It just seemed wrong somehow.

One of the best players in Sunnyside Christian girls basketball history was finishing her four-year career on the bench, having fouled out on a meaningless call late in a third-sixth place Class 1B tournament game that had been over almost before it started.

Kelly Newhouse goes up for a shot around  Katie Urann of St. Michael's during Saturday's game for third place in the Class 1B state tournament.   SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic

So, for the final four minutes of the Knights’ 2008-09 season, Melanie Van Wingerden — the girl perhaps most intrinsically linked to their current run of four state-trophy seasons — had to sit, arms crossed, watching as her teammates capped their season with a 42-23 victory over the St. Michael’s Warriors.

She might have finished it on the bench anyway, since coach Al Smeenk had begun substituting liberally almost from the get-go, after the Knights made six steals in the first 4 1/2 minutes and put themselves well on the way to a 22-4 lead that erased all doubt about the outcome. Nine of the 12 Knights played at least 8 1/2 minutes, and much of the second half was a preview of coming attractions — the sophomores and juniors who will make up the bulk of next year’s lineup.

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But you can bet Smeenk didn’t want to lose Van Wingerden any earlier than absolutely necessary.

“I don’t even like to think about it,” Smeenk said about his future basketball life without Van Wingerden, the latest of Smeenk’s eight 1,000-point career scorers. “You can’t replace her with one player because she does so many things so well. It takes several people to step in when you lose somebody like Melanie.

“She’s so physical, she plays with such tremendous desire, and she gives 110 percent every minute of every game. There are times when I have to tell her to slow down and pace herself. When she’s playing defense, she’s diving for loose balls and if she has to, she’ll be playing defense on her hands and knees. She just never quits.”

Neither did she quit on Saturday, grinding out 13 points and a dozen rebounds before heading to the bench. Teammate Hilari Bosma led the Knights’ offense with 17 points, going 4-for-4 on 3-pointers.

“It was a little disappointing way to end the game for me,” Van Wingerden said. “But I’m just really happy we ended our season on a win. The last two seasons we haven’t.”

The one trophy that has eluded the Knights (20-6) over the last four years, of course, is the state championship trophy. Over the past three years they’ve finished fourth, second and sixth, and now third, with top-ranked Colton ending Sunnyside Christian’s title dream in the semifinals.

“We gave it everything we had yesterday, and it wasn’t to be,” Smeenk said. “And we figure if we can’t play for the title, we gotta get third. So the girls are all smiley-faces today — and a few tears.”

Next year the Knights will almost certainly be good once again. Bosma is a very gifted athlete; junior point guard Julie Long, the one Smeenk calls “our Energizer Bunny,” will be a vocal leader; Joleen Van Wingerden will bring the steadying influence of starting experience; and Smeenk will be counting on posts Kelly Newhouse and Renee Dalrymple to provide a dominating presence in the paint.

But they will be without this year’s three seniors — guards Erika den Hoed and Abby Bangs, whose quick hands and anticipation sparked the Knights’ defense all year, and, of course, Van Wingerden, who plans to attend Dordt College in Iowa but isn’t sure yet whether she will turn out for basketball.

And there’s just no replacing her.

“She’s a special player,” Smeenk said.

“Really, a competitor like that comes around every 20 years. She’s a special player.”