The problem with streaks is that they must come to an end. The seven-year ride of the amazing Dirigo Cougars girls basketball team ended Monday night to an upset-minded Hall-Dale club in Farmingdale.

The Dirigo girls have been the model of consistency for so long that it is difficult to fully appreciate the program’s accomplishments. It’s easy to grasp the basics – 124 consecutive games won.

But when you think about the day-to-day challenges faced by any coach and team, the magnitude of the accomplishment becomes clearer.

Consider the ups and downs common to any team’s season: injuries, illnesses, late buses, bad weather, uneven officiating and academic pressures.

Then there are the slumps – the times a team can’t sink a bucket for love or money. The times ever bounce seems to go the wrong way and the times everyone is just dead tired or playing on “dead legs.”

Coach Gavin Kane’s squads have faced them all for seven long years.

Normally, at times like this, writers reach for the “D word,” as in the “end of a dynasty.”

That would be wrong. It’s the end of a streak. The Dirigo program is built on excellent fundamentals and it will come back stronger and better.

Remember, the next streak starts with the next game.