Meadowview’s Cinderella season came to an end with a 70-58 loss to Southern in the Class AA Final Four.

The Trojans could not match Southern’s offensive firepower. The Cougars shot better than 50 percent on the day, while Meadowview shots missed their mark more often than not.

“They were hot the whole game,” said Meadowview coach Robbie Redd. “We had spurts the whole game, but we didn’t shoot the ball well at all. You can’t win a game against a quality opponent shooting that way.”

Despite allowing an 11-2 first run that put the Cougars ahead 17-8, Meadowview battled back to trail 20-16 at the period’s end.

But, the second quarter was a sign of things to come. A Ryan Averette layup and 3-pointer sparked a 14-0 Southern run to extend the lead to 34-16 with only 3:49 elapsed from the clock.

The Trojansmade their last serious push with an 11-4 run to make it 38-27 at the intermission.

Southern broke the game open with a 10-0 run to start the third quarter — extending the lead to 48-27 — and Meadowview did not threaten the rest of the way. However, the Trojans did continue to show life.

A double technical on Trey Bamberg and coach Shaun Bonds led to a 9-2 Meadowview run that trimmed the Trojans’ deficit to 64-50 before the final 1:28 was twice delayed by tornado warnings. Redd saw the delays as a benefit, but they proved to have little effect.

“With 1:28 left, chances are very slim,” said Redd. “But, I have seen stranger things happen. They just asked me if I wanted to take a forfeit, and I said, ‘absolutely not.’”

Justin Freine led the Trojans with 19 points and eight rebounds. J.R. Lowe added 16 points and 18 boards and Daniel Blackmon finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Averette led the Cougars with 19 points. Sam Kelley added 18 and John Michael Cochran finished with 12 .