John F. Kennedy’s girls basketball team rallied from an eight-point deficit to pull within a basket midway through the fourth quarter, but the Lady Bears’ comeback effort fell short as Tonawanda used some easy baskets to pull away down the stretch Thursday, 47-34.

After getting as close as 34-32, JFK saw its shots stop falling — a trait that has plagued the Lady Bears all season long. JFK, which had just six girls play for the game, made just 23 percent of its field goal attempts for the game, which spoiled a stellar defensive effort that limited Tonawanda’s top scorer to just six points.

“They slowed the ball down, which is to our liking, and we played good defense the entire game,” coach Steve Sokolski said. “Unfortunately, they got a few too many easy layups down the stretch, and we missed too many. It was really tough because they’re leading our division and we definitely had them discombobulated. They just got a lot of points at the end on the fast break. Their shots went in and ours didn’t.”

Stacy Kochanowski led the way for JFK with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Krysta Wiess added eight points. Briana Gist contributed seven points and 12 rebounds.

JFK (4-9, 2-7 division) returned to action Tuesday against Holland, but information about that contest was not available at press time. The Lady Bears will host Lackawanna tonight for their Senior Night game, and then hit the road for their final four contests of the regular season — starting with Alden on Tuesday.

“I can’t be critical of the girls, because they’re doing the best they can,” Sokolski said. “We’re going to be playing two teams that we’ve beat before to close out the regular season, so we’re hoping we can get some wins under our belt going into the playoffs.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com