Above, Hornet Charlie Wagner takes a leap of faith in an attempt to block a San Perlita shot. Below, Felipe Nava goes airborne to stop a shot. Nothing came easy for Lometa at the tail end of the 2009-10 basketball season.

After cruising through their district schedule, the Hornets — who nearly cracked the top 10 in the state polls — lost one game down the stretch to a highly ranked Priddy team in triple overtime.

Then the Hornets had to play a rematch with the Pirates to determine the district championship and sort out the playoff seeding.

Lometa won and earned a bye in the bi-district round.

Then the Hornets ran into San Perlita.

As expected, nothing came easy.

Lometa’s remarkable 24-5 season came to an end last Friday, but not without a fight.

The two teams played to a 56- 56 tie at the end of regulation in the area round contest hosted in Devine. In overtime, the Hornets’ hearts were broken as San Perlita outscored Lometa 11-6 to claim a 67-62 victory and advance.

PHOTOS BY CHERI JAY-WIENECKE Despite having three players reach double digits in scoring through the first four quarters, the Hornets could not produce in overtime. Colt Maldonado scored all six of the team’s points in the extra period, giving him 10 for the game.

While Lometa’s scoring dried up in overtime, its 3-point shot was virtually nonexistent during regulation.

After successfully attacking opponents relentlessly from behind the arc during the regular season, the Hornets connected on just three 3-pointers against San Perlita. Dalton Parsons hit a pair, and Hector Rivera was responsible for the other.

The misses from the freethrow line, however, were much more familiar to Lometa fans. The Hornets failed on 10 of their 25 attempts, with three misses coming in the fourth quarter.

Charlie Wagner hit seven of his nine free throws and scored six points in the fourth quarter to finish with a team-high 17 points.

Felipe Nava followed Wagner in the Hornets’ scoring column with 15. Parsons contributed a dozen points in the loss.

Lometa opened the contest with consecutive 14-point quarters while holding San Perlita to just nine points in the second period. The Hornets took a 28-25 lead into halftime.

Dylan Straley tallied all seven of his points in the first half, including five in the secondquarter surge.

In the third quarter, San Perlita switched roles and outscored the Hornets 17-6. Parsons made the only field goal — a 3-pointer — of the period for Lometa. Wagner added the team’s other three points on free throws.

Trailing by eight points at 42- 34, the Hornets refused to concede the playoff game.

Five players scored in the final quarter, as Lometa rallied to force overtime with a 22-point outburst. Rivera’s only field goal of the game and Maldonado’s only basket of regulation came during the run.

While the Hornets missed three free throws in the fourth quarter, San Perlita had even worse luck, missing six to go 21 of 33 for the game.

The squad made them when they counted though.

San Perlita was five of eight from the free-throw line in overtime to account for the margin of victory.

San Perlita’s Aron Herrera was only two of four from the charity stripe in overtime, but he still finished with a game-high 28 points after scoring 14 of his team’s 16 first-quarter points.

While the early postseason departure surely is disappointing to the Hornets, it does not erase their unexpected and impressive run through the regular season -- one that should garner Lometa plenty of accolades when the district awards are announced.

That might be the only thing that comes easily to the Hornets at the end of this season.