It is unlikely that there could have been a bigger underdog than the Atlee boys basketball team heading into this year’s Capital District Tournament quarterfinals.

One win would advance them to the Central Region Tournament. But in the history of Atlee High School, the boys basketball team has never made it to Regionals.

To do so this year the #7 seed Raiders only needed to knock off #2 seed Armstrong; a team that had spent time ranked in the TD Top-10 poll.

There was also the none-too-subtle point that Atlee had not defeated Armstrong during the regular season. In fact, the Raiders did not defeat any district foe during the regular season, finishing with a dismal 0-10 record. 

But underdogs aren’t underdogs unless their really hurting. So to make that mountain even taller, the Raiders came into the game missing three starters, their two top scorers and their point guard.

So, after a season that left such a foul taste in their mouths, it would have been easy for Atlee to simply run out the minutes on their season and put it in their past.

But despite their numerous setbacks and disadvantages they faced, the Raiders came out to play. Perhaps there was a hint of Armstrong coming into the contest over-confident, but of the six teams playing in quarterfinal action, Atlee put on the best show.

After Armstrong pulled ahead 3-2 on a Lamont Gordon foul shot; a recurring theme throughout the game, Atlee went on a roll.

A Brandon Johnson short basket was followed by a jumper for Barrett Prince. Then Sebastian Morrison drilled a three of an inbounds play and Atlee led 9-3 with four minutes left in the first.

Armstrong answered with a bucket from sophomore Vincent Herring (15 points) and could have trimmed the margin to one but Xavier Gary missed his free throw on a plus-one field goal.

Atlee widened the margin to five, 14-9, on a three by senior Dylan Garthright, who despite still recovering from his football injury logged the most minutes of his season. But the Wildcats pulled it back to two when Tryvon Williams connected on a plus-one field goal.

Still, the Raiders closed out the quarter strong on a basket from Kyle Rodgers and three from by Shaquille Williams.

The second quarter was dominated by Atlee, outscoring Armstrong 10-3 to take an 11 point lead into the locker room. The Wildcats scored one point over the final 6:18 and that on a free throw.

But something changed dramatically in the second half. Most noticeably was that Armstrong started picking up fouls left and right on their inside shots. In the third quarter alone, Atlee was whistled for eight fouls sending Armstrong to the line for 13 free throw attempts.

On the other end of the floor, Atlee couldn’t manage to get a single call on repeated drives to the basket, most of which resulted in the ball being knocked away as players collided.

“What’s the odd thing about that is, we play not really a passing defense but a switching man to man, sagging and where as they extend and pressure,” said Atlee head coach Phil Reynolds. “Just the nature of the two teams, it just seemed like whenever they went up the whistle blew. That was tough to combat.”

But Armstrong did their part to help the Raiders maintain their lead, shooting a dismal 6-of-13 from the line.

Atlee headed into the fourth holding a 10 point lead but facing a drastically lopsided statistic in fouls and free throws. Through three quarters of play, Atlee’s 16 fouls had sent Armstrong to the line for 21 free throw attempts. Meanwhile the nine fouls against the Wildcats ceded one free throw attempt for the Raiders.

Armstrong opened the final period on a 4-0 run thanks to a pair of fouls by the Raiders, as Austin Young and Prince picked up their fourth of the game. 

Atlee finally stepped to the line for its second free throw of the game when Johnson was battered on a put-back attempt with 5:50 to play.

The Wildcats’ Jatain Mclain trimmed the margin to five when Williams was whistled for his third foul and Gary made the Raiders’ lead three on a steal and layup with 5:17 to play.

Garthright widened the lead back to five when he was awarded a trip to the line, but back to back steals by Armstrong led to baskets for Herring and Gary and a one point lead for Atlee.

But the real back-breaker came with 2:42 to play when a melee erupted on the floor beneath the Atlee basket. It appeared that two Armstrong players dove in among the Raiders after the loose ball but Young was whistled for his fifth foul even though it seemed he made little contact.

A noticeably upset Reynolds berated the officials. “All I saw was him diving on the floor with everyone,” the coach said. “He said Austin grabbed the kid and body-slammed him. When Austin sees a loose ball he just dives on it. I’ll have to see the tape on that.”
The ensuing free throws by Herring knotted the game at 45.

With 1:58 to play and the game still tied at 45, Williams picked up his fifth foul and went to the bench when it appeared Gary simply lost control of the ball on a crossing drive. The free throw by Gary gave Armstrong its first lead since 3-2.

Gary widened the margin to three on a put-back basket with 1:36 to play but he gave the points back by fouling Prince on a drive to the basket.

To further hasten Atlee’s efforts, soon afterward Prince twisted his ankle. Though he remained in the game his motion was limited. 

Armstrong still held a one point lead with :14.9 to play when Johnson fouled Carlos Nickens.

Nickens missed both free throws and Atlee grabbed the rebound. Garthright dribbled down the left sideline then headed towards the paint, but from the way the game had gone the chances of him picking up a foul appeared to be slim.

“That was always in the back of my mind, it’s going to be hard for us to get a call at the end of the game and get a foul,” Reynolds said.

Apparently Garthright felt the same. Finding his path blocked instead of driving against the Armstrong defense he dished off to Morrison whose shot fell short at the buzzer.

“I just felt that if we had the ball at the end we could get off a good shot to win,” Reynolds said. “But we didn’t get off a good shot. A lot of that’s inexperience.”

For the game, Armstrong was 18-of-35 from the free throw line. Atlee was 7-of-10.

“We talked about that,” Reynolds said. “Part of that, and I told the kids, until Atlee brings itself up to win more games and is more competitive in the district it just seems to work that way. Outsiders don’t seem to think we’re very good and sometimes that’s officials too. But they’re human. I think it’s subconscious….”

Despite going winless in district play, the one point loss is the closest Atlee has ever come to reaching the regionals.

“In my 18 years or so, it’s as tough of a loss as I’ve had,” Reynolds said.

ATLEE (5-13) Garthright 5, Morrison 10, Ratchford 0, Rodgers 4, Prince 6, Williams 11, Johnson 9, Brooks 0, Young 2. Totals 19 5-8 47.
ARMSTRONG (12-5) Gary 12, Gordon 6, McLane 2, Nickens 3, Cook 2, Herring 15, Hunt 0, Ross 0, Williams 8. Totals 15 17-35 48.
Atlee .......................... 19 10 11 7 — 47
Armstrong….............. 15 3 12 18 — 48
3-point goals: Atl — Morrison 2, Garthright, Williams. Arm —Gordon.