GRAND HAVEN – It’s the way tournament basketball has always worked, but it never gets any earlier for the teams on the losing end.

That’s particularly true when a team has spent weeks and months working hard to put a great season together, then watches it come to a sudden end in one bad game.

That’s what happened to the Muskegon Big Reds on Monday in a Division 1 regional showdown against powerful Grand Rapids Northview at Grand Haven High School.

The Big Reds jumped out to an early lead, then a lot of their close-range, open shots started rolling around the rim and falling away.

Northview grabbed a 13-10 lead by the end of the first quarter and never relinquished it, handing Muskegon a tough 68-55 loss.

Muskegon’s M’Khi Guy tries to dribble his way around several Northview defenders.

Muskegon finished the season with a 20-3 record, an O-K Green conference championship and a Division1 district title.

It was a great bounce-back season for the Big Reds, who were very young last season and failed to win a conference or district title for the first time in years.

“I tell the kids, all the work they put in does not guarantee anything,” said Muskegon Coach Keith Guy. “It just puts you in a position to achieve your goals. But if they didn’t work as hard as they did, they wouldn’t have gotten as far as they did.”

The shooting woes were particularly costly for the Big Reds in the first half, when they made only 5 of 21 shots from the floor. The shooting percentage improved in the second half and allowed Muskegon to pull within three points at one point in the fourth quarter, but the cold first half haunted the Big Reds in the end.

“We got good looks all night, I thought,” Guy said. “We just didn’t make a lot of them. You can’t control that. You can spend as many hours in the gym as you like, but there are going to be nights like that. That’s why we always say, you let your defense sustain you while the offense comes along.”

Muskegon’s Terrance Davis goes high for a short jump shot.

Unfortunately for Muskegon, Northview managed to hit a lot of its shots, frequently breaking the Big Reds’ pressure defense and getting easy paths to the bucket.

The Wildcats hit 21 of 43 shots from the floor on the night, including all six of their attempts in the fourth quarter.

Northview started to build its advantage in the second quarter, going on an 8-2 run to take a 21-12 lead with 3:01 remaining in the first half.

The Vikings led 28-19 at halftime, then used a 20-15 edge in the third quarter to take a 48-34 lead into the fourth.

The Big Reds made their move at the start of the final quarter, opening with an explosive 14-3 run over the first 3 1/3 minutes to pull within three points, 51-48.

Muskegon Coach Keith Guy strategizes with his team during a time out.

Maurice Sain opened the uprising with a layup, Jordan Briggs pumped in a triple then followed with a steal and layup, Sain tossed in a putback layup, Ethan Hill had a steal and layup and David Day nailed three-pointer with 4:27 left.

But Northview outscored Muskegon 17-7 over the last four minutes to nail down the victory. The Wildcats coughed the ball up on four straight possessions during the Big Reds’ run, then pulled themselves together by making their last six shots from the floor.

“We’re never going to quit,” Guy said. “You’re going to have to bury us. I’m proud of our effort. These kids are fighters. They fight through a lot of things in life, not just in basketball.”

Briggs led Muskegon with 22 points, Sain added 11 and Hill chipped in with seven.

Jalen Charity led a balanced Northview attack with 16 points, Tyran Thomas had 15 and EJ Ryans and Kyler VanderJagt each scored 12.