Perry gave Hamilton a run for its No. 2 ranking but came up short again Tuesday before a raucous crowd at Perry.

Following a 17-point loss to Hamilton earlier this season, Perry dropped its third straight game, 54-52, couging up a late-game lead.

“We just need to basically keep it going,” guard Tatyanna Clayburne said. “We go through lulls where we just play our hardest and then we stop, play our hardest, then we stop. When we get down, we come back up. We just need to keep it consistent all throughout game.”

Perry (13-4) started the game slowly falling behind 10-3 but regrouped and took a 47-42 lead into the fourth quarter.

Clayburne’s layup around the quarter’s halfway point gave Perry a 50-46 lead but offensive rebounds made the difference for Hamilton (15-1). Back-to-back second chance buckets tied the game at 50.

The tie was broken for the final time when Victoria Davis drew a late foul and capitalized by sinking two free throws to seal the game for Hamilton. Davis finished with 23 points.

“We have to start our games off better. We started off slow, which, that kind of kills us,” sophomore guard Madison Conner said.

Conner finished with a team-high 22 points. “Just catching the ball,” Conner said. “My teammates giving me great passes and I was just, they’re hitting me on screens and it was perfect timing. We were together tonight.”

Perry looks to rebound before heading into the playoffs in its final regular season game against Chandler Tuesday.

 “We need to stay together as a team and when we stay together, everything seems to work out better than when they fall apart,” sophomore guard Grace Oken said.