DENVER • Air Academy hoopers watched from the bench and on the court as the final seconds ticked off the clock while Northfield played keep away in the waning moments of 5A’s Final Four contest.

Then, tears splashed on the floor at the Denver Coliseum as Kadet players rose from their seats to shake hands with the Nighthawks.

The top-seeded Kadets concluded their season Thursday after a 70-66 overtime loss to No. 4 Northfield in the semifinals matchup.

“Northfield played a great second half,” Air Academy coach Phil Roiko said. “Some of the (Northfield) kids who don’t normally knock down shots for them knocked down shots.”

The Kadets led by as much as 13 in the first half and built a 32-21 lead to start the third quarter. But the Nighthawks outscored the Kadets 20-9 in the third to knot the game at 41-all entering the fourth.

Tatyonna Brown sparked a 10-0 run for the Kadets and Air Academy built a 50-41 lead with 4:40 left in the fourth.

But Air Academy cooled off after its run.

The Kadets ended the game with 35 turnovers, including 23 in the second half and overtime.

Air Academy’s final turnover of the fourth led to a 3-pointer by Northfield’s Alena Vondracek to tie the contest at 56-all with 14 seconds left in regulation.

Colorado State University commit Caitlin Kramer scored the Kadets’ first bucket of overtime, but picked up her fifth foul moments later and sat the remainder of the game.

Kramer finished with 15 points in her final prep contest.

Ramah Khammash, who shouldered the Kadets’ scoring load in the first half, fouled out midway through the fourth quarter and finished the game with nine points.

Late in overtime, Lydia Flowers, who finished with a team-high 20 points, picked up her fifth foul.

“They didn’t give up, even at the end, when Ramah’s sitting the bench, Caitlin’s sitting the bench, Lydia sitting the bench,” Roiko said. “The other girls came in and played hard and that’s the heart that they have. They go hard no matter what.”

The Nighthawks outscored the Kadets 14-10 in overtime and forced five turnovers during the 4-minute period.

Prior to the loss, Air Academy earned 19 consecutive wins and finished the year with 25 victories, the Kadets’ best record since they went 26-1 in 2018-19.

“Northfield played a hell of a game and played really well in the second half,” Roiko said. “But I’m proud of my girls. We had a really great season. And (we’re) disappoint that we’re not continuing out journey to the championship game.”