MADISON — Heading into Tuesday’s playoff game against Madison Central, Warren Central’s players and coaches knew they had a tough task ahead of them.

They gave a valiant effort anyway, but the Lady Jags were just too tough. Too talented. Too good.

Hailey Brohaugh scored three goals, Marion Crowder tallied another, and Madison Central held the Lady Vikes without a shot in a 4-0 victory in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

“I can’t take anything away from the way we played tonight. We did our scouting report and it worked at times. Their experience and skill showed,” WC coach Trey Banks said. “We believed we could come in and give them a game and pull the upset. It just wasn’t tonight.”

Warren Central’s best offensive push came in the opening minutes. After taking the opening kickoff down the field, it held the ball in Madison’s end for about three minutes but didn’t manage to put a shot on goal. It rarely pushed the ball past midfield the rest of the game as Madison’s skill and speed took over. Crowder broke a scoreless tie with a rebound goal in the 25th minute, and Brohaugh’s first goal in the 34th gave the Lady Jags (17-2-2) a 2-0 lead.

Brohaugh added two more goals in the second half, off a corner from Nicole McKissack at the 11-minute mark and unassisted in the 34th minute, for the 4-0 final. Madison Central outshot WC 21-0 in the game.

“Overall, I don’t think we played a bad game. The goals they scored, they earned. All four goals were just good, well-placed shots,” Banks said. “They’re a good finishing team and you can’t give that type of team those opportunities.”

Warren Central finished the season with a 10-11-3 record, but there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic about the future. Forward

Chelsea Duett is the only senior on the roster and just two juniors — forward Taylor Hanes and midfielder Shannon Richter — were in the starting lineup Tuesday night. One of the underclassmen, sophomore goal keeper Katie Humphries, made six saves against Madison Central’s unrelenting pressure.

“The girls are young and haven’t had a lot of experience,” Duett said. “The next couple of years they’re going to be good.”