Montgomery-The Fort Dale Lady Eagles left nothing on the court Thursday afternoon in their bid to make it to the championship game of AISA Class AAA, but in the end it was Faith from Mobile that advanced with a 52-45 win over Fort Dale.

It was the fourth time this year the Eagles fell to the Rams who now advance to the title game to face Morgan, the team that won the area title from the Eagles earlier this month.

The Eagles hung with the Rams the entire game, trailing by only three at the end of the first quarter and by seven at the half, before Lady Rams guard Erica Martens put the game out of reach for the Eagles by hitting some key three pointers in the fourth quarter.

&uot;Erica had an outstanding game,&uot; said Lady Rams' head coach Woodie Head, whose team will be playing for its fourth state championship in a row &uot;She's our only senior and she did a great job.&uot;

Head said he knew the Lady Eagles would be prepared and would come ready to play.

&uot;Reggie know what we were going to do,&uot; he said. &uot;And Laura Skipper played an outstanding game, probably the best game I've ever seen her play.&uot;

Fort Dale coach Reggie Mantooth said it was tough to overcome some early foul trouble with Frances Watts sitting the entire second quarter with three fouls.

&uot;They went man-to-man on us when she went out of the game and we weren't able to run our offense,&uot; he said. &uot;It was a big factor.&uot;

Fort Dale's only seniors, Marcey Adams and Crystal Waters shed a few tears after the game, their last in Eagle red, white and blue.

&uot;It's just upsetting for me to have to leave,&uot; said Adams, her head bowed and tears streaming down her face. &uot;Basketball is my favorite sport, it's what I live for each year.&uot;

&uot;It hasn't really hit yet,&uot; said Waters, who sat out part of the year with a foot injury. &uot;When you play every day it's hard to give it up. I've loved my three years with coach Mantooth. I wouldn't want any other coach.&uot;

Skipper led all scorers with 19 points. Watts added eight points with Adams scoring five points and pulling down seven rebounds. Wesley Atkins and Stephanie Hood added six points each.

Martens led Faith with 17 points with Christian Shelter adding 12 points.