Rokila Wallace did everything right.

With her team trailing Jackson Jim Hill High School 48-46 with six seconds remaining Saturday night at the Joe Horne Columbus Christmas Invitational, the Columbus High guard grabbed a rebound underneath the Columbus basket and raced upcourt, desperately looking to tie the game. She knifed through the defense and lobbed a layup at the rim in traffic as the final horn sounded.

She then watched helplessly as the ball rolled off the front of the rim, which allowed Jim Hill to escape with a 48-46 victory.

“The point was to draw a foul,” Wallace said, “but I thought it was going in. My coach tells me to always attack the basket, to either get a layup, or get to the free throw line.”

That was about the only shot Wallace (game-high 18 points) missed for the Lady Falcons, who fell to 6-4. Twenty-seven turnovers were the real culprit behind the Lady Falcons’ loss. That included five giveaways in the final five minutes, when Jim Hill used a 19-8 spurt to erase a nine-point deficit.

“We just turned the ball over too much,” Columbus coach Yvonne Hairston said. “We turned it over down the stretch. We can’t do that.”

In the final girls game of the two-day tournament, Columbus led 38-29 with six minutes remaining. After tying the score at 40 with three minutes to go, Jim Hill junior Ieisha Lacey scored six of her team’s final eight points, including the game-winner, an eight-foot jump shot with 38 seconds left that gave the Lady Tigers a 47-46 lead. She added a free throw with eight seconds left, but her miss on the second set the stage for Wallace’s dash to the rim.

“We got tougher down the stretch,” Jim Hill coach Jacqueline Ross said. “Our girls got tougher on defense and stopped making bad plays. We earned this win.”

Columbus led 23-22 at halftime. It led by as many as 11 points in the second half.

The loss spoiled a night in which the Lady Falcons led for the majority of the game. After falling behind 14-6 early in the first quarter, the Lady Falcons used a 10-0 run to take a lead they held until late in the fourth quarter.

“No matter what, we still held up,” Wallace said. “It wasn’t good enough. We have to work harder and get ready for our next game.”

Behind a 14-for-20 showing by Wallace at the free-throw line, Columbus was 26 of 35 on free throws. But the 27 turnovers proved too much to overcome for the Lady Falcons.

“We try to get to the line, try to attack the basket as much as possible,” Hairston said. “But when we turn the ball over so much, it doesn’t really matter.”

Kayla Rogers and Zaria Jenkins added nine points for Columbus, while Jenkins led the Lady Falcons with eight rebounds.

Lacey led Jim Hill with 14 points, including eight in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Shakebrand Younger added 12.

On Friday, Columbus lost to Jackson Murrah 53-48. Rogers and Jenkins paced Columbus with 16 points. Jenkins also had 10 rebounds.

Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Waker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat