With two tough losses to close out the season, the Zephyr girls basketball team experienced a little déjá vu that seems to have embodied their year.

The girls lost their final game to Pocono Mountain East in overtime, losing 49-45 to their Mountain Valley Conference rival. That loss served as a microcosm of their season, said head coach Rick Worman as he watched another team shoot well against them despite sinking more field goals than the Cardinals.

"We face a team that didn't shoot the ball well, historically, but they shot well against us," said Worman. "That's been typical of our season,"

While they played well, their season has been marred by its inability to "get over the hump," with Worman pointing to games against Northampton, Parkland and PME to illustrate the point. They lost those games by a combined 11 points.

"We played much better in the second half, but we just couldn't, for whatever reason, get over that hump," he said.

Worman said the game against the Cardinals eventually came down to free throws. The Zephs struggled with their opportunities, connecting on 11-22, while PME was solid, sinking 18-21 from beyond the charity stripe.

Another factor was that they didn't shoot the ball well, or get the ball inside to their bigs for some interior points. They missed those opportunities which may have changed the outcome.

They started out strong, taking a 14-6 lead into the second quarter. However, they gave all of that back in the ensuing period as PME took a one-point lead into halftime.

The two teams stayed neck and neck through the final period, sending the game into overtime, where the Cardinals eventually prevailed by four points.

Worman said it was a disappointing game because once again they were plagued by that hump.

In that game, the Zephs were paced by Nicole Umbenhauer who had 16 points. Madison Kelly also had a strong game, scoring 11, while Karly Klein had seven and Taylor George finished with five. Additionally, senior Brook Mellinger tossed in four points and Ivanna Jones had two.

The game against the Trojans was another case of the Zephs playing well enough to win, but coming up a bucket short to close the deal. They lost 33-32 to the Trojans who had 16 wins heading into that contest. Worman said they played a good game, using a strong defensive effort to throttle the Trojans.

While they outscored the Trojans in the second half, they couldn't get over the mountaintop, losing by just a point.

These close games are sometimes separated by a single play, and that's been a tough pill to swallow.

"It's a basket here, or a basket there," said Worman. "That's what it's come down to."

In the loss to the Trojans, Umbenhauer and George led the way, both dropping nine points. They were followed by Klein and Kelly who both had six, while Jones sank two.

Those two games closed the book on the Zephyr's season, finishing 4-14 on the year (3-8, LVC).