FARMVILLE – The Fuqua School girls basketball team dropped a pair of contests in its annual Christmas Tournament over the weekend. The Falcons fell to James River District representative Bluestone 60-51 on Friday night, before falling 67-26 to VHSL Group AAA member Henrico High on Saturday afternoon.

Against Bluestone, the Falcons trailed for most of the game, but made several runs to tighten the contest. Fuqua trailed 29-18 with 3:07 left in the second quarter, before closing the game to five points at 32-27 on a three-pointer by Chelsea Dandridge with 51.8 seconds left in the half.

Bluestone, answered with six quick points to push its lead back to 11 points at 38-27 at the break.

The Falcons used a 13-2 run to start the third quarter to tie the game at 40 apiece with 1:48 left in the period on a pair of free throws by freshman Taylor Frink.

Fuqua missed an opportunity to take its first lead since it was up 2-0, and Bluestone scored its first field goal of the second half – a three-pointer – with 36.5 seconds left to retake the lead at 43-40.

That was all the lift the Barons seemingly needed, while the shots that were falling for the Falcons in the third quarter, stopped going in during the fourth.

Counting the three-pointer at the end of the third, Bluestone used a 14-1 run over a three-minute stretch to take a 54-41 lead.

A basket by Katie Haney with 4:03 left cut Fuqua's deficit to 54-44. Both teams, however, had difficulty scoring over a two and a half minute stretch. Frink scored on a jumper with 1:45 left to cut Bluestone's lead to eight, but two quick baskets by the Barons put the game out of reach.

The Falcons were led in scoring by Frink, who had 15 points on the evening, while Dandridge added 13. Seniors Caroline Wiles, who battled early foul trouble, and Caroline Bryant, who was limited after hitting her head on a fall in the third quarter, were held to six points apiece.

The Falcons were scheduled to host Tidewater Academy on Thursday, and will travel to Farmville on Saturday for the first regular-season meeting between the two Farmville-area schools.