Wildcats' Playoff Hopes Dashed in Burlington [VIDEO]

It's a script the Wilmington boys basketball team has seen before. And once more the Wildcats were unable to pen a different ending.

The locals entered Friday night's road tilt in Burlington needing a win to keep playoff hopes alive. Instead, head coach Joe Maiella's charges scrapped throughout the entire game and trailed by a posession late before eventually falling, 55-52.

After losing star guard Vinny Scifo to a shoulder injury early in the year, the team fought back to give itself a chance at the playoffs. But several times down the stretch, the Wildcats lost in close games despite strong efforts to erase second half deficits.

Still, Maiella left the court on Friday with no regrets, other than the feeling his players had in the locker room after the contest. 

"I love these seniors. Thye've been working their butts off for me for three years and I love them to death," said Maiella. "It just didn't work out for us this year. Anyone who's watched this season knows they busted it all year long, and I'm proud of them."

With five minutes to play, the Wildcats fell behind by eight points after a Burlington jumper. But slowly the team chipped away, and with 35 seconds on the clock, John Parsons dumped in two of his 10 points on a drive to the hoop.

The Wildcats defense held strong for nearly the entire shot clock on the ensuing posession. But as the buzzer sounded, Christien Morneweck dropped home a hook shot in the lane to force the Wildcats to attempt a three-pointer.

Wilmington never had its chance to force overtime, turning over the ball in its desperation and assuring the season would end on Tuesday night in a home game that now means nothing in the standings.

Following the loss, the Wildcats dropped to 8-11 on the year, 5-5 in league play. 

Burlington was eliminated from contention in its previous contest, and approached Friday's game with a playoff intensity hoping to keep Wilmington from the playoffs.

"There was no way to get in, so for our seniors especially, I told them that this was our tournament game tonight," said Burlington head coach Tom Lyons. "We had the chance to play spoiler, which would make this our tournament game. The kids responded."