The season came to an end a bit earlier than expected for the Cissna Park girls basketball team in Tuesday’s IHSA Class 1A Iroquois West Sectional.

With a 54-35 loss to Heyworth, the Timberwolves (26-3) had their quest for a third straight sectional title, and run to a return trip to state following a third-place finish last season, come to an end just five days after they secured a fourth straight regional title.

They were outscored 18-0 in the fourth quarter to see what had been a close game for the first 24 minutes slip away.

The loss brought an end to the basketball careers of the Timberwolves’ six-player senior class, who between basketball and volleyball made their mark on Cissna Park.

On the basketball court, they led the program to a 111-23 record and all of that postseason success over the last four years.

In volleyball, they went 143-17 with four regionals, three sectionals, finished fourth at state three seasons ago, placed third two seasons ago and won a state title just over three months ago.

“I said when we won the regional, ‘Raise your hand if you’ve ever lost a regional game,’ in the locker room, and I was the only one with my hand up. ...” head coach Anthony Videka said. “They have four state trophies to their name (across the two sports). They have a state championship in volleyball.

“They’re just amazing, athletically for sure, but I’ll say it a million times, they’re just amazing people.”

Heyworth was almost not even in Tuesday’s sectional semifinals with a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter of last week’s regional championship game against Tremont threatening to end the Hornets’ winningest season since 2017.

They allowed just six points in that fourth quarter to win 52-47 and carried that energy over the weekend.

After the first three quarters saw four ties and nine lead changes, the Hornets’ fourth-quarter defense showed up once again, pitching a shutout in the final eight minutes to protect what was just a 36-35 lead at the start of the quarter.

It was an impressive win for a team with one senior, one junior, five sophomores, five freshmen, a new head coach and just one winning season over the last eight years.

Sophomore Karissa Cook had 22 points, 17 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and three steals.

She said being able to beat a Cissna Park team that had big advantages in height and experience proved to her and her teammates that they can beat anyone on any night.

“We’re a team that sometimes feels we lack size, and we’re intimidated by that,” she said. “But tonight, playing a team that had a lot of size, it showed us that we can do anything we put our minds to and gives us a lot of confidence going forward.”

The Hornets will play Deer Creek-Mackinaw in Thursday’s sectional championship, one of the other two teams to beat Cissna Park this season.

Videka said that Heyworth’s inexperience was suggested to him during the week as a possible advantage for him and the Timberwolves, but he remembers when his Cissna Park teams were in a similar position.

“We knew they were shooters, and we knew they were going to cause some chaos on defense,” Videka said. “They did to us what we did to other teams two and three years ago. They used their youth to their advantage, and they were just really well-prepared today.”

Cissna Park senior Lauryn Hamrick led the team with 16 points to wrap a season in which she reached 1,000 career points. Fellow seniors Josie Neukomm and Sophie Duis had seven and five points apiece, while Addison Lucht – who reached 2,000 points as a senior this season – finished with two.

While Tuesday’s loss will certainly sting for a while, Videka said he hopes the team remembers all the good things they were able to accomplish.

“We hope they remember the culture we built, and putting Cissna Park girls basketball back on the map,” he said. “That’s a great thing, but in all honesty, it’s the fun we have outside of basketball. ...

“I feel like I have 15 extra daughters. Two of my own is enough, but the 15 others I get is amazing. I’m so grateful for each and every one of them.”