RALEIGH — Entering the Tarheel Independent Conference Tournament last weekend, expectations were high for a Terra Ceia team that owned the best record in Beaufort County. Winners of five-straight, the Knights lost a heartbreaker in the championship game against what’s become a pesky conference adversary in Lawrence. It was a crippling loss that yielded an away game in the first round, despite the Knights having the second best record in the NCISAA Class 1-A bracket.

Terra Ceia, owning a perfect 10-0 record at home, fell to Neuse on the road Monday afternoon, 76-68, ending what’s been a memorable season for one of the county’s smallest schools.

“I’m just so proud of the effort they gave,” said head coach Roger Klaassen, who couldn’t make Monday’s game due to work related reasons. “We preached to them from Day 1 not to worry about who we play, but to play our game and to just fight with all we have. They proved that time and time again that’s what they’ll do. It showed again today when they got down they didn’t give up.”

Neuse, entering as the No. 7 seed with a 17-9 record, hails from the Carolina Christian Conference, a competitive eight-team table home to teams like Cape Fear, Temple and Trinity. Originally scheduled for Tuesday, the game was moved to Monday to avoid yesterday’s freeze over.

In a total team effort, Terra Ceia, under the direction of assistant coach Mark Hendrix, had all five starters finish in double-digit scoring with sophomore Austin Roscoe leading the way with 18 points. However, the Knights’ zone defense was rendered near useless through the first half.

“We didn’t play that timid; we just didn’t play that well in the first half,” Hendrix said. “They were a little bit bigger, having two or three guys at 6-5, 6-6, but I thought we rebounded with them alright. We just rushed early on, but once we got a rhythm going, we had a couple guys knock down some threes. It was just too little too late.”

Supplementing Terra Ceia’s jagged defensive play was an offense that had difficulty finding space and tempo. As a result, the Lions were able to outscore Terra Ceia, 38-21, in the first half.

But like so many times this season, facing a significant deficit, the Knights stuck to their signature blueprint of challenging inside and dishing to the shooters outside. Soon, Roscoe and Ben Hubers began to catch fire from the perimeter, while Neuse’s Alan Clark and Glen Campbell continued to match the Knights’ shooting.

Finally in the fourth quarter, Terra Ceia’s offense began firing on all cylinders — forward Wesley Butcher finishing inside, Tyler Hendrix coming through with second-chance points and Roscoe hitting bit shots down the stretch. The once 20-point Neuse lead was narrowed to five with a little over two minutes to go.

“We were down by 20 some then we made a run and a couple people got hot. We missed a couple shots at the end and they made their free throws,” coach Hendrix said.

“They finally realized that they could compete. If they had played with that attitude all game, we may have come out of there with a ‘W.’ Even though we may not be as big as some of these other teams, we have the heart.”

Hendrix finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Hubers notched 12 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the perimeter.

With the loss, Terra Ceia finishes the season 24-5 — it’s best record in seven years. And after years of rebuilding and tweaking a system, Klaassen believes the sky is the limit for a team graduating just one player this May.

“They bring their game each and every night,” he said. “I definitely see us getting better. That’s why we play Northside and those teams, just to show us where we need to be … Terra Ceia basketball is on the rise. There’s some basketball talent at our school right now.”