ROBINSON — The Abilene Christian girls basketball team’s bid for its first state championship since 1979 came to an end Thursday with a 56-48 loss to Waco Live Oak Classical in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Class 3A state title game at Waco Robinson High School.

For the second straight year, the top-ranked Lady Falcons used a big first quarter to grab an early lead and held off a spirited effort by the Lady Panthers the rest of the way to secure a single-digit win for the championship.

After racing out to an 11-4 first-quarter lead on its way to a 47-39 win that ended a Cinderella run for ACS last season, Live Oak sprinted out to a 19-11 advantage after the first quarter Thursday, leaving the second-ranked Lady Panthers to complete a comeback that never quite materialized in finishing as the TAPPS Class 3A runner-up for the second consecutive year.