The ending isn't what he wanted, but East Mecklenburg's 72-63 win over the Cougars on Saturday night in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A final did nothing to alter Neal's opinion of this year's team.

"Honestly, even if we had won, I could not have been prouder," Neal said following one of his most frustrating games as a coach.

The Eagles are an exceptional team. Their defense is superb.

Senior 6-foot-7 forward Titus Robinson (20 points) is a great player, and point guard Malik Stith (20) is outstanding. They dominated.

Coach Jason Grube is a masterful coach. He turns on the pressure and backs it off to keep teams off balance. Few teams can play zone pressure or man-to-man defense like the Eagles.

But Neal wouldn't mind sending his 19-12 club against East Meck again tomorrow.

He knows the Cougars would have to play their best to win, but he would like to have that chance.

Following the loss to the team that he called the best in the state and which features the two best players Apex has faced, Neal still believes in his club.

Watching the win slip away was painful. The way it happened was frustrating.

Apex survived a horrendous 20-11 first period, attempting only seven shots and making nine turnovers.

But the Cougars came back behind the play of senior guard Adam Perry (13 points at the half) and led 30-29 at the break.

Apex extended the lead to 39-33 with 3:52 left in the third period, and the upset seemed possible.

But Timmy Plummer picked up his fourth foul on a reach-in, double-team with 3:16 remaining. He went to the bench and East Mecklenburg increased its defensive pressure.

Grube said he knew Apex turned to Plummer for big plays, and he turned up the pressure when Plummer went out.

Robinson hit a follow dunk and followed a steal with another dunk. Jeremy Ingram hit a 3-pointer after another steal and then canned two free throws.

A six-point lead morphed into a three-point deficit in 39 seconds.

"The frustrating part was that we seemed to be in pretty good shape," Neal said. "We had the lead and were sitting in a zone.

"I don't recall them hitting many first shots against the zone, but they kept getting offensive rebounds.

"And we couldn't get the ball in bounds."

Plummer, who had helped transform the club when he became academically eligible for the second semester, returned to the lineup but could do nothing to change the momentum.

The Cougars trailed 54-45 when he fouled out -- after an East Meck steal of an inbound pass -- with 3:55 left in the game.

Apex had won its last four games by a total of 10 points and had hoped to keep it close, but couldn't.

East Meck's defense and the ball-handling of Stith wrapped up the victory.

"We knew about the press, but you can't simulate their press in practice," Neal said. "Our second team can't do in practice what East Meck does."

Apex tried valiantly, but with 71 seconds left the lead was 17 points.

Apex made 23 turnovers in the game and many led to easy baskets. East Meck got almost half (34) of its points off turnovers.

But Neal, whose father played for a state championship years ago at Warrenton John Graham, has a sense of what his team accomplished.

"My father is in his 60s," said Neal, who played in a baseball championship series his senior year at Sanderson. "When these guys are in their 60s, they will talk about this season."

But they'll always wish they could have one more chance against a very deserving state champion.