PRIEST RIVER — Priest River girls basketball couldn't hold onto a 4-point fourth quarter lead in a 26-20 loss to Wallace on Wednesday.

The Spartans upped their defensive intensity in the third quarter and held the Miners scoreless in the frame to take a 19-15 advantage into the final eight minutes of the game.

But mistakes and missed opportunities hurt the Spartans down the stretch and allowed Wallace to outscore them 11-1 in the fourth quarter.

The game came down to a couple key possessions and Priest River just couldn't get it done.

"We're thinking we're going to pull away and they made a run at us and we just didn't respond," head coach Gary Stewart said. "We just need more girls to step up in those crucial situations."

Stewart said Wallace just wanted it more.

This was the third and final meeting between these two teams this season. Wallace beat Priest River 46-31 and 46-33 in the first two games.

"We knew exactly what type of team they were ... it was just who could execute on offense better and who can dig in and play better defense and we just kind of lost that last category by a little bit," Stewart said.

Senior Hannah Palfrey led the team with 7 points and six rebounds. Freshman Allyson Barton had 4 points and nine rebounds and freshman Samantha Pound tallied 3 points. Sophomore Lilly Freitas added 2 points and six rebounds.

Britany Phillips led Wallace with 8 points and 11 rebounds and Chloe Cielke and Grace Hunter each had 5 points.

Priest River forced the Miners to turn the ball over 21 times, but they struggled getting rebounds.

"We're not blocking out," Stewart said.

The Spartans (0-5) get over a week off before they head to Clark Fork on Friday, Dec. 11.

Wallace 10 5 0 11 — 26

Priest River 6 9 4 1 — 20

WALLACE — Specht 2, Garitone 0, Merrick 2, Cielke 5, Phillips 8, Welch 2, Burmeister 0, Hemphill 2, Hunter 5, Bergem 0.

PRIEST RIVER — Rantala 0, Freitas 2, Pound 3, Fitzmorris 1, Palfrey 7, Kingery 1, Barton 4, Shockey 2.