The South Hamilton girls’ basketball team knows that now.

The struggles that the Hawks have faced since starting point guard and leading scorer Makena Galetich went down with a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 30 culminated with a one-and-done postseason experience on Tuesday, as West Fork stormed out to a 13-5 lead after one quarter and was never threatened in a 55-37 victory over South Hamilton in a Class 2A Region 6 quarterfinal.

The Hawks (10-11) went 0-4 down the stretch without Galetich on the court.

“I thought going into the game that this was one that we could win and I still know that on a different night that is a team we could beat,” South Hamilton head coach Mark Henderson said. “I’m very proud of how our girls worked all season long. We had to try and reinvent ourselves the past two weeks after Makena got injured and that’s tough to do, especially at this time of the year.”

South Hamilton freshman Tanna Thompson (1) brings the ball up the floor against West Fork Tuesday night in Sheffield. DFJ photo/Angela Hewitt

The physical battle took a toll on both clubs. There were a combined 35 fouls called and South Hamilton struggled to find an offensive rhythm. The Hawks shot just 24 percent from the field (11 of 45).

“Both teams really worked hard and fought for everything they got,” Henderson said. “We were able to get them in some foul trouble early, but as has been the case for us lately we just couldn’t put the ball in the hoop. Our offense didn’t have much of a flow to it.”

West Fork (14-7) opened up a 23-15 halftime lead and extended the advantage to 13 points, 38-25, after three quarters.

Emma Thompson tossed in 10 points to lead South Hamilton, and Caleigh Hewitt added nine points and eight rebounds. Hallee Feaker produced six points and three steals. Ashlyn Erickson finished with five points and seven boards.

Makenzie Fessler and Maddie Hubka scored 11 points each for West Fork, which advanced to Friday’s regional semifinal against 14th-ranked West Hancock (19-5).

West Fork 55, South Hamilton 37

Class 2A Region 6 Quarterfinal

Tuesday at Sheffield

South Hamilton (10-11) — Tanna Thompson 0 1-4 1, Emma Lewis 2 4-4 10, Caleigh Hewitt 3 3-4 9, Mackenzy Grady 1 0-0 3, Zoey Duns 1 1-1 3, Hallee Feaker 2 2-4 6, Ashlyn Erickson 2 1-1 5, Maddison Freeman 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 12-19 37.

West Fork (14-7) — Makenzie Fessler 4 3-5 11, Maddie Hubka 2 6-10 11, Rylie Akins 4 0-0 9, Ellie Weaver 2 1-2 5, Madisyn Bonner 2 2-2 6, Keelee Sheriff 3 0-0 6, Emma Martinek 2 2-2 7. Totals: 19 14-21 55.

S. Hamilton 5 10 10 12 — 37

W. Fork 13 10 15 17 — 55

3-point field goals — SH 3 (Lewis 2, Grady); WF 3 (Hubka, Akins, Martinek). Rebounds — SH 37 (Hewitt 8, Erickson 7). Steals — SH 9 (Feaker 3). Assists — SH 6. Turnovers — SH 22. Team fouls — SH 16, WF 19. Fouled out — none.