Alera Jicha pulled back and took a long shot in the closing seconds Wednesday, Jan. 9, in Kingston as Newburgh’s girls’ basketball team battled Kingston on the road.

Kingston led 49-47, and a score by Jicha would have given the Lady Goldbacks a league victory.

But the shot did not land, and Newburgh headed down the Thruway with a 49-47 loss.

The Lady Goldbacks commanded the first quarter with a 13-5 lead. Kingston battled back in the second quarter and took the lead when Aleria Diers landed a three with 10 seconds left in the half to give the Tigers a 22-20 lead at break.

Kingston built a 37-32 lead at the end of third quarter before that advantage continued throughout the fourth quarter. Newburgh, though, would hurt its fight in the second half with less than satisfactory foul shooting, landing 10 shots and missing 11 more in the second and third quarters.

“If we had hit three more free throws, we would have been ahead,” said Arturo Santana, Newburgh’s coach. “They worked hard, and we missed shots. They hit the three pointers when it counted.”

E’layasia Williams led Newburgh with 12 points, and Gabby Palladino had 11 points. Jicha helped with 10 points.

“We were doing good in the first quarter. We let it slip away and then we got it back,” said Jicha. “We just didn’t make it in the end, I guess.”

The Lady Goldbacks dropped to 3-5 and 2-1 in the league. But they play Kingston a second time Feb. 12 at home.

“I am proud of my girls. We could have folded, and we didn’t. We played them until the last second,” said Santana.

“We’ll be ready next time.”