As players began streaming out of the Newport locker room with tears in their eyes following Friday’s season-ending loss to Moses Lake, several players were noticeably missing.

While their teammates left the locker room, Newport’s seven seniors – Betsy Kingma, Caitlin Bennett, Whitney Dailey, Madison Small, Jessica Barry, Jami Shimada and Randi Boseman – stayed put, savoring their last minutes together as teammates.

Some of them, like Bennett and Kingma, had played together for 10 years. All of them, said Newport coach Travis Whitaker, helped put Newport’s girls basketball program on the right track.

“Each year I’ve been here, we’ve made steps in this direction, but this senior class really pushed it for us,” said Whitaker, in his 10th season as Newport’s head coach. “They have laid a foundation for us moving forward.”

The seven seniors helped lead the Knights to two straight trips to the 4A state tournament. Their ride came to an end Friday in a 49-34 loss to Moses Lake in consolation bracket play at the Tacoma Dome.

The Knights dug themselves an early hole, missing their first 10 shots as the Chiefs (17-13) began the game up 14-0 and took a 30-14 lead into the first half.

“I feel like everything just caught up with us today,” Whitaker said. “If we’re not producing enough offense through our defense, we’re going to leave ourselves up to the will of the Dome. And we didn’t shoot well enough today to do that.”

Newport’s shooting from behind the three-point line – a strength during the regular season – again haunted the Knights. Newport shot just 2 of 29 from three-point range.

The Knights (20-7) shot just 18 percent from the floor and were outrebounded by the Chiefs 46-29.

Moses Lake standout junior Jordan Loera led all scorers with 19 points. Kingma scored 18 to lead the Knights in the final game of her prolific career with the Knights. A four-year starter, Kingma scored more than 1,500 points and pulled down more than 500 rebounds for Newport.

“I think she’s clearly the best player that has gone through here,” Whitaker said. “She’s a super good kid, too. It’s a neat combination when you have a player that talent….and have the head on her shoulders that she has. You don’t come around those kids that often.”

Moses Lake moves on to play Edmonds-Woodway in the fifth/eighth place game. Newport ends the season after going 1-2 at the tournament.

“I am very proud of the way we competed here, including today,” Whitaker said. “We were gutsy in every game.”