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The impact of this year’s senior class will continue to be felt on the Fortuna girls basketball team over the next few years.

The Huskies’ season came to an end in Hayward on Wednesday night, when they lost 72-36 to Moreau Catholic, the No. 2 seeds in the Division-2 North Coast Section bracket.

And afterwards head coach Tom Chapman paid tribute to the team’s four seniors, each of whom played pivotal roles in the team’s success this year.

The class of Jaydyn Dalton, Tatiana Olson, Macee Marquez and Taylor Heussler helped set the tone for their young teammates all winter, including some stellar play on a defensively sound team.

But losing the four team leaders will be made easier because of the impact they had on a talented group of young players on the roster, who gained some valuable experience playing alongside the experienced players.

“I appreciate and am grateful to the seniors for all their contributions to the program,” Chapman said. “(They) will be missed.”

Some of the team’s younger players also played big roles this season, including one of the most talented freshman in the H-DNL, Kaleya Parkinson, who adapted quickly to the varsity level.

Parkinson led the Huskies in scoring this winter, while fellow freshman Olivia Powell also had a big impact and led the team in rebounds while making her presence felt in the paint.

Sophomore point guard Jami Ortega-Miranda also enjoyed a good season with the team, which closed out 16-11, while juniors Evalynn Little and Olivia Scilacci are talented all-around athletes who continued to grow as basketball players this year.

Chapman believes having all of those key players coming back next year “has us well positioned to continue to improve our basketball program into the future.”

“As we wrap up our season, I am proud of this team and their growth as individuals and a team,” the coach added. “We had a nice blend of seniors and underclassmen that will help the program for the next several seasons.”

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On Wednesday, however, the Huskies saw their season come to an end against the No. 13-ranked team in the North Coast Section.

The game was tight early on and the score was tied 10-10 after the opening quarter.

But the home team would start to pull away after that.

“In the second they showed why they are ranked so high in the NCS,” Chapman said. “We could not match up with their athleticism as they took control of the game and never looked back.”

Despite the lopsided loss, several of the Fortuna players closed out strong, including Parkinson, who finished with a team-high 11 points.

Little added eight points and nine rebounds, while Scilacci had five points and four rebounds and Dalton had four points and five rebounds, as well as four steals.

Chapman also expressed his gratitude to the team’s support system.

“I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our parents and grandparents and families who supported the team,” he said. “We are truly blessed to have such awesome people involved with our program and student-athletes.”