in Alvord.

After trailing for nearly the entire first half, the Lady Bulldogs finally took a 24-23 lead on a spectacular layup by Maddison Kinsey with 1:04 left to play. The Indians, however, scored six points in the last 43 seconds to move back ahead before halftime and never trailed again.

Alvord pulled within seven points on five occasions in the second half. However, the Indians consistently beat the Lady Bulldogs back down the court after a basket and always had an answer to every score.

"We played hard but had some costly turnovers and missed rebounds that hurt us in the end," said AHS coach Curtis Enis. "We fell behind early and had to play catch-up all night. We had a chance to take the lead at halftime, but we missed a couple of free throws and they hit a three."

The loss put both Alvord and Nocona deadlocked for second place in District 9-2A with 10-4 records. The were to play again Friday night in Bowie to determine second and third places. The winner will face third-place Brock, while the loser gets fifth-ranked Peaster in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday.

Nocona, which got 26 points from standout sophomore Zowie O'Neil, scored the first six points of the game. Alvord finally got on the scoreboard with 5:51 on the clock when Whitney Enis banked one off the glass.

The Lady Bulldogs finally found some offensive life and scored four more times in the quarter. NHS, however, always had an answered and held on to a 13-10 lead.

Alvord senior Maddison Kinsey, who accounted for all but 16 points, punished the visitors with one of the best games of her career. She scored 12 of her game-high 34 points in the second period, and the final one gave her team its only lead of the game.

Kristyn Weaver and O'Neil scored the last six points of the half to put the Lady Indians ahead 31-25 at halftime.

After Kinsey scored the first basket of the third period, Nocona reeled off six straight points to take a 10-point lead. Alvord spent the rest of the quarter chipping away at the deficit with baskets from Morgan Rhine, Jennifer Ward and Whitney Enis.

The Lady Bulldogs, who trailed 43-36 going into the fourth period, made it a seven-point game on several occasions. Nocona forced four turnovers in the first three minutes which lead to its biggest lead of the night, 55-40, with 4:17 to play.

The Lady Bulldogs made a final run in the last three minutes of the game. They scored eight unanswered points to make it 55-48 with 36 seconds left but never got closer.

"We tried to clean up our press break at the half, but we still had some uncharacteristic turnovers and fell behind by 13 before we cut into it again."