The Monomoy girls basketball team was looking to make one final push to overcome its deficit. Winthrop, however, had other plans.

The 21^st-seeded Sharks saw their season come to an end Friday when they suffered a 52-35 loss to No. 12 Winthrop in the first round of the Division 4 state tournament.

“We got off to a great start and then we got into a little foul trouble down low and that changed our game plan a bit,” Monomoy coach Brian Tomasini said. “Every time we went down by 15 or 20 points, we were able to cut it down to seven or eight. We were just waiting to make that one last run, but unfortunately their defense stepped up late in the game.”

Monomoy finished with a 13-8 record, wrapping up a season that saw the program claim the Cape and Islands League Maritime Division title.

Tomasini said winning the league title was one goal the team accomplished this winter, adding that he was proud of the way his squad became a threat for an opponent it faced.

“I think every single night we stepped on the court, we were a team that teams really felt, ‘hey, this is going to be a really good game,’” Tomasini said. “That’s a credit to our senior leadership.”

The coach was full of praise for seniors Lucy Mawn, Melissa Velasquez and Helen DiGiovanni.

“Getting to meet Lucy, Helen and Melissa when they were just sophomores, to see how much they’ve grown and pushed the program forward — not only on the court, but off the court, too — it was amazing to see what they did in their four or five years with the program,” Tomasini said.

As much as Tomasini said the program will miss the trio of seniors, he’s already looking forward to next year and seeing how returning players, such as Kiki Pigo-Cronin, AJ Gates and Jojo Ready, continue to develop over the offseason.

Still, the coach views this year’s team as a special group, and he said he’ll always cherish the bond that was created the past few months.

“It was truly a family,” Tomasini said. “Everybody was always battling at practice for each other, and I think that’s going to be my lasting memory, seeing 12 individuals come in this year and then leaving as a family at the end of the year.”

Nauset, Cape Tech Boys Fall

After eking out a 1-point victory over Fitchburg in the preliminary round of the Division 2 boys basketball tournament, No. 39 Nauset finished 13-9 after suffering a 64-48 loss to No. 7 Pope Francis in the Round of 32 on Friday.

The 47^th-seeded Cape Tech boys finished 13-8 after falling to No. 18 Quaboag, 91-41, in a Division 5 preliminary-round matchup on March 1.

Email Brad Joyal at brad@capecodchronicle.com.

Twitter: @BradJoyal