Azalea Middle School girls basketball hosted Coquille who made the trip down the coast to challenge the Bruin girls Wednesday evening.
Early on, both teams played end to end looking to establish an early lead with Coquille taking an early 2-5 advantage midway through the first period. Strong defense and cold AZ Bruin girls shooting combined to give the Coquille girls a 4-13 lead after the first period.
In the second period, the aggressive Coquille defense kept the AZ Bruin girls from getting into any offensive rhythm and holding them to single digits through out the second period, extending their lead to 8-29 going into the half time break.
Half time adjustments by the AZ Bruin girls would get the Bruin girls back in the game, using defense to slow the Coquille offense and running on missed shots and turnovers to dig into the Coquille lead, cutting the lead by half after the third period.
With the score 17-34 to start the fourth period, the AZ Bruin girls continued the pressure defense to stay with Coquille, trading baskets keeping the score 18-40 midway through the fourth, but the cold shooting would come back to haunt the Bruin girls as Coquille extended their lead to take the 18-48 win.
“The girls effort is always high” coach Steven told the Compass after the game. “We have battled through some adversity this season and the team has grown together by facing different situations and overcoming them each game, learning to compete for 32 minutes.”
The AZ Bruin girls will be on the road to Crescent City for the Jay-Cee’s tournament this Friday and Saturday, before returning to league play at home next Monday to take on Driftwood.
