Only a fisherman would have understood how Blackville-Hilda High soccer coach Daniel Holbrook felt following Thursday's night playoff home loss to the Governor's School of Greenville.

For the first 78 minutes of the contest, the Blackville-Hilda High Hawks had the Governor's School on the hook, looking to reel in a 1-0 victory.

However at the 78:30 mark, what seemed to be an easy catch suddenly turned in to a struggle when the Governor's School fought back with a goal to tie the contest and force an overtime.

After battling to a scoreless tie in the first overtime period, Blackville-Hilda's season slipped away in the second session when the Governor's School scored three minutes into the period for a 2-1 victory.

"It's tough to play that hard, then to lose this way," Holbrook said. "I thought we outplayed for the majority of the game. However, I have to give the Governor's School credit-they hung in the game then made the plays at the end to win."

In a defensive battle, the Hawks got on the scoreboard midway through the first half when junior DesmonD Armstrong found the net on an assist from junior Freddie Glover.

Several times in the first half, the Hawks had chances to add to its one-goal lead.

Forwards Quentin Johnson and Freddie Glover had free shots at the goal on break away, but both players' shots sailed over the goal.

"Offensively, we were aggressive and attacking, but we couldn't put the ball in the goal. We missed on a lot of scoring opportunities and at the end it cost us," Holbrook said.

Minutes into the second half, the Governor's School threatened to tie the score, but missed on both goal shots.

Despite surrendering eight shots on goal in the first half, the Hawks defense paced by senior keeper, Thomas Daniels and defenseman Joe Thomas, William Harrison, James Jones and Tim McMillian kept the Governor's School off the scoreboard.

"I have to give the defense credit. At times, we did a good job of keeping the Governor's School out of rhythm and disrupting its offensive flow. It's just too bad we couldn't keep up the same intensity for the entire game or we'll still be playing."

The loss ends Blackville-Hilda High season at 12-7 overall.

"Although we came up on the short end of the scoreboard tonight, it was a great season for Blackville-Hilda soccer," Holbrook said. "I like to thank the players for their hardwork. The parents, fans and adminstration for great support during the season."