Moon's two-year stint in Quad-A boys basketball is over, but no one will question if the Tigers belonged in the highest classification.

The Tigers bowed out of the PIAA Class AAAA tournament in the semifinals, losing to District 1 runner-up Norristown, 52-33, at Shippensburg University on March 12, in a game that suited Moon's style for a half.

Trailing 21-18 at half, the Tigers (23-8) successfully slowed down the usually high-scoring Eagles (32-2) into a half-court game.

"We were down by one and had the ball, but then we started to turn it over," Moon coach Jeff Ackermann said.

Things went from bad to worse during the third quarter when the Tigers lost their primary scoring threat.

Moon senior Brian Walsh left the game after landing awkwardly while grabbing a rebound, relegating him to the bench until a short return in the fourth quarter.

Without Walsh, Moon's scoring dried up, as the team scored just 11 points in the final quarter and a half. Senior Keir Jeter led the Tigers with 12 points, while Walsh added nine before leaving.

Norristown was led by Khalif Wyatt and Maurice Briggs with 11 points each.

The Eagles would go on to lose the state final, 81-77, to Chester (33-1), the District 1 champ and only team to beat Norristown this year. Chester is ranked No. 3 nationally, according to the USA Today Super 25.

Despite the defeat, Ackermann had only positive things to say about his team, which showed it belonged on the court with such highly-touted squads.

"People always doubted us," he said. "They'd tell us, 'Yeah, you win, but it's Triple-A.'

"The last two seasons, we've won in Quad-A with basically two different teams."

After graduating seven seniors from last year's team that went 25-5 and reached the state quarterfinals, Moon looked like it would struggle this year, starting 6-4.

The team started to come together during section play, winning a second straight 4-AAAA title and advancing deeper in the playoffs than the year before.

"I didn't know if we'd be consistent enough to be a team that sticks around in the playoffs," Ackermann said.

"These guys really come together. We were undersized all year long, and we overcame that. Then our young guys started playing big minutes and playing well."

Still, Ackermann knows that it was his four seniors that took the team to the heights reached this season.

"Brian (Walsh) is the best player I've ever coached," he said. "He scored 1,500 points in his career and got better every year."

"Keir Jeter went from being a part time player as a sophomore, to a starter as a junior, to an impact player as a senior. Anthony Valenzi hit huge shots for us and made a difference after I put him in the starting lineup. And Kevin Ganska really worked hard and made the most of his opportunities to play."

The Tigers say farewell to Quad-A and to those four seniors in 2008-09, but they leave with two section titles and a combined record of 48-13 over the last two years.

Maybe now, Moon's doubters are convinced.