The Notre Dame Fighting Irish had nothing to hang their heads about after battling Goodpasture down to the wire in the first round of the TSSAA Division II-A boys' basketball state tournament. So they didn't.
The host Irish went out with gusto and nearly pulled off an upset of the top-ranked Cougars, who rallied to a 42-36 victory Wednesday night at Phifer Gym.
Despite the tough loss, the home locker room was not quiet afterward. Instead, it showcased a bunch proud of its accomplishments after facing bleak odds early in the season.
The Irish (17-17) were primed for the postseason thanks to a grueling early schedule that helped them build a seven-game winning streak that lasted until their district final.
"I love this team," Notre Dame coach Jonathan Adams said. "They sacrificed so much and were tough. We were 2-9 at one point and battled to get all the way to the state tournament. I kept telling people we would be tough in February."
Said senior point guard Derwin Lewis, who went 4-for-7 from 3-point range and scored a game-high 18 points: "We all played hard for one another in our final fight. I'm thankful for all of my teammates. I'm grateful that in my career I was a part of two district championship teams and two trips to the state tournament."
Despite trailing 17-4 and shooting 2-of-14 over the first 11 minutes, the Irish began to force stops on the Cougars (30-2) with a switch to a lock-down zone defense. Notre Dame connected on its last four shots of the first half to gain confidence and go into the locker room down 20-13 at the break.
Lewis opened the third quarter with eight points in a span of 2:51, drilling two 3s and making a tough runner in heavy traffic to cut his team's deficit to 22-21.
Notre Dame's Tarik Nelson had two big baskets in the third, draining a 25-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to put the Irish ahead 28-27, and Monroe Beard's physical finish underneath the basket at the start of the fourth stretched the lead.
Notre Dame made 11 of its final 19 shots, but Goodpasture responded, regaining the lead on P'Jay Smith's third 3 of the game, which made it 33-31 with five minutes left. Smith was one of five Goodpasture players who scored at least six points, though the only one in double figures was Carson Woosley with 10.
Notre Dame's last points came off Lewis's last basket, a 3-pointer with a defender in his face that made it 37-36 with 2:11 left. For him and four fellow seniors, it was their goodbye to Irish basketball.
"I have so much admiration for our senior class," Adams said. "They all kept their GPA above 3.0 and were a lot of fun to coach. Tarik and Monroe are going to play Division I football together (at Arkansas-Pine Bluff), Derwin will get to play college basketball somewhere and Kurt (Witler) and Andrew (Osborne) were the ultimate teammates.
"They all have bright futures."
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.