Donna Ong isn’t ready to end the season; she might just keep practices running so she doesn’t have to say goodbye to this year’s team.

And her team might just keep showing up for those practices.

After four months of training, Ong’s squad wrapped up its season at this year’s NHIAA Spirit championships on Sunday, Feb. 25. The girls of Pembroke Academy placed third overall among Class I teams, with 158.5 points.

“I’ve had such a great time this year,” said Ong. “I want to pretend we’re in regionals so we can keep practicing. It’s been such a blast. This has been an unforgettable team, and they’re happy with the results of states.”

A little more than a month after taking first place at the annual Kiwanis cheerleading competition, the Spartans fell to rival Pelham, which took home top honors with 170.5 points.

Pembroke performed a clean routine but was docked five points on a safety violation when one of Ong’s cheerleaders fell during her tumbling stunt. Ong described watching her team rally around the upset girl, saying it proved Ong’s team had grew into one unit.

“Every year you hope your team turns into a team,” said Ong. “It doesn’t always happen that way, but this time it happened.

We had a celebration after states, and you wouldn’t have even known we hadn’t won the whole thing.”

Ong loses four seniors to graduation in Amy Edmonds, Brittney Grigsby, Brittany Welcome and Danielle Yeaton. The seniors addressed the team before their performance in front of the crowd at the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center, saying, “We’re like sisters.”

“It was the first time my captains have come to me and asked to speak to the team before a big competition,” said Ong. “They’ve truly groomed an incredible team, and I’m not surprised at all about how they reacted to third place.”

Joining the Spartans at the competition were Manchester Memorial and Manchester Central; both competed in the Class L division.

The Little Green took home first place as a co-ed squad, with 179.0 points. Central beat out Bishop Guertin of Nashua, which placed second with 162.5 points. Memorial finished 13th with 141.5 points.