In the quarterfinals of the WNBA Premier Gold Division in the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic girls basketball tournament, No. 4 Lincoln faced off against Etiwanda Friday at Canyon Hills High School.

Lincoln faced a 9-0 deficit over the game’s first five minutes and was not able to come back, losing 64-39 to Etiwanda.

“Just proud of them for not giving up, continuing to push hard for one another,” Hornets coach Christine Fitzgerald said after the game. “When you play a good team, you have to find ways to get through it and push through adversity. We didn’t do it necessarily to start the game, but we did it to finish the game. I think that’s where it counts.”

The Hornets (5-4) were able to cut the deficit down to  28-20, with 2:53 left in the first half as Fitzgerald called a timeout.

From there, the Eagles (6-4) finished the second quarter with a 14-3 run, which included a Hornets technical foul due to a jersey number violation. Etiwanda took advantage, scoring 12 straight out of the timeout before Lincoln could score.

“That’s actually when that little run out and it changed everything,” Fitzgerald said. “Through adversity, we still got to find ways. We shouldn’t have let that affect us so much.

“I told the team, ‘Fatigue makes cowards of us all.’ Unfortunately, that fatigue for that moment, definitely, we were the cowards at that moment. Sometimes you get runs and sometimes you’re on the other end of the run. We weren’t able to get back.”

The Hornets were led by senior Asia Darcuiel, who scored 17 points, including nine of the team’s 10 points in the second quarter.

“She still did it with poise,” the Hornets coach said of her senior guard, who averages about 20 points per game. “Everything wasn’t a struggle. She made her threes. She was heavily guarded, but she was still able to get her shot off and it wasn’t out-of-control drives to the basket.”

Junior guard Malissa McKoy had nine points, all of which all came in the final eight minutes.

Etiwanda, who defeated Cerritos 78-22 Thursday in its first-round game, came into Friday ranked No. 17 in the CIF Southern Section rankings and No. 40 in the state, according to MaxPreps.

The Eagles were led by senior guard Aliyahna Morris, who scored 25 points.

In addition, senior forward Grace Knox was Etiwanda’s other scorer in double figures with 10.

“They’re all collectively good. Everybody can shoot, everybody can go to the basket,” Fitzgerald said of the Eagles. “They’re good at being in the right places and converting and making points out of those possessions.”

Lincoln will take on the loser of Oak Ridge and Beckham in the consolation bracket at Canyon Hills High School beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Etiwanda will take on the winner of Oak Ridge and Beckham in Saturday’s semifinals at Canyon Hills beginning at 6 p.m.