The Lady Knights enter the gym at Tyler Consolidated for one of the last times in the 2014 season. Below: The Lady Knight team boasted two seniors to hit the 1,000 career point mark this season in Sydney Reed and Sophie Kinnard.

The Lady Knight varsity basketball team at Tyler Consolidated finished their 2014 season last week as they fell to Morgantown Trinity in the Sectional semi-finals.

The loss ended the effort of the Lady Knights who had hoped to make it past the Regionals and to the state tournament this season. In a banner year, the Silver and Black recorded a 13-9 season and had two players reach 1,000 career points, which is a plus for any team out there.

“We sure would have liked to play past the Sectional semi-finals,” said Lady Knight Head Coach Matt Kinnard. “But I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Playing in Paden City on Feb. 25 against the Lady Warriors of Morgantown Trinity Christian, the Lady Knights had their work cut out for them.

Consolidated started out strong, handled the ball well, and added 14 points to the scoreboard in the first period to take the lead over the Lady Warriors who put 10 points on the board. In the second, both teams battled fiercely, and both added 19 points to their sides of the scoreboard, putting the Silver in the lead, 33-29.

Sophie Kinnard

The third period of play dealt the death knell to the play of the Lady Knights, as Trinity held them to only four points, putting them in catch-up mode for the remainder of the minutes to play. Unable to recoup, the Lady Knights ended their season with the loss in the Sectional, 62-52.

Senior Sydney Reed led the Ladies in Black and Silver with 16 points; Sophie Kinnard added 13; Vanessa Templeton, 11; Ariel Fish, eight; Katelyn Gogan, two; and Hillary Casteel, two.

“Trinity played a good game against us,” Coach Kinnard said. “We got in foul trouble and that hurt us, and the second half, we just didn’t play like ourselves. It was a game we hated to lose.”

The Lady Knights will lose three seniors to graduation in May-Sophie Kinnard, Sydney Reed, and Hillary Casteel-which will leave huge holes in the line-up next year.

“We had a year with 13 wins, and any time a team can do that, it’s a plus for the program,” the coach said.

Sydney Reed

“Overall, we had 13 wins this season, and that’s not bad at all. The team has put forth a good team effort and of course I’m proud of everything we did accomplish.”

Without the three seniors the team has come to depend on so much this season, some would think next year’s team may be lacking, but coach Kinnard begs to differ.

“I actually think we’ll be alright next year,” he said. “We have some girls who are committed to the program and I know they’ll work hard in the off season to get better before next season begins.”