Déjà vu occurred for the varsity girls basketball team as they yet again were defeated by the West Springfield Spartans on Feb. 8. This 67-44 loss marked the end of a three-game win streak with wins over Lee, West Potomac and Woodson, and dropped the Atoms overall record to 11-9.

On Jan. 13 the same series of events happened where the Spartans beat AHS 59-36 and also ended a three-game win streak over Lee, West Potomac and Woodson.

The Atoms had a slow start, with the team trailing 19-8 at the end of the first quarter. The high number of turnovers in the beginning of the game led the Spartans to gain confidence and score more points. Down at halftime 39-16, the Atoms came onto the court with a new attitude and settled approach as they started passing and working more as a team to move the ball around.

“We need to be able to handle the pressure and get the ball up the court better. We need to make better passes and not turn the ball over,” senior Kelly Hughes said.

Another hindrance that held the Atoms back was the injury of senior Tania Ghods, who was in a car accident earlier this week.

“I believe we didn’t work as a team; having our point guard injured definitely gave us a big disadvantage,” sophomore Diana Hurtado said. Hurtado, who usually plays shooting guard, filled in for Ghods as point guard in the game.

The rough start and amount of pressure put on the game to beat the Spartans did not turn out favorably for the Atoms. The Atoms next (and final) game will be on Feb. 11 at Lake Braddock.

“We got behind early and with a team that good it’s hard to gain ground once they have a lead. We just have to put that behind us and concentrate on Lake Braddock,” Head Coach Pat Hughes said.