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Armstrong (1-5 Capital, 5-9) used a 10-0 run to start the third quarter and a 9-0 spurt at the beginning of the fourth to break open a close game at Atlee (2-5, 6-9) on Friday night.  The Wildcats upset the Raiders on their home court 78-68 to pick up their first victory in district play.

In a game that the Raiders never led, poor inside shooting from Atlee combined with a hot hand from Armstrong’s Xavier Gary, who led all scorers with 27 points including five 3-pointers, and allowed the Wildcats to hold off every run by the home team.

The loss was especially disparaging for the Raiders because Armstrong came into the game short-handed.

“It was extremely disappointing,” said Atlee head coach Phil Reynolds. “Their best player wasn’t playing. They only had seven guys. They played harder than us. That’s the bottom line.”

The loss also ruined another spectacular performance from Atlee’s Cameron Colquitt who finished the game with 26 points, matching Gary with five 3-pointers while playing in front of college scouts from Mary Washington and Hampton-Sydney.

After falling behind 4-2 at the onset, a jumper from Atlee’s Sebastian Morrison tied the game at 6-6 with 4:36 to play in the first. It was the closest the Raiders would be come to Armstrong for the remainder of the game.

A put-back by the Wildcats’ Quinton Christian was followed by Gary’s first three, to push Armstrong ahead 11-6 with 3:20 left in the first.
The Wildcats’ led 15-13 going into the second quarter and the two teams traded baskets before Gary cut loose to score 12 straight points for Armstrong.

After Gary scored on an inbounds play with 5:39 remaining in the half, Atlee answered with a Brandon Johnson put-back of a Daniel Faggert missed three.

But Gary then outscored the entire Atlee team 10-5 on a pair of jumpers and two 3-pointers over the next two-and-one-half minutes for a 29-22 Wildcat lead.

Atlee rebounded by going on a 7-4 run over the final two minutes of the half on a jumper from Brian Reiss, a three from Colquitt and a dish from Colquitt to Iain Brinks in the final seconds to trim Armstrong’s lead to 33-29 heading into the locker room.

An indication that Atlee’s usually intense defense was not playing up to par came from the fact that the Raiders were only whistled for a single foul in the first half. “We talked about that at halftime,” Reynolds said. “We only had one or two fouls. You can contest a shot and put them on the line. Don’t give up an offensive put-back.” 

Phil Hodges backed his coach’s statement. “We didn’t come out intense enough,” he said. “We need to come out more intense. Fouls aren’t a bad thing. Fouls mean you’re playing physical and sometimes that’s good.”

However, any momentum Atlee gained at the end of the first half was quickly stymied in the beginning of the third period when Armstrong went on their 10-0 run.

After only getting called for a single foul in the first half, Atlee picked up three in the first 1:40 of the third, sending Armstrong to the line each time where they converted 5-of-6.

“They out-matched us at the free throw line,” Hodges said. “It seemed like they didn’t miss a free throw all game.”

Gary then added to the Armstrong lead with a three from the left wing and a jumper to give the Wildcats a 43-29 lead.

Colquitt finally got Atlee in the second half scoring column with a jumper at the 4:08 mark but Armstrong answered seconds later with a three from Zack Anderson for a 46-31 lead.

Facing their largest deficit of the game, the Atlee offense suddenly caught fire. A turnaround jumper from Faggert was followed by back-to-back threes from Colquitt, trimming the lead to 46-39 and forcing an Armstrong timeout.

Coming out of the break, the Wildcats reopened a nine point margin in the final minute of the period.

But Colquitt drilled a three with :40 on the clock then scored on a plus-one field goal with :13.2 to trim the lead to 50-47.

Atlee climbed within two, 51-49, in the opening seconds of the final period when Ryan Farrar found Johnson inside. But once again Armstrong answered the challenge.

DeAngelo Winston pushed the lead back to four on a short jumper but the real back-breaker came when Elliott Chavis scored inside and was fouled by Johnson. Chavis missed the ensuing free throw and Gary corralled the rebound, moved out to the arc and drilled a three for a 58-49 lead with 6:39 to play.

Seconds later, Chavis scored again to put Armstrong ahead 60-49.

In the final minute, Faggert connected on a free throw and Farrar scored on a put-back of the ensuing miss to trim the Armstrong lead to 69-66. But The Wildcats went 5-of-6 from the free throw line and outscored Atlee 9-2 in the final :50 seconds to seal the win.

“We gave it our all and we just couldn’t pull it out in the end,” Hodges said. “They made a couple of runs and we couldn’t match the runs.”

The loss puts Atlee in a precarious situation heading into the home stretch of the season. Sitting at 2-5 in the Capital District, the Raiders want to try to avoid an early district tournament match-up against Henrico.

Atlee lost Faggert in the final minutes to an ankle injury and Reynolds said his senior forward could miss a couple of games to recuperate. The Raiders also suffered a loss in the opening minutes of the contest when freshman guard Ruben Rucker took a shot to the head. Rucker left the game and did not return to action.

ARMSTRONG (1-5 Capital, 5-9 ) Gary 27, Christian 20, Winston 4, Benjamin 16, Chavis 11. Totals 29 14-18 78.
ATLEE (2-5, 6-9) Colquitt 26, Garthright 0, Brinks 5, Faggert 11, Rucker 0, Morrison 2, Farrar 2, Hodges 10, Reiss 6, Prince 0, Johnson 6. Totals 28 6-10 68.
Armstrong….................... 15 18 18 27 — 78
Atlee ................................ 13 16 18 21 — 68
3-point goals: AR — Gary 5, Benjamin. AT — Colquitt 5, Brinks.