GOLDSBORO — Terra Ceia’s season ended the way it started. The Knights began their campaign with an 81-78 shortcoming at Wayne Country Day back on Nov. 11. It came to an end Thursday in a 76-71 loss to the Chargers in the very same gym.

After a subpar shooting performance in the first half where the Knights only hit one 3-pointer, Messiah Barnes came out of the locker room a man possessed. He had 19 points in the latter 16 minutes.

He got the ball, trailing 74-71, with mere seconds left on the clock and a chance to tie the game. He got a decent look. This one would hit off the iron, though.

“He was outstanding,” coach Roger Klaassen said of Barnes’ performance in the second half. “Handling the basketball and … giving us that momentum, he stepped up to the plate.”

Terra Ceia fought hard, perhaps making the close loss that much more heartbreaking. It’s not the storybook ending that the team’s six seniors had hoped for, but a second-round exit doesn’t tarnish what they accomplished this season.

“I just said ‘thank you is not enough,’” Klaassen said of his message to the team — especially the seniors — after the game. “To the guys that just joined up, they joined a family and fit in. You can see the chemistry on the court. To those three guys that have been with me for four years (Quentin Van Essendelft, Tyler Hendrix and Austin Roscoe), what we built and the legacy they leave, that’s an amazing accomplishment.”

The Chargers came out with the confidence that the only team that’s beaten Terra Ceia should have. Jimmie Sanders hit a trey on the first possession of the game, and Wayne County Day scored the first eight points of the game before a Hendrix free throw at the 5:23 mark of the first.

It took a little while for the Knights to settle into their game. Van Essendelft lobbed a ball inside to Hendrix, who grabbed it and put it in for a layup in one fluid motion. It appeared that Terra Ceia had hit its stride when it pulled within two, 21-19, early in the second quarter.

As the Knights continued to struggle from behind the arc, Wayne Country Day got a pair of 3s to fall in the second. It helped the hosts take a 37-30 lead into halftime.

“I told them that seven points meant nothing. We can evaporate that,” Klaassen said. “I told them it’s about every possession of the basketball, making it a good possession, and getting stops at the other end.”

That changed in the second half. After only getting one to fall in the first, Barnes made his first two triples of the third. The visiting fans roared as it quickly became a one-possession game, but Marcus Metcalf silenced them with a dunk on the Chargers’ fourth chance of their ensuing possession.

“The Knight nation came out big again,” Klaassen said of the electric crowd that made the trek to Goldsboro. “It’s unbelievable. I really couldn’t believe the size of the crowd we had. That’s what it’s all about. This is a family, and we support each other in whatever we do.”

The Knights weren’t intimidated, though. Van Essendelft’s perfect trip to the charity stripe tied the game, 41-41, with 5:05 left in the third, and Barnes took the lead with back-to-back layups.

Wayne Country Day tied the game at 49 apiece, but Terra Ceia was able to get to the foul line again to take a 51-49 lead into the fourth.

Cole Atwood’s dunk took the lead back just over two minutes into the fourth. Wayne Country Day countered about everything Terra Ceia had until Barnes drilled consecutive 3s from opposite wings, tying the game at 69-69.

Sanders made two free throws to extend the Chargers’ lead to 72-69 with 31 ticks left. Roscoe’s layup brought Terra Ceia within one, 72-71, with 19 seconds to go, but the hosts converted on late free throws to seal the win.