MURFREESBORO – Creek Wood’s late-game charge came up short in Thursday’s Class AA quarterfinal.

The Red Hawks, who trailed by as many as 12 in the third quarter, used a sizable second-half rally to cut into their deficit, but they couldn’t muster enough to overcome Fulton in a 71-63 loss.

“We couldn’t get it going in the first half,” said Creek Wood coach Charles Taylor, whose squad found itself in a 30-24 halftime hole. “We just decided to pick it up in the second half, and make it as much of a fullcourt game as possible.”

The aggressive strategy worked for awhile.

The increased defensive pressure led to 11 second-half turnovers for Fulton, allowing Creek Wood to claw its way back, eventually pulling to within one score on junior Ross Cummings’ stick back with 4:41 remaining.

“We started pressing and got them a little shaken,” Creek Wood junior Ross Plunkett said. “We got some easy baskets off that.”

The Falcons withstood the fourth-quarter barrage, though, never surrendering the lead. They even overcame 48.7 percent free throw shooting.

“Their offensive rebounding affected us a lot,” Plunkett added. “We knew it would be a factor coming in to the game, but I guess we didn’t do a good enough job.”

Fulton (27-4), which outrebounded Creek Wood 45-36, was led by junior Joe Kimber’s 16-point, 12-rebound effort. Yasmond Fenderson, Larry Roe and Markese Sheely each contributed 11 points.

Creek Wood (33-2), which entered its first state tournament averaging 86.4 points per game, failed to crack the 70-point mark for the third straight game. The Red Hawks hit just 3 of 16 3-pointers.

“We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we normally do, but that’s just part of it,” Taylor said. “We talked about trying to get the ball to the rim as much as possible because of the different environment.”

Creek Wood’s Easton Aldridge had 12 points and 14 rebounds and Cummings added 13 points.

“I told the guys that it hurts right now because you have expectations to come here and win,” Taylor said. “Having grown up in Dickson County, coming to state for the first time ever is something that I’ve dreamed about my entire life. I think once these guys take a week off for spring break they’ll realize what a special season it has been.”

Reach Michael Murphy at 259-8018 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.