The rumors that had started as whispers had been growing louder for months, but it wasn't until March 7 that the news became official, delivered with a thud over the school's loudspeaker.
Nathaniel Laney, the principal at Forestville (Maryland), took to the school's PA system to tell his students that their beloved school, which had been founded in 1982, would be closing for good in June.
The news came four days before the girls' basketball team's state semifinal. Devastated, deflated and drained, the Knights remained intent on defending the program's first state title.
On March 11, four Forestville players scored in double figures to lead the team to an 81-32 rout of Baltimore's Forest Park in the semifinals. The next day, the team celebrated a 71-40 victory over Southern of Oakland in the state final.
Ranked seventh in the espnW 25 Power Rankings, Forestville finished its final season 25-2, losing only to national powerhouses St. Mary's of Stockton, California, and Riverdale Baptist of Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
Kevin Maxwell, the CEO of Prince George's County Public Schools, was fixated on different numbers. Declining enrollment -- less than 800 students -- was his primary reason for closing the school. From 2002-2013, the school had been a publicly funded military academy. In 2014, it opened to neighborhood students in an attempt to boost enrollment. Now, Forestville students who opt to stay in the public school system will be transferred to Suitland High School, which is two miles away.
That's the future. But here's how the dramatic events of the past few weeks unfolded for five key members of the Forestville program.
The coach's daughter
Taleah Washington was nervous. Hitting clutch free throws is one thing, but pleading for your school's survival in front of the Prince George's County board of education? Still, the 5-foot-8 point guard was determined to give it her best shot.
Washington was one of several students who spoke to the board on Feb. 23, but she was the lone representative of the basketball team.
"I'm the class president, and I knew we needed someone to speak for the [sophomore] class," said Washington, who has a 3.6 GPA.
Washington told the board that closing Forestville would be like breaking up a family. She told them of the teachers who come to work every day to help students.
Washington said it was "hurtful" to close the school just as the sports teams started to make their mark in the state. She reasoned that many students were not ready to be shifted to a bigger high school, arguing that the move would be "detrimental" to their development.
She got a standing ovation.
She asked for some sort of compromise.
None was coming.
"I was heartbroken," said Washington, who had a combined 31 points in her final two Forestville games. "It was sad because of all the work we had put into the school. But I kind of knew it was coming."
The senior leader
A 5-11 forward, Tyasia Moore arrived at Forestville as a junior and liked the vibe she found there right away.
"The school is little, so I see my teammates all the time," Moore said. "But it wasn't just my teammates. All the students were welcoming even before they knew I was a player."
She wasted no time in letting her skills be known to her classmates and the state as a whole. Averaging 16.8 points and 13.3 rebounds per game as a junior, Moore led Forestville to its first state title in 2014-15. She was named MVP of the tournament.
Unlike many of her teammates, Moore knows where she'll be studying and playing next year. And it's her teammates' uncertain future that leaves her feeling uneasy.
"Although I am graduating, I was disappointed," said Moore, who signed a national letter of intent in November to play basketball at Old Dominion. "I don't know where my teammates are going to school next year. I wanted them to stay together until they graduated.
"I'm worried about them."
We can say this for Moore: She went out in style. In her final game at Forestville, she had a team-high 19 points, a team-high eight rebounds and a team-high seven steals.
The injured superstar
Kiara Smith, a 5-8 point guard and a Syracuse signee, missed the entire 2014-15 season, her first at Forestville, after ACL surgery on her left knee. After returning to the court this season, Smith got hurt again, tearing the meniscus in the same knee. She is scheduled for surgery Thursday, and she said doctors have told her to expect a recovery time of six to eight months.
But that didn't keep her from getting on the court in the state final.
Coach James Washington made sure of that.
In the final minute against Southern, Washington inserted Smith into the game and instructed her to play defense at the top of the zone. Once the ball got past her, Washington told her to jog to the offensive side of the court, spot up in a corner and wait for a pass.
Smith did just that and missed her first shot from the left corner. On her second attempt, this time with just 25 seconds left, Smith took the pass from Taleah Washington and swished her 3-pointer and made the record book.
"It felt great, especially since I didn't get a chance to play last year," Smith said. "To be on the court for the state championship and to see everyone so happy when I scored was great."
Smith said she wasn't scared of making her injury worse. She trusted Washington would position her in a way that she would be safe.
Smith said she's sad to see Forestville closing its doors.
"I didn't like [the decision] at all," she said. "The girls had been working so hard. We had been bringing good light to Forestville. It wasn't right to close it down in the midst of all our good work."
The freshman phenom
Anissa Rivera, a 6-1 freshman wing and one of eight underclassmen on the Forestville roster, may be the team's best prospect for superstardom at the next level. She's really that good.
But her bright future didn't make her current situation any easier to swallow.
She's already got a scholarship offer from Rutgers, but that wouldn't be until 2019. Where she'll be going when the bell rings on the first day of school in 2016-17 is by far the more pressing question.
"I was kind of scared when I heard the school was closing because I didn't know where I was going to end up," said Rivera, who scored a career-high 34 points in the regional finals. "I've never been in a situation like this. I was shocked."
At state, Rivera said she tried to set her feelings aside. She scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds in the semifinals and scored another 15 points in the final.
"Our coach told us that even if the school closes we have to act like it's not because we can't let that get in the way of winning state," Rivera said. "He told us to block it out.
"We all blocked it out better than I thought we would."
The coach and former player
Closing Forestville is extremely personal to James Washington. As a junior in 1995, he led the Knights to the boys' basketball state championship.
Twenty years later, in 2015, he coached the girls to the school's first basketball state title in either gender since the days when he was taking algebra courses. Then, of course, the girls repeated by winning state again this year.
"Forestville has been a home away from home for a lot of people in our community," the 37-year-old Washington said. "It will be missed."
Washington, who will continue coaching his Havoc City Elite AAU team, said he'll fondly remember Forestville's success as a military academy. Washington believes the school lost its way when it opened to neighborhood students.
"As a military academy, Forestville had a lane of its own," Washington said. "It was acceptable to be small.
"Forestville was successful as a military school. We had one of the best drill teams in the country. And a lot of students came here aspiring to a high rank in the U.S. military."
Between his four years as a student at Forestville and his nine years as either an assistant or head coach for the Knights, Washington has spent 13 years -- more than one-third of his life -- at his "home away from home."
"For us as a team to leave that legacy as two-time state champions was a magical experience."