The Hart boys basketball team went to battle with a young squad this season.

Youth might be the reason the Indians aren’t playing anymore.

Hart built an eight-point lead with two minutes left on Wednesday, but couldn’t take care of the ball down the stretch and lost to Lawndale High 69-67 in Lawndale during the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division IIIAAA postseason.

The Indians (17-11) also trailed 35-28 at halftime but built their lead as the second half progressed.

“We started taking better care of the ball, and we started getting pretty good shots,” said head coach Tom Kelly.

He said that Lawndale’s athleticism and quickness gave the Cardinals (20-7) an advantage. Lawndale came in as the Pioneer League runner-up and the 11th seed in the Div. IIIAAA bracket.

Senior guard Austin Maly scored 19 points to lead Hart in his last high school game, while sophomore guard Lewis Stallworth scored 18 points.

Freshman point guard Myles Franklin added 11 points and sophomore forward Davis Koppenhaver scored 10.

After finishing third in the Foothill League this season, the Indians lose Maly and fellow seniors Don Chung, Darien Davis, Nick Mantilla, T.C. Toomey and Casey Zima.

Kelly said he was proud of the seniors, and of his team as a whole.

“We were real proud of the kids coming in, considering we started a freshman and two sophomores,” Kelly said. “To win 17 games when we were picked fifth (in league) by the experts and we’re one shot away from being second, we’re proud.”