PADDOCK LAKE — End-of-game situations are never easy.

The fourth-seeded Central girls basketball team found that out in regulation and overtime in a 40-36 WIAA Division-1 regional semifinal loss to 13th-seeded Lake Geneva Badger on Tuesday.

“The funny thing is we worked on that for about an hour (on Monday) in practice — a bunch of different scenarios,” Central coach Dan Derler said. “You can be as prepared as you want to be, but if the ball doesn’t go in the basket, you don’t get any points for it.”

Badger (6-17) was able to avenge a pair of Southern Lakes Conference losses to the Falcons (50-41 and 50-37).

Faith Lois and Abbie Reeves combined for 86 percent of Central’s scoring with 18 and 13 points, respectively.

Gina Ambrose led Badger with 15 points and seven rebounds and Lana Wieseman added 13 points.

Central led by five points — the biggest lead for either team — on five occasions in the second half. Reeves’ 3-pointer gave the Falcons a 32-27 advantage with 2 minutes, 45 seconds remaining, but they wouldn’t score again.

Badger tied it up when sophomore guard Emma Kopp drained a rainbow 3-pointer from the left wing with 27 seconds to play.

Following two timeouts, Lois had her pull-up baseline jumper go off the rim with two seconds left to send the game into OT.

“Everything went the way we drew it up in the timeout,” Derler said. “We cleared out a side for Faith and let her create and go 1-on-1. She got a heckuva look. It didn’t go in.”

Ambrose opened overtime with a 3-pointer from the corner and the Badgers led for the entire four-minute extra session.

After Anna Fronberry split a pair of free throws to give Badger a 38-36 lead with 15 seconds left, Central called a timeout to set up a game-tying or game-winning shot.

It never materialized as Fronberry picked off a cross-court pass by Cassie Cox and was fouled with four seconds remaining.

Fronberry then sealed it by making two free throws.

“We were going for the win with a 3 by Abbie,” Derler said. “The skip pass wasn’t there.”

While their season ended earlier than they would have liked, the Falcons can take solace in finishing 13-10 after going 5-16 last season.

“That’s a step in the right direction,” Derler said. “With four starters coming back, we’re optimistic. The future looks bright.”