Azalea Middle School girls basketball was home Wednesday as their season continued after the holiday break, hosting the Crescent Elk Cougars.
The Bruin girls would break out to an early lead in the first quarter, taking an early 6-3 lead midway through the first period.
The Bruin girls would score late in the first period pushing that lead to 8 points, taking an 11-3 lead after the first period of play.
As the second period progressed, the AMS girls kept up the pressure, holding on to a 13-6 lead after 4:00 minutes in the second period.
As the second period closed, Crescent Elk stiffened their defense, holding the Bruin girls to just 2 points while putting 6 points on the board to close the gap to 15-12 at the end of the half.
Both teams exchanged baskets to start the second half, extending the score to 19-16 midway through the third.
But the Cougars would jump out to 2 point lead after scoring 5 points to close the third period.
Early in the fourth period Crescent Elk hit two more baskets to extend their lead to 19-25, as the Bruin girls struggled to hit baskets.
As time became an issue late in the final period, the Bruin girls would close to with in 3 points, but the shots just wouldn’t fall, leaving the Bruin girls trailing 23-26 as time ran out.