By the time Saturday night rolled around, a good portion of the sting from the end of Lomega’s basketball season was gone for coach Kevin Lewallen.

“I told the girls I’m not much on moral victories, but we really had a good year,” said Lewallen, one day after his team was knocked out of the Class B state tournament with a 66-41 defeat to Varnum in the semifinals at State Fair Arena.

After Lomega got out to a 7-1 lead, Varnum controlled much of the rest of the night.

The third-ranked Lady Whippets answered with an 8-0 run capped by a Madyson Kinsey 3-pointer.

That shot gave Varnum a 9-7 lead it wouldn’t lose.

That’s because as the Lady Whippets began to heat up, second-ranked Lomega cooled off considerably.

Lomega shot just 19 percent (4 of 21) in the first half as Varnum pushed its lead to double digits.

It got even worse in the second half. The Lady Raiders shot just 15 percent over the final two quarters and finished 8 of 47 (17 percent) for the game.

“And I felt we were getting some decent looks,” Lewallen said. “They just weren’t going to fall for us.”

And when Lomega missed, it rarely got a second chance. Varnum out-rebounded the Lady Raiders 45-27.

What helped keep the Lady Raiders going was the free throw shot. Lomega knocked down 22 of 30 attempts.

Courtney Fox couldn’t connect from 3-point range, but did make 11 of 16 foul shots. She led the team with 17 points and was eventually named to the Oklahoman’s all-tournament team.

Hensley Eaton added 14 points off the bench and Emma Duffy scored nine while leading the team with eight rebounds.

Savannah Deatherage and Nakai Harjo led Varnum with 13 points apiece. They combined for 15 rebounds and Harjo led the team with six assists.

Kinsey and Brooklyn Biffle scored nine each. Biffle led all players with 11 rebounds.

Deatherage proved the hero Saturday when her steal, layup and ensuing free throw while being fouled with just seconds remaining lifted Varnum to a 39-36 win over top-ranked and defending champion Hammon.

Begrudgingly, Lewallen had to watch that game instead of coach in it.

But, he said, the final loss doesn’t take away from a season that ends with a 26-5 record.

“We really did have a great year,” he said. “If you look at what we lost off last year’s team and some of the question marks coming into this year, we accomplished a lot. I’m proud of them.”