Central High School’s varsity girls basketball team capped off a difficult 2017-18 campaign with a valiant effort in the Virginia High School League Region 1B tournament quarterfinals.

The No. 8 Lady Chargers challenged host No. 1 Altavista Combined School on Monday, but the Lady Colonels were able to maintain their lead to advance with a 46-30 victory.

“I was proud of our performance,” Central Head Coach Scott Wilson said. “Obviously, we wanted to come away with a victory, but we played the top seed in the region, and after the first quarter until near the end of the game, we played them evenly.”

He noted that it was a nine-point game with three minutes and 38 seconds remaining in the game.

“We played them tough,” Wilson said Tuesday. “… So, I was proud of how hard we played last night.”

The Lady Chargers finished the season with a 1-17 overall record.

“Going into the season, most of the players had never had any varsity experience, so we knew that it was going to be a learning season, looking to improve throughout, and that’s what we did …” Wilson said. “It may not have shown in the total amount of victories, but if you look back at how (we) began the season, we had difficulty just even breaking a press … And so my takeaway from the season is just seeing the improvement that the team made as a whole from the beginning …”

He highlighted the remarkable growth of senior center Megan Dech, who matched her season averages Monday with eight rebounds and four blocks, adding six points.

He also praised freshman forward Aaliyah Alexander, who had nine points and seven boards Monday.

Wilson said he will have nine of his 12 players returning next season.