Ava Chovanec is an ASU student at the Cronkite School assigned to cover Chandler High School for AZPreps365.com

The locker room was quiet as Chandler soaked up its last moments playing together, after No. 11 Chaparral upset the No. 6 Wolves 56-45 Tuesday in the first round of the playoffs.

“Just seeing the journey we went through, together, the hardships, the ups and downs, the yelling, the crying, the laughing, all of it, just going through your mind that the season is over,” said senior guard Amara Wilson holding back tears. “It was bittersweet.”

The Wolves were a senior-heavy team this season with six on the roster. The moment the buzzer went off was the end of their high school basketball careers.

“Knowing that this is our last time ever playing together, it hurts,” said senior guard Victoria Mason.

“We played decent, just at first it was our defense. We end up fixing our defense, then it’s our offense then slowly into the game we started coming back. We need to piece everything together at one time instead of bits and pieces of it.”

Mason finished her high school career with an 18-point game.

“Shots just weren’t falling tonight and that’s not something we can control. But what we could’ve controlled was our defense,” said Wilson, who had 13 points.

Chandler only scored five points in the first quarter. After being told over and over in the huddle by coach Glenda Skalitzky that “they’re fine,” the Wolves came back to cut the lead to 26-20 heading into halftime.

The biggest obstacle was Chaparral’s Jess Finney, who had 39 points with seven 3-pointers.

“There’s not much you can do if they’re falling for her,” said Skalitzky.

What hurt Chandler the most down the stretch was two starters, Mykah Anderson and Maya Peat, in foul trouble.

“It stinks. When you have two of your starters in foul trouble and have to sit them basically the whole third quarter and part of the fourth quarter it takes the wind out of our sails,” said Skalitzky.

Down six, Chandler had a chance to come back late in the fourth only being down six, but the shots didn’t fall.

Skalitzky gushed about her seniors and their bond over the last two years.

“I just love them to death. We’ve gone through so much. Coming in, and they were juniors and now being seniors and how much we’ve grown as a team and what their legacy is going to be, they’ve built this,” said Skalitzky.

Skalitzky said her seniors are what put Chandler back on the map and brought back tradition.

The next steps for Mason and Wilson are playing at the next level. Mason will be attending Hampton University, while Wilson goes onto Scottsdale Community College.

What’s next for the Lady Wolves is to keep building and live up to the high standard this year’s seniors have set.

“Champions are built in the offseason,” said Skalitzky.

Chandler finished the season 14-5.