RALEIGH — After weeks of beating teams by sizable margins — sometimes more than 50 points — Athens Drive had been playing it close lately.

The Lady Jaguars won by less than 10 in their three most recent games.

But on Friday, it got too close for comfort as Athens was edged by Wilmington Laney 37-30 in a narrow, back-and-forth sectional final in the state playoffs.

The Lady Jags held a 30-28 lead with 4:45 remaining in the game, but Laney used a 9-0 run in the final minutes to earn a road win and advance to regionals.

“I thought Laney did a good job of setting up its defense and at the end, they did a good job of spreading out and melting the clock,” said Athens coach Chris Danehower. “It was a great defensive game. You have to give them a ton of credit.”

As the score might indicate, Laney thrived on its tough defense.

“We just had great defensive intensity and we knew we were going to have to have good rebounding,” said Laney coach Sherri Tynes.

Laney was also able to turn its defense into offense, intercepting passes for easy fast-break points.

Offensively, Tynes praised her team for being patient and looking for the best opportunities to score.

“We stuck with our offense. It wasn’t always pretty but we felt the more passes we made, the more opportunities we had,” Tynes said.

Though Laney led by as many as seven in the second quarter, the game stayed close the entire way. There were five lead changes and three ties.

In the second half, before Laney’s run to close the game, no team led by more than four at any point.

But at the end, it was Laney who escaped with a road win and advanced to regional play, marking a bittersweet end to the Lady Jags’ season.

“I told them they had a lot to be proud of, to hold their heads up,” Danehower said. “And then we have a lot of people returning. It’s a good nucleus so we should continue to keep competing for championships.”