A scoreless final four minutes brought a frustrating two nights of basketball to a close for the Pinecrest girls’ basketball team.

Against Fayetteville Chris-tian at the James Moore Gym on Wednesday, the Patriots closed what had been an 11-point deficit just three minutes earlier to 47-44 on a drive for two by Janea Williams before a scoring drought set in.

They had five chances to cut into the lead further before the Warriors’ Shamalya Battle made one of two free throws.

Neither team made a field goal the rest of the way as the Patriots fell to 3-3 with the 50-44 loss. The Warriors improved to 8-0.

The evening before at Jack Britt, the Patriots were defeated 48-46 on a three by Coriea Foy just before the final buzzer sounded.

“We just didn’t capitalize tonight,” Patriot coach Janie Hodges said after the latest disappointment. “We fight to the end, but we have to learn to finish a basketball game.”

Williams scored 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, and Felicia Painter put together a 15 and 17 double-double at Jack Britt.

Another set of double-doubles by the Patriot front court duo was not enough against a Fayetteville Christian squad led by 5-foot-11 NCISAA all-state forward Gabrielle Bethel, who finished with a game-high 21 points.

The Patriots were their own worst enemies on Wednesday, turning the ball over and missing layups.

The first and third periods ended with Warrior players being fouled on desperation three-point attempts. They converted five of the six free throws.

But earlier, it was all Patriots with Williams getting it done at both ends of the court.

She had a hand in all the points during a 9-0 run that began with a strong move to the hoop for two. She canned a pair at the charity stripe before turning a steal into a three by Keegan Lynch. The spurt ended with a pass to Painter for the basket that made it 15-6.

The visitors countered with an 11-0 burst and took a 27-25 lead into the intermission. Williams and Painter scored the only points in a third period that ended with the Warriors on top 41-34.

Early in the fourth, Dessence Waddell and Danielle Paran each made a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 45-42.

Painter fouled out at the five-minute mark. After the drive by Williams made it 47-44, the lid went over the Patriot basket.

Williams finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Painter added 12 and 11. Next is a 7:30 p.m. game at Mount Zion Christian Academy in Durham on Tuesday.

Particularly frustrating for the team has been all of the missed layups and other shots near the basket that might have made a difference.

“We work on layups in practice every day,” Hodges said. “It’s hard to see us miss 15 to 20 layups right at the basket. But at least it’s happening now before the conference season starts. When conference play comes, we have to play better.”

F. Christian 13 14 14 9 — 50

Pinecrest 15 10 9 10 — 44

Fayetteville Christian: Battle 2 8-10 12, Bryant 5 2-7 14, Bethel 6 9-12 21, Bullock 0 3-3 3. Totals - 13 22-34 50.

Pinecrest: Chalmers 0 0-0 0, Waddell 0 2-2 2, Painter 6 0-0 12, Lynch 2 0-0 5, Williams 7 3-4 17, M. Thomas 1 0-0 2, Alston 0 0-0 0, Paran 0 4-6 4, Fairley 1 0-2 2, Gaffney 0 0-0 0, Z. Thomas 0 0-0 0. Totals - 17 9-14 44.

Three-point goals: FC 2 (Bryant 2); PC 1 (Lynch).