PORTERSVILLE — Following the 10th loss in a row at the beginning of the season, Portersville Christian School girls basketball coach Chuck Moose hit a low point.

Losing was something new to the coach and the program.

The Warriors were coming off a 24-5 season and a Southwestern Christian Athletic Conference championship the year before.

But this team, made up mostly of underclassmen, was floundering.

"I was thinking, 'Boy, I hope this season is over soon," Moose said.

But soon that thought changed. Suddenly, a dreadful season wasn't so dreadful anymore.

The Warriors were winning again.

By the time the season drew to a close, Portersville had made it back to the SWCAC title game, losing to Beaver Christian School by a mere basket.

The next week in Erie, the Warriors shocked the rest of the field by winning the Northeast Christian Super Regional Tournament).

The Warriors followed that up with a conference underclassman tournament championship.

"By the end of the year I was thinking, 'Where do we go next?" Moose said.

All of this bodes well for the future, which in January looked pretty bleak.

"We never had the same lineup two straight games until the last week of January," Moose said.

Once players got healthy and in tune with their teammates, the Warriors rounded into a solid team.

Freshman point guard Taylor Zonts typified that transformation as she matured beyond her years in a short period of time.

"We just figured out how to play with one another," said Zonts, who lives in Saxonburg. "We had to figure out where everyone was going to be, what we could do well.

"This year was supposed to be a rebuilding season. It was really a great feeling to do so well."

Portersville has long had a solid girls basketball tradition.

In a school that features fewer than 200 students in grades seven through 12, keeping a program running strong is a challenge.

"Good help and good girls," Moose said, explaining how the Warriors stay competitive. "We don't have a bad player. The eighth player in our rotation isn't much different than our top player."

The late success this season has the team excited about what the future holds.

With all but two players returning, the Warriors might be a force for many more years.

"I think next season will be really great," Zonts said. "We got so much confidence this season."