ZEBULON - The East Wake Academy girls basketball team struggled inside the paint and suffered a 39-36 loss to Friendship Christian the first game of the 2012 season.

“We only made seven of the 34 shots we took in the paint and only managed to make 15 of the 67 shots we took in total,” Lady Eagle coach Maurice Lock said. “You’ll be hard pressed to be successful in a game shooting 22 percent from the field, but with that we still had a chance to win in the last moments because of our defensive intensity.”

East Wake Academy (7-7, 3-2) was led by senior guard Kirsty Siller with 11 points, five steals and five rebounds. Senior point guard Maylynn Hall added 8 points, seven steals and a block. Senior forward Gracie Barham led the way with 14 rebounds, while sophomore Liz Garrett had a team-high three blocks alongside five rebounds.

Lock said defensive pressure made up for turnovers, but in the end it wasn’t enough.

“We played well defensively, particularly our perimeter guards with on-ball pressure,” Lock said. “We turned the ball over too much, but countered defensively to make up for it. Shooting is what hurt us tonight. We were weak in our shooting.”