Scheduling difficult and talented teams is something many squads do to prepare for the playoffs in high school basketball.

Tyler Consolidated perhaps played the most difficult team all season in their final regular season game.

On senior night in Kidwell, the Silver Knights welcomed the Class AAA John Marshall Monarchs in hopes of an upset, but it was the visitors who came in and once again lived up to their nickname.

After the first quarter, John Marshall treated the Silver Knights’ court as their own as six different players combined to score 26 points. While their offense seemingly came at will, their defense constantly pressured the Knights as Zack Minger was the only player to score a field goal. He and senior Zach Perkey added six foul shots to provide the hosts with eight points after one.

The second quarter fared better for Tyler Consolidated. Perkey started giving the Knights more inside presence and tallied seven points. Overall the team scored 15 in the period, but again John Marshall kept the offense rolling with 18 points of their own for a 44-23 halftime cushion.

As if that weren’t enough, the Monarchs remained on fire in the second half, dropping 32 points in the third quarter. Minger would attempt to respond with 13 of the Silver Knights 19 points on five baskets and three free throws.

In the final stanza, Tyler Consolidated poured in 22 points from six different players, but it wasn’t enough to bring them back as John Marshall went on to win 99-64.

Perkey scored 16 points playing in his last game at the Silver Knights’ gymnasium. Tyler Consolidated was led by Minger who finished with 24. Rounding out the squad was Alex Jones with seven points, Aaron Estep with six, Corey Lowe with five, Boone Kehrer with four, and Dustin Snider with two.

Senior Darren Oliver also saw some playing time in the third quarter after providing his leadership in the junior varsity game.

Perhaps the biggest problem for the Silver Knights was the depth of John Marshall, a team laden with seniors. Out of the 12 players that dresssed, three players reached double figures and 11 players scoring at least five points. Five players were within a field goal of reaching double figures.

Tyler Consolidated played Magnolia on Tuesday in the Region I Section I semi-finals, but results were not available at press time.