After taking home third place from the state tournament last year, the Todd Beamer girls basketball team had higher aspirations for this season.

They will come up just short of their goal to win a state championship after their 55-37 loss to Central Valley in the semifinals.

Much like in their win over Skyview in the quarterfinals, the Titans had trouble getting the ball in the basket.

As a team, they were 11-46 from the field. They were 3-19 from 3-point range.

They were able to hold Central Valley to 15-49 from the field, but the Bears made up for the poor shooting from the floor going 5-15 from behind the arc and making 20 of 24 free throws.

The Titans made more mistakes than usual, turning the ball over 18 times to the Bears 15 times.

Things didn’t start out so bad for Beamer in the first quarter. They were only 3-11 from the floor, but were able to put up points from the free-throw line where they went made seven of their eight attempts.

They trailed the Bears 17-14 at the end of the first.

Things only got worse in the second quarter which, like their second quarter in the quarterfinals, was their worst quarter offensively.

The Titans started the quarter 0-7 from the floor in the first five minutes of the quarter. Nia Alexander’s 3-pointer from the left side of the arc ended the scoring drought.

Fortunately for the Titans, their defense was still tough for Central Valley to break through as they only took a 25-18 lead in to the half.

Lexie Hull proved to be a problem for the Titans inside in the first half as she hauled in four offensive rebounds. The second chance opportunities turned into 10 points for her before the half.

Also a thorn in the side of Beamer was foul trouble. Makenna Woodfolk had three fouls midway through the third, while Alexander and Darion Brown both had two.

Woodfolk was Beamer’s leading scorer through the first half with six points.

Halftime proved beneficial to the Titans as they came out of the locker room and took control of the first few minutes. A 7-0 run tied the game at 25.

It was as close as the Titans would get for the remainder of the game.

Lacie Hull took over for the Bears, scoring 10 of their 12 points in the quarter and eight of the final 12 points by either team. The scoring burst extended the lead to 37-29 for Central Valley.

With Beamer in fouling mode late in the fourth, Central Valley extended their lead by hitting 12 of 14 free throws. Camryn Skaife hit a dagger 3-pointer with 2:25 remaining to give the Bears their first double-digit lead of the game at 45-34.

Though they created looks, the shots didn’t fall for the Titans as they fell by the final score of 55-37.

Woodfolk finished with 10 points for the Titans. Alexander was second with nine points.

Lacie and Lexie Hull powered the Bears with 18 and 15 points. Both finished one rebound shy of a double-double.

Central Valley (27-0) remains undefeated with the win and move on to face Snohomish (22-3) in the championship game on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Tacoma Dome.

Beamer will face Bothell in the third/fourth place game on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. at the Tacoma Dome.