KINGSFORD — Nobody can say they didn’t try.

A valiant comeback fell a little short for the Carney-Nadeau girls here Tuesday night in a 53-47 basketball loss to the L’Anse Purple Hornets in a Division 4 regional opener.

The victory sets up the rubber match between L’Anse (20-4) and Baraga (21-3) Thursday at 7 p.m. at Kingsford High School. The Keweenaw Bay rivals split their regular-season meetings. The Wolves finished 20-5.

L’Anse led 39-17 at halftime and 43-25 after the third quarter.

The Wolves still trailed 51-40 following a putback and free throw by sophomore center Tessa Wagner with 92 seconds left to play.

A pair of gifters by senior Kailyn Voskuhl gave the Purple Hornets a 53-40 advantage 20 seconds later.

C-N, applying full-court pressure down the stretch, scored the final seven points and pulled within the final six-point margin on a steal and layup by Wagner with 10.2 seconds remaining.

“We got out of game,” said L’Anse coach Chad Rice. “The girls are normally smart with the ball, but we got a little nonchalant. We were hoping to get a couple freshmen in, but it didn’t happen.”

Following a time-out, the Wolves then had a chance to make it a one-possession game, but missed two shots in the closing moments.

“It was too little, too late,” said C-N coach Ken Linder. “We just didn’t get going until the second half. At haftime, we told the girls if we got within 12 after the third quarter, we’d have a shot. We were hoping to have a little bigger third quarter. After the game, we told the girls they have no reason to hang their heads. They played hard all night. They didn’t quit. We had a great season.”

The Purple Hornets came out like gang-busters, racing to a 13-2 lead within the first four minutes, 37 seconds.

After junior Maya Rice gave L’Anse its 11-point advantage on a putback, senior Giselle Laurila then sank a jump shot from top of the key to trim C-N’s deficit to 13-5 with 2:40 left in the opening frame.

The Purple Hornets led 19-8 after the first eight minutes. Maya Rice then scored the first seven points of the second stanza, giving them a 26-8 cushion on a steal and layup.

L’Anse led by as much as 36-13 following a 3-point play (layup and free throw) by Voskuhl late in the second frame before taking its 22-point advantage into the halftime locker room.

“I think the girls got a little shell-shocked after they got that run on us early,” Linder said. “The girls just couldn’t respond. They shot real well and our shots weren’t dropping. They hit enough shots to keep us out of reach.”

Maija Rice scored 20 of her 22 points in the first half. Voskuhl added 10 for L’Anse, which committed 14 turnovers.

“Maya wanted to get everyone involved,” said coach Rice. “We noticed on fllm they had some bigs in there. We wanted to put pressure on the Wagner girl. It’s kind of neat to have both Baraga County schools in the regional final. It’s going to be heck of a game.”

Wagner paced the Wolves with 17 points. Sandra Boulton finished with 10. They had 12 miscues.

C-N 8 9 8 22 — 47

L’Anse 19 20 4 10 — 53

CARNEY-NADEAU (47): Ernest 2, Poupore 3, Charlier 7, Laurila 6, Kedsch 2, Boulton 10, Wagner 17. FT: 10-20. F: 15. Fouled out: Laurila. 3-point FG: Laurila.

L’ANSE (53): Martinez 5, Mattson 4, Waara 4, Rice 22, Voskuhl 10, Swanson 2, Sanregret 6. FT: 5-8. F: 17. Fouled out: Mattson. 3-point FG: Martinez, Voskuhl.