Apart from about six minutes of game time against second-seeded Class 4 Hallsville on Monday, the second-seeded Fayette girls battled to within seven points in a first-round loss of the Harrisburg Tournament. But during those six minutes, Mexico was able to score 20 points in a 66-39 decision.

Fayette entered the tournament 8-8 overall, having won five out of its last seven games. On Friday, the Lady Falcons scored 71 points, their highest point total in a single game in more than a decade.

Hallsville, 12-3 overall starting Monday’s game, jumped out to an early lead on the solid inside play of senior forward Haley Hagan, who scored six points in an early 11-1 strike that lasted fewer than three minutes. But Fayette responded with eight straight points in about 60 seconds to cut the lead to 11-9.

That’s when Hallsville adjusted and spent the next six minutes running up a double-digit lead it would hold through the remainder of the game.

“That's what a good team does. They called timeout and adjusted,” said Fayette coach Daryl Betts.

Hallsville outscored Fayette 31-4 over that six-minute span. The Lady Falcons finally broke the spell when senior point guard Preslee Sunderland made a 3-pointer with five minutes left in the second quarter. Fayette would go on battle Hallsville 7 to 9 throughout the rest of the first half to trail 40-20 at halftime.

Hallsville would outscored Fayette 26-19 throughout the second half to preserve the double-digit win.

But despite the loss, Coach Betts liked what he saw from his players and ultimately said his team is better having played the game.

“I thought it was something we grew from,” he said. “After that game, every other game is winnable for us.”

Fayette’s forecourt faced the grueling task of trying to contain Hagan, who’s formidable size and ability to move proved too much. The senior scored 17 points on the night, 10 of which came in the first half. Senior Kristen Jones led the Lady Indians with 18 points on near-perfect 7-for-8 shooting from the line.

The job fell to Fayette junior Kay Sullivan and sophomore Allie Spielbauer.

“She's a big kid,” Betts said about trying to guard Hagan. “Today they really focused on hitting her on the brakes. And it really affected us. I thought Kay did her best. Allie Spielbauer did the same. We just weren’t rebounding with numbers. When you're small and you play fast you're going to give up some put-backs if you don't rebound.

“Playing a team of this caliber, we had to play as a team. There were some things that we did great. There are some things we still need to learn about. Overall all of the girls played hard.”

Sunderland scored nine points on the night, going 4-for-4 from the line. She was joined by freshman Browyn Eubanks off the bench with nine points to pace the team.

“She's young and she plays her heart out,” Betts said about Eubanks. “She had some great opportunities. I really feel like she put up some good shots for us.”

With the loss, Fayette drops to the consolation side of the tournament bracket. The Falcons will face sixth-seeded Mexico, who coughed up a lead against third-seeded Harrisburg Monday’s opening round, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the middle school gym.

“The goal is to go 2-1 and get above .500 when we leave here,” Betts said after Monday’s game. “This is the toughest tournament we'll play."