For the second year in a row the girls basketball team suffered a first round exit from the Division 3 South playoffs at the hands of Ursuline Academy, this year by a score of 45-34.

After jumping out to an early 9-2 lead, the Wareham offense sputtered against the high pressure defense of Ursuline, a Catholic girls school in Dedham.

"We played tentatively on offense, and we were on our heels the whole game," said Wareham coach Dave Brogioli after Wednesday night's home loss. "We're better than what we showed tonight."

The Lady Vikings led 11-8 at the end of the first quarter, but poor rebounding and an abundance of turnovers assured they would never be able to reclaim the lead.

"We got pummeled on the boards," said Brogioli, who added that the team has a goal of 10 turnovers or less in order to win. Wareham had 14 turnovers in the first half alone.

Senior Amber Filkins scored nine of her team-high 11 points in the first half to keep Wareham in the game, but the team only managed to score four points in the third quarter, creating an eight-point deficit going into the final quarter.

With 4:05 left in the game, junior Kia Fernandes completed a three-point play to bring the Lady Vikings within four points. But it appeared the team had dug itself too deep a hole to climb out of, as the Ursuline girls hit their free throws down the stretch to seal a nine-point victory.

"It was a very frustrating game," said Brogioli, who will be losing four seniors in Filkins, Breanna Muir, Gina Mendes and Emily Bacchiocci.

"All four of them have been accepted to schools. They're all great kids," Brogioli said. He added, "It'll be tough to replace them, but we'll be back."