ZEBULON - East Wake Academy’s girls basketball team was looking to bounce back Thursday after losing their second game of the season to New Life Camp the Monday before.

The Eagles came up short of their goal, however, giving up this season’s third loss to Franklin Academy, 54-32.

The match between the long-time foes went back and forth in the first half with both teams momentarily holding leads until Franklin Academy pushed its lead to eight points by halftime.

Second half foul trouble and turnovers lead to easy buckets for Franklin Academy, which outscored the home team 17-4 in the third quarter.

“We need to control sloppy turnovers as they have been the difference in the past two games,” Eagle head coach Maurice Lock said. Franklin’s big third quarter proved to be the difference in the match as both teams scored 11 points in the final period of play.

East Wake Academy junior center Ashleigh Pickett led all Eagle scorers with 12 points. Senior forward Gracie Barham snatched a team high 14 rebounds in the game, while sophomore center Liz Garrett led the way with three blocks.

“We rebounded well from the previous game,” Lock said, referring to the 65-34 loss to New Life. “I was happy with the effort we got today compared to the previous game. Ashleigh, Gracie and Liz really played well for us in the paint today and we didn’t have that the last game. I really appreciated the effort we got today. Our attitudes were much better and it showed.”