A season of surpassed expectations came to a close for Isle of Wight Academy on Tuesday. The Chargers fell 59-53 to Norfolk Christian in the opening round of the VISAA Division II state tournament.

The Chargers (20-8) lost one of the school’s top scorers last year when Brandon Privette (21.5 points per game in 2010-11) graduated, but they returned a stubborn hub of seniors that played their last game in IWA uniforms Tuesday night.

Though it ended in defeat, the result was the school’s fourth consecutive 20-win season and third consecutive trip to the state tournament.

That core group — Ben Epps, Collin Bowden, Evan Chappell, Ian Andrews and Michael McGuire — won regular season championships as seventh- and eighth-graders, Metro Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships as 10th-grade junior varsity players, were state tournament runners-up in 2010 and qualified for the state tournament their last two years.

They also won 70 percent of their games since seventh grade.

On Tuesday, the Chargers, however, were unable to rise to the challenge posed by the Ambassadors, the champions of the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools. The Chargers clung to a one-point lead, 15-14, after a quarter. But a 10-2 run, which saw Norfolk Christian take a 23-17 lead, put the Crusaders ahead for good.

IWA closed the lead to six, 45-39, on a three-pointer by senior Ben Epps — one of two by him on the night — with 6:18 to play. But Norfolk Christian responded by scoring the next 11 points to expand its lead to 16 with 3:32 remaining.

IWA junior Nathan Sivertson finished with 17 points. Epps had 13, and classmate Collin Bowden had 10, including a pair of threes.

Norfolk Christian’s Mike Murray had 19 points; Mario Nixon finished with 17.

Norfolk Christian was to play at Cape Henry Collegiate on Wednesday night in the tournament’s second round.