Salina ? The four seniors on this year’s Tonganoxie High girls basketball squad lost just 14 games in their four years of high school.

Unfortunately, No. 14 came in their final game wearing a Chieftains uniform.

In the consolation game of the Class 4A state basketball tournament, Tongie couldn’t completely overcome an early 15-point deficit to Andover Central, falling 55-46 at the Bicentennial Center.

“It’s tough, but I’m very proud of my team – like usual,” said a weeping Ali Pistora as she fiddled with another fourth-place medal. “They played a great game, and it’s just hard to end on. … It was a hard struggle – we had ups and downs – but just made it through. I had so much fun playing with my family.”

Pistora did the best she could to go out on top, scoring a game-high 19 points, shooting 50 percent from the field and knocking down five of her eight free-throw attempts.

“It wasn’t even one of her great shooting nights. It was just an average shooting night for her,” Tonganoxie coach Randy Kraft said. “But she brought her game today. All my seniors did. I thought they really came with the effort that a senior is supposed to give for that last game.”

Tongie twins Rebecca and Rachel Bogard – the other two senior starters – totaled 10 points. Rachel Bogard had a team-high six rebounds to go with her eight-point outing.

After trailing by 10 points at the half, Tongie’s offense, coupled with some solid defense, helped cut the deficit to two heading into the last quarter. However, that would be the closest the Chieftains (23-3) would come as they shot 17 percent from the field in the final eight minutes.

“I think we came out and played tough and played with our hearts,” Rachel Bogard said. “But it just didn’t turn out the right way we wanted. I just think they were hitting shots, and we weren’t hitting shots, and that’s it, that’s the only reason they got ahead, they made a lot of shots tonight.”

Tonganoxie’s bread-and-butter – its bench – had its worst shooting performance of the weekend. The trio of Tracie Hileman, Christy Weller and Chrissie Jeannin combined for just eight points – compared to 22 in the semifinals – going 3-of-20 from the field.

The lone non-starting senior, Aimee Ostermeyer, saw action in the final 17 seconds of the game, when Kraft cleared the end of the bench.

With the experience gained by starting juniors Shannon Carlin and Elizabeth Baska, who was also a member of the 2005 Tongie team that also took fourth at state, to go with Kraft’s top-notch reserves, Pistora was willing to predict the team’s outcome for next year.

“They’re going to win state. That’s all I can say,” said Pistora, who finished her high school career with a record of 83-14. “They stepped up so much, it was almost like we had all seniors out on the court.”