The Porters Chapel Lady Eagles hustled. They defended well and even grabbed their share of rebounds.

At the end of the day, however, the game of basketball still is all about putting the ball through the hoop and that’s where their spirited effort fell apart.

PCA made one field goal in the first 2 ½ quarters and only two in the game, and lost 30-6 Tuesday night to Hartfield Academy.

“This is the start of my third year, and when I started these girls were seventh- and eighth-graders. We did one thing at a time,” PCA coach Amanda Yocum said. “We didn’t have anybody that could dribble, so we started with just dribbling and passing and defense. We worked on that for a year, year and a half. We worked on a press break last year and now we’re working on a press. It’s one step at a time, and we really started working on our shooting this year. That’s the next step in the line of teaching them the game of basketball.”

Miranda Edwards led Hartfield (2-2) with eight points, while Mary Barton Rogers scored six of her seven points in the third quarter.

Gracie Felker led PCA (0-4) with five points, seven rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot. Madison Wilkerson had eight rebounds and Rhegan Smith grabbed seven.

Most progress for PCA’s girls’ team in recent years has been measured in baby steps. Mired in a decade-long slump during which double-digit losing streaks have been more common than double-digit win totals, Tuesday’s home opener seemed to be a step forward in some areas.

Hartfield only hit one basket itself in the first quarter — a 3-pointer by Edwards — and didn’t start to pull away until the Lady Eagles couldn’t get any shots to fall in the second and third quarters. PCA did not score in the second quarter, and a basket by Felker with 3:51 left in the third was its only field goal of the second half.

PCA committed 27 turnovers, but Hartfield matched it error for error. Some of them were caused by PCA’s defensive pressure, which was reason for optimism.

“I have one senior and she wasn’t on the floor the entire time. So I have eighth, ninth and 10th graders playing varsity. So there’s a lot of promise there. The biggest thing is we need to work on our ballhandling so we limit the amount of turnovers and get more shots,” Yocum said.

PCA has not been particularly close in any of its four losses to start the season. Its narrowest margin of defeat was 18 points against Tallulah Academy. Still, there’s belief that getting some of the little things right like rebounding and defense will eventually allow the program to gain some traction — and a few wins — later on in the season.

“I think we’ve improved from last year,” freshman guard Kaylee Hinson said. “We have a little defense work, and a little shooting work we can do, but other than that we’ve come far. Real far.”

(B) Hartfield 56, PCA 24

Porters Chapel Academy committed 30 turnovers, only scored two points in the third quarter, and dropped its season opener to Hartfield Academy (2-1) on Tuesday night.

Dustin Qualls hit three 3-pointers and finished with 23 points to lead Hartfield, while Isaiah Minor scored nine for PCA.

PCA trailed by 17 at halftime, but was outscored 17-2 in the third quarter.

“They’re a well-coached team. That’s a tough first game. We’ll get better. The kids played with intensity,” PCA coach Stacey Sykes said.