MARIENVILLE — No one can say the Youngsville Lady Eagles didn’t go down fighting.

The Eagles held on for a thrilling one-point win on Friday, but ultimately fell just short of the top prize after suffering a defeat in the championship game of the weekend’s Forest Area Tip-Off Tournament at Forest Area High School on Saturday.

Youngsville (1-1) opened its weekend with a 32-31 victory over AC Valley before coming up just short of the title win in a 40-35 setback to host Forest Area.

On Friday, the Eagles and AC Valley went blow for blow throughout the contest with neither team building much of a lead throughout the contest. Freshman Riley Robinault paced the Youngsville effort with 9 points and teammate Melea Jenkins added 7 of her own. One point of emphasis going forward will likely be the free-throw line where the Eagles finished just 5 of 17 despite the win.

The Eagles actually held a 20-19 lead at halftime of Saturday’s championship and trailed by just one entering the final stanza. However, some key fourth-quarter free throws from Forest’s Kaylie Rooke and a 19-point effort from Amber Gozzi proved to be too much.

Youngsville was led by Jenkins who finished with 9 points and Madison VanGuilder who finished with 8 points of her own.

The Eagles return to the court Tuesday, facing off with county rival Eisenhower.

Youngsville 32, AC Valley 31

AC VALLEY (31)

McVay 5 3-6 13, Parks 5 2-7 13, Dehert 0 2-7 2, Raschiatone 1 0-0 2, Myers 0 1-2 1. Totals 11 8-22 31

YOUNGSVILLE (32)

Riley Robinault 4 1-6 9, Ashlee Peterson 1 0-2 3, Molly Helman 1 2-4 4, Madison VanGuilder 1 1-3 3, Shea Walton 2 0-0 4, Melea Jenkins 2 1-2 7, Zaylee Cressley 1 0-0 2, Kahlynne May 0 0-0 0, Marissa VanGuilder 0 0-0 0, Charleigh Archuleta 0 0-0 0, Natalie Ross 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 5-17 32

3-point goals–Parks, Jenkins 2, Peterson.

AC Valley 6 7 13 5 — 31

Youngsville 8 11 7 6 — 32

Forest Area 40, Youngsville 35

FOREST AREA (40)

Kopchick 1 0-0 2, Brown 1 2-3 5, Dietrich 1 0-0 2, Gozzi 8 2-7 19, Rooke 1 10-14 12. Totals 12 14-24 40.

YOUNGSVILLE (35)

Riley Robinault 3 1-2 7, Ashlee Peterson 3 0-0 6, Molly Helman 1 0-0 2, Madison VanGuilder 2 4-6 8, Shea Walton 0 0-0 0, Melea Jenkins 4 0-0 9, Zaylee Cressley 1 0-0 3, Kahlynne May 0 0-0 0, Marissa VanGuilder 0 0-0 0, Charleigh Archuleta 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 5-8 35.

3-point goals–Gozzi, Brown, Jenkins, Cressley.

Forest Area 13 6 10 11 — 40

Youngsville 9 11 8 7 — 35