WALLACE — Priest River girls basketball got off to a strong start in its season opener, but couldn’t hold on down the stretch in a 46-31 loss Tuesday at Wallace.

The Spartans trailed by just 2 points at the half, but the Miners outscored Priest River 28-15 in the second half to secure the victory.

The Spartans had four players get in foul trouble late, including senior point guard Hannah Palfrey, who fouled out in the fourth quarter.

Head coach Gary Stewart said losing Palfrey was tough to overcome.

“It got away from us in the end of the third and fourth,” he said. “We had to play our guards down low to defend because we had no spare post players, so consequently we gave up a lot of inside rebounds to them.”

Senior Makia Fitzmorris led the team with 13 points, Sophomore Lilly Freitas had 8 and Palfrey finished with 5. Sophomore Abbey Shockey added 3 and freshman Samantha Pound tallied 2.

Freshman Allyson Barton was a force in the post, grabbing 12 rebounds.

“She was huge for us and was a great stopper in the middle before she got in foul trouble,” Stewart said.

The Spartans only eight eligible players against Wallace.

Priest River (0-1) will take part in the Silver Valley Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Kellogg High School before heading to St. Maries next Tuesday.

Priest River 7 9 8 7 — 31

Wallace 11 7 14 14 — 46

Priest River — Fitzmorris 13, Freitas 8, Palfrey 5, Shockey 3, Pound 2

Wallace — Garitone 2, Cielke 13, House 13, Burmeister 10, Hemphill 2, Bergam 6