RALEIGH — The smiling faces of the Cary Christian girls’ basketball team didn’t seem to reflect a team that just lost 70-29 in the NCISAA 3-A semifinals Friday.

As the Knights walked off the court at North Raleigh Christian Academy to a standing ovation from fans, it became clear that the journey to the semifinals meant more to the team than the game itself.

“I am very proud of my team,” said Cary Christian coach Carmen Javaux. “They have battled through this year. We had our senior forward out most of the year with an injury and she’s just coming back. And we’re very young. I start an eighth grader and two freshmen. And I couldn’t be more proud of them for what they showed on the floor tonight with their hustle and never dying.”

That senior, forward Katie Thompson, said she couldn’t help but be proud of how far the program had come in her time on the team.

“We’ve come from two years ago, where we didn’t even make the conference tournament,” Thompson said. “I’m really proud of them.”

In the semifinals, Victory Christian Academy controlled the game from start to finish, forcing turnovers and converting off them easily.

The Knight’s trailed 34-16 at the half and couldn’t handle Victory’s pressure or offensive execution in the half-court. Things got worse after halftime for Cary Christian, as it turned the ball over on its first five possessions of the second half and allowed Victory to blow the game open.

“It was very much a problem,” Javaux said of the turnovers. “We just weren’t making good passes. Our youth showed big in that second half.”

Offensively, Victory’s full-court pressure defense never allowed the Knights to get comfortable with their own offensive sets, Thompson said.

“We didn’t get what we wanted,” Thompson said. “We knew before the game that they were really good. I tip my hat to them.”

Still, the youth that plagued the Knights’ shot at the championship is also the biggest encouragement for Javaux, as she feels confident her team will have another great run in the future.

Freshman Savannah Lagaly led the Knights with 10 points and eighth grader Dakota Dukes chipped in eight points and eight rebounds.

“I’m very excited about our future,” Javaux said. “We’ve got a great, young group of five coming back, six out of the eight are returning, and we’ve got some eighth graders coming up that will balance us out and make a big impression.”

Thompson echoed her coach’s excitement about the future, especially with the ability of Dukes, who averaged 15.3 points and 13.2 rebounds this season as an eighth grader.

“We’ve got an eighth grader that’s going to work wonders by the time she’s a senior,” Thompson said. Javaux said the tournament run didn’t surprise her and it ended simply because her team ran into a superior opponent.

“I knew they could. We have the talent,” Javaux said. “We’re young, and we matched up against a very talented team today.”