They lost Saturday night. Maine-Endwell beat them 63-49 in the Far West Regional at Buffalo State. Preston Ocker scored 25 points. Marco Konrad added 22. The Grand Island Vikings played hard and came up short against a very good team.

But here's what you need to remember about this season.

Grand Island hadn't won a sectional title since 1992. They hadn't been to the state tournament since 1992. Coach Chris Simpson had been at the school for 28 years, waiting. He'd come close before. Last year they lost the A1 final to Williamsville South. Every March, same result.

Not this year.

This year, they won the A1 sectional title over Lewiston-Porter, 63-39, with Dane Brown dropping 30 points and Jonathan Neville putting on a passing clinic. Then they went back to Buffalo State and beat Fredonia 69-37 in the Class A crossover, Chase Uribes exploding for a season-high 24 points, Brown finishing with 20 despite breaking his shoe in the first quarter. Then they blew out Monroe 77-51 in the sub-regional, Brown pouring in 39 and saying afterward he'd be happy scoring 10 if it meant winning.

That's who these kids were all season. The stats were never the point. The wins were.

The numbers at the end: 24-3. A sectional title. A state tournament appearance. The first time Grand Island basketball had gone this deep since the year some of these players' parents were in seventh grade.

The players who made it happen

Dane Brown, the 6-foot-7 junior, was the engine. He could score 39 and tell you scoring didn't matter to him, and you'd believe him, because every time the team needed something else, he provided that instead. He'll be back next year with something to prove.

Jonathan Neville, the senior point guard, ran the show with a steadiness that belied his age. Ten assists in the sectional final. Game after game of doing exactly what the team needed.

Chase Uribes, Jake Castiglia, Jeremiah Wilkes. Senior after senior stepping up in the biggest moments of their high school careers. The kind of kids who make a program.

What this season meant

Chris Simpson waited 28 years for a run like this. When Brown handed him the sectional trophy in the locker room, Simpson handed it right back. He said that was not the one he wanted. He meant the state title. They didn't get there. But they got further than anyone from Grand Island had in 34 years.

That's worth something. That's worth a lot.

Grand Island, give these kids a hand. They gave this community something to cheer about all the way to the end of March. That doesn't happen every year. Remember this one.