RALEIGH, N.C. — The fifth-seeded Catawba Valley Community College men's basketball team saw its season come to an end on Thursday with a 87-65 loss to host Wake Tech in the Region X/District IV quarterfinals.
The Red Hawks finish their 2018-19 season with a 22-9 record — the second-most wins in a season in program history.
After the game, CVCC head coach Bryan Garmroth, who just completed his eighth season of leading the Red Hawks, addressed his players and gave them one simple message.
"I told them it's been one of the most enjoyable years I've ever had coaching," he said. "They've been really fun to work with. They come to work pretty much every day to practice hard, play hard and compete in games. 22-9 is a good season. We certainly felt like it could have been better. We feel like we had about three games we let get away because we couldn't make free throws.
"Tonight, it's sad to end it on a disappointment like this where we come out, and it wasn't like that we didn't play hard. We were fumbling and couldn't do anything right," he added. "We got beat by a much better team tonight."
CVCC was plagued by 19 first-half turnovers, falling behind 16-3 to Wake Tech (18-11) in the first eight minutes of the half before going on to trail 47-33 at halftime.
"That game there was ugly and a nightmare," Garmroth said. "Everything we did was wrong, but we kept playing hard and we kept competing. That's the character of the guys on this team. That's what has made this fun."
Catawba Valley attempted to come back in the second half, but could not get its deficit down into the single digits en route to its elimination.
Thursday's contest was the final for five Red Hawks sophomores — Everett Palmer, Victor Tshiona, Brandon Reeves, Isayah Johnson and Jordan Powell.
However, Garmroth expects to return most, if not all, of his young nucleus of 10 freshmen next winter, including Jonathan McFall, who scored a career-high 21 points to lead CVCC in Thursday's season finale.
"I think we'll have a great group of leaders," Garmroth said. "We've just got to get some other guys to come in here and help us."
As for what he'll remember the most from this season, it's all about the players for Garmroth.
"The record is good, but the people that we've been with all year are what is important," he said. "They were a great, great group to coach and one of my most enjoyable seasons ever because of the people on the team. The individuals are what will stick out. That's what you remember are the kids and the guys who come to practice every day, do what they are supposed to do and play and compete."
2019 Region X/District VI men's basketball tournament
First round scores (from Monday)
#5 Catawba Valley 95, #12 Vance-Granville 75
#6 Bryant & Stratton 82, #11 Lenoir 62
#7 Davidson County 95, #10 Fayetteville Tech 86
#8 Louisburg 71, #9 Patrick Henry 67
Quarterfinals (Thursday at Wake Tech CC)
Game 1: #2 Guilford Tech 93, #7 Davidson County 83
Game 2 :#1 Pitt 80, #8 Louisburg 74
Game 3: #6 Bryant & Stratton 87, #3 Florida Gateway 59
Game 4: #4 Wake Tech 87, #5 Catawba Valley 65
Semifinals (Friday at Wake Tech CC)
#2 Guilford Tech (23-5) vs. #6 Bryant & Stratton (14-16), 5 p.m.
#1 Pitt (23-7) vs. #4 Wake Tech (18-11), 7 p.m.
Championship Game (Saturday at Wake Tech CC)
Guilford Tech/Bryant & Stratton winner vs. Pitt/Wake Tech winner, 1 p.m.
**The winner of the Region 10 tournament receives the District XIV automatic bid to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DII National Tournament. Regular-season champion Pitt has clinched District XV title. If Pitt wins the tournament, the tournament runner-up will be District XV champion. The NJCAA DII National Tournament will be played in Danville, Ill. on March 19-23 at the Mary Miller Center. For more info on the National Tournament, visit http://njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2018-19/div2/national_championship/index**
