The scene was all too familiar for members of the boys basketball team as they headed into the locker room at halftime. Down by only three, they had matched Lake Braddock basket for basket, refusing to fall behind in search of their third win in the last four games. This early dominance, however, would not last beyond the first half. Instead the Atoms were outscored 25-9 in the third quarter, digging a hole from which they were unable to escape in the 68-84 loss.

“We got off to a strong start, we were knocking down all of our shots. In the second half they just played better basketball than us,” junior Sanar Shamdeen said.

“Our team lived and died by the three, and we got in foul trouble due to our poor team defense,” senior Monte McCarthy said. “Overall I’m glad our team never quit even when we were down 22 points and were able to cut the deficit to five.”

Although the Atoms got off to a hot start and controlled the game for much of the first half, Lake Braddock dominated play in the third quarter. By shutting down the Atoms’ offensive attack and outscoring them early in the half, the Bruins established a large enough lead to maintain control of the game despite a fourth quarter resurgence.

“[Overall we played] inconsistently. We had a lot of good moments and also a lot of bad moments,” Head Coach Robert Terry said. “We had trouble adjusting to the officiating and people in foul trouble. [Lake Braddock] kind of dictated the tempo of the game.”

“We played well against Lake Braddock, it was just turnovers in the end that cost us the game,” senior Amiel Terry said. “In the second half we just had a lot of people in foul trouble and kept getting called for fouls and turning the ball over.”

Other members of the team also cited offensive miscues as a reason behind the their low-scoring second half performance, which was marked by both AHS scoring droughts and Bruin dominance in the paint.

“We failed to stop them in transition and were not making our shots and executing our offense properly,” McCarthy said.

The loss, which puts the team’s record at 3-15, marks the ninth time in 12 district games that the squad has either led or trailed by five or less heading into the second half. Of those games, only three have ended in victory.

“I think as a team on the whole we need to believe we can win,” Robert Terry said. “Whether we’re down by one or 15 we have to believe we can come back.”

With only two games remaining in the regular season, the first of which will be held at South County tonight, the Atoms have little time to build momentum heading into the district tournament.

“We’re all just trying to use these last couple of practices to get our stuff straight,” Shamdeen said. “We need to win [our last two games] so we can have confidence going into the district tournament.”

In order to finish its season strong, the team will have to outplay two of the district’s top four contenders, a task unlikely to come with ease.

“[We need to] protect the paint with solid ‘help’ defense and remember to make the extra pass on offense,” McCarthy said.

Shamdeen reiterated the need to perform well offensively while also establishing a strong offensive performance.

“We need to protect the ball, stop them on defense and put the ball in the hole,” Shamdeen said.

Robert Terry put the team’s plan more bluntly, citing its need to improve play in the season’s final two games with the goal of staging an upset in the district tournament.

“Our game plan is just going to be to correct all of the flaws and mistakes we’ve had up to this point in the season,” Robert Terry said. “Our goal is to just send someone home early.”