John Abraham was noticeably downtrodden Wednesday as he discussed the end to his R.C. Hatch High School’s girls basketball season in the state semifinals.

He has never reached the state championship game in 21 years of coaching, but his demeanor was not for himself, it was disappointment that his players didn’t reach the title game.

“They felt like they were the underdogs,” Abraham said. “They feel like they were so close and they should have been victorious.”

Hatch won the second half by 10 points, but lost the game by two.

“It’s really hard,” Abraham said. “I got about 60 calls after the game from people saying we played good and should have won. When you outscore a team by 10 points in the second half like we did, they did everything we asked them to do.”

Abraham said the mood after the game was one of bitter disappointment and the girls needed to be consoled. He said he offered them the only consolation he could think of: “We will be back.”

“We just have to be patient and wait for next year,” Abraham said. “We have to take it one step at a time, and we’re doing that.”