WINDHAM—When members of the Cherry Valley-Springfield boys basketball team look back on the 2000-01 season, they will probably think about what might have been.

The Patriots 47-43 loss to second seeded Windham in the Section Four Class D quarterfinals Saturday night was typical of their near-miss season which saw them lose eight close games, including two in overtime.

"I don't think we had a poor season at 14-8, but we had an opportunity to have a very, very successful year if things fell into place a little differently," CV-S head coach Dave Armstrong said.

The Patriots finished second in Tri-Valley Large play behind Gilbertsville-Mt. Upton, and lost two games to the Raiders in overtime.

"If we win either one of those games, we probably would have won our side of the league," Armstrong said. "There were usually a couple of things we did late in games that cost us."

On Saturday against Windham, the biggest culprit was foul shooting, as CV-S hit just 5-13 free throws in the game.

The Patriots held a six-point halftime lead despite losing starter Justin Lindberg to a knee injury.

CV-S trailed by just three with one minute remaining, but Windham's Gene Caropreso hit a three-pointer to put the game out of reach.

Sophomore big man Evan Lane led the Patriots with 12 points, while Matt Buffett added nine. Armstrong said Lane and Devin Waldman, both sophomore starters, give the Patriots a solid nucleus to build around for next season.

Lane was the team's leading scorer and a First team Tri-Valley All Star in his first varsity season.