all good things come to an end

Ironically, the championship runs of both the New Britain girls basketball team and the Southington gymnastics teams ended within hours of each other. I was witness to both events (please don't blame it on me, girls).
First, the Knights faced stiff competition at the New England Championship and fell short of a fourth-straight title, coming in third overall. Had the Knights performed their absolute best, they would barely have outscored the winners, Chelmsford, MA. Had they scored their average, which they were a little below, they would have finished exactly where they did. The bottom line was that both Chelmsford and second-place LaSalle Academy (RI) had better days. They might have been better teams, but all three were very close in talent. It came down, for the first time, to Southington needing to do its absolute best. The other teams did a better job of that.
Then the New Britain girls fell at CCSU to Career Magnet, in a game that featured unbelievable talent on both sides. There could prove to have been as many as seven Division I players in that game when all is said and done.
The Hurricanes looked like the more polished team for over three quarters of the game, but in the end their one fatal flaw shone through: a lack of depth. One foul out (starting guard Sarah Sideranko), a minor cramp for center Tyler Kimball and suddenly the 'Canes were on the losing side. Career dominated the offensive rebounding in the final minutes and earned the win. Take nothing away from New Britain, which played great. As my colleague Matt Straub pointed out, there were only 14 turnovers in the game combined. This was a very well played game all-around, and very fun to watch.
So, the Knights streak of state Class L titles is still alive at four. The Hurricanes, with most of their team back next year, should be among the final teams left again, if not the favorites to win it all. They just need to add a little depth.
Time to start a couple of new streaks.