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The Albemarle women’s basketball season ended Friday night in a fourth-round road playoff loss at Cherokee 69-50.

Amari Baldwin, Stanly County’s all-time scoring leader, led Albemarle (25-5) with 32 points, finishing with 2,446 career points. The senior’s career point total ranks 17th all-time in the NCHSAA record book.

Jasmine Brown added 13 for the No. 3-seeded Bulldogs and finished her career with 1,206 points.

Cecily Swimmer led four in double figures for the Braves (26-2) with 15 points. Aaliyah and Whitney Rogers had 14 points each while Daisee Fourkiller-Raby added 12 points.

Albemarle led after one quarter, 13-9, but was outscored in the second period, 23-12, and trailed at halftime, 32-25. Cherokee pulled away in the third, outscoring the Bulldogs 19-8 en route to the win.

The No. 2 Braves will play Tuesday night at 8 in the 1A Western Regional Finals against No. 1 Bishop McGuinness (27-2).

“(It was a) tough way to end the season but extremely proud of the girls and their toughness. They represented the school and community very well,” Albemarle head coach Eric Davis said.

The Bulldogs won the Yadkin Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles. The graduating senior class, including Baldwin, Brown, Jordyn Crump, Keyzia Benson and Bianca Robinson, reached the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 multiple times and won three straight conference championships for the first time since 1989.

Davis thanked the seniors including “the journey (the coaching staff) got to experience with them. They should be very proud of their accomplishments and most certainly have set the bar for the program.”

Regarding the season, Davis added, “I’m very proud of the growth I seen throughout the season along with the commitment and dedication from every player. The future is bright with the returners we have coming back next season.”