The Hamilton Southeastern girls basketball team took a tough loss to Warren Central Thursday, 34-33 at the Royals’ gym.

Class 4A No. 6-ranked Southeastern led 20-12 at halftime, but the Warriors worked their way back to take a 27-26 lead by the end of the third quarter. Warren led 32-28 late in the fourth, but the Royals got back in front after Tayah Irvin drained a 3-pointer and Amaya Hamilton made a layin with around three minutes left in the game. Neither team would score again until the Warriors made a layin with about four seconds remaining.

“I thought our girls did everything right,” said HSE coach Chris Huppenthal. “Sometimes it just doesn’t go the way you want it to.”

Malea Jackson led the Royals with 12 points, including three 3-pointers. Irvin had two 3-pointers on her way to nine points. Hamilton grabbed seven rebounds with Irvin collecting five. Molly Walton handed out six assists, Irvin made four steals and Hamilton blocked three shots.

“I thought our kids did a lot of really good things today,” said Huppenthal. “I thought they played hard.”

Southeastern is now 13-5 and off until Friday, Jan. 12, when it travels to Westfield for a Hoosier Crossroads Conference girl-boy doubleheader. The girls game starts at 6 p.m., with the boys game to follow.