A sloppy fourth quarter led to a 43-31 loss at home to Fayetteville for the Verbena varsity girls basketball squad.

It was a game that the Red Devils (0-2, 0-2) were feeling good about after leading 21-20 at halftime and 29-27 at the end of the third quarter.

However, it was the final quarter that did Verbena in as the Red Devils were outscored 16-2 in the fourth quarter.

JaNiya White knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the lead, but that was the last of night’s scoring as Verbena went cold from the field the rest of the game.

Just as Verbena went cold, Fayetteville began to heat up and scored on a string of consecutive possessions down the court.

Nothing seemed to go in the basket down the stretch for the Red Devils, even for JaNiya and Jasmyn White who had been the hot hands early in the game.

Both continued to launch three-pointers, but never got one to fall. Together they were 0-18 from bonus land on the night.

Prior to the final quarter of play, the Red Devils leaned on its defense, which also seemed to suffer as a side effect from a lack of offense in the final quarter.

JaNiya White tied for a game-high 14 points, while Jasmyn White racked up 12 points. They combined to score all but five of Verbena’s points against Fayetteville.