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The game begins with a jump ball

The Boys Varsity Basketball team took on the Woodson Cavaliers on Tuesday, February 2; but unfortunately the outcome of the game wasn’t what they hoped. The Atoms lost 59-67 in a game that came down to the last few seconds.

Starting out hot in the first quarter, the Atoms won the tip off, thanks to senior Dini Mohamoud. They were able to take advantage of that by scoring their first possession, as well as managing to steal the ball back and score, to heighten their first quarter stretch. Juniors Jordan Adams and Dontae Johnson, both scoring 7 points in just the first quarter, helped the Atoms take the lead.

“We moved the ball around and made good decisions in the first quarter,” Johnson said.

The boys were able to keep the Cavaliers at bay, leading 22-10 at the end of the first quarter. Maintaining the lead throughout the second quarter, the Atoms headed into the locker room with a 33-22 lead over the Cavaliers. Due to the Atoms winning the tip off at the start of the second quarter, it was Woodson’s ball at the start of the third. However, Dontae Jordan managed to steal the ball and score, starting the quarter off with a bang.

Out of the blue, the Cavaliers scored three consecutive three pointers, bringing them back into the game late in the 3rd quarter. With two minutes to go, Woodson trailed by one. They then managed to pull ahead 30 seconds later. At the end of the third quarter, Woodson was able to stretch their lead by four with a score of 48-44. 

“We consistently come out of the half time and just not played the third quarter well,” Junior Saad Farqooq said.

Trailing by one point with one minute to go, the Atoms were down 59-60 and were forced to foul in order to try and regain possession. Senior Matt Ayoub of the Woodson Cavaliers was able to knock down both free throws extending the lead to three. Unable to score, the Atoms again had to foul to stop the clock. Although doing so, the Cavaliers still defeated the Atoms 59-67.