Because a preponderance of football players dominate the Atlee basketball roster, the Raiders looked to vent a little frustration this week. With rivalry games against Hanover and Lee-Davis, two teams that handed Atlee disappointing football losses, the Raiders were looking to even the score.

  On Wednesday night, Altee notched their first mark by defeating the visiting Hawks 78-68 in overtime. But the Raiders saved their best for last on Friday night, holding off a strong Lee-Davis comeback with even stronger defense down the stretch to outscore the C-feds 18-1 in the fourth quarter and walk away with a 64-40 win.

  “It felt pretty good,” said senior R.J. Price. “A lot of guys who are on the basketball team were also on the football team so it was a good competition, a good game out there.”

  And though he is only in his first year at Atlee, Price was not a newcomer to the rivalry itself. “I went to middle school at Chickahominy so I still know a lot of these kids from middle school,” he said. “I kind of kept in touch with a lot of them when I was at Benedictine so I was still pumped up for this game.”

  Price took the burden of the taunts over the football loss from the Lee-Davis student section but he replied immediately with his play, dishing off to football teammate Shaq Williams for a three from the left baseline 12 seconds into the game. Joe Pulisic, the Raiders kicker, scored on a drive inside then Price added a three from the right wing for an 8-0 Atlee lead two minutes into the game.

  Nearly another minute passed before Lee-Davis made their first basket. Following a free throw from Shrevon Clark, Jordan Boze drilled a three from the right wing to pull the C-feds within four, 8-4.

  However, playing without injured starting point guard J.D. Harvey, ball control was a major problem for Lee-Davis throughout. C-fed turnovers allowed Altee to race ahead 17-4 on Price’s steal and dunk followed by a three from the left baseline by Pulisic with 2:43 left in the first.

  “We’re hurting at the ball handling position and they knew it,” said Lee-Davis head coach Trip Metzger. “It was a good job on their part scouting. They harassed our guards all night.”

  But in the final minutes of the quarter, Lee-Davis began to show some offensive life in the form of 6-5 juniors Abdiel Bolden and Clark along with 6-2 senior Devin Boone.

  Bolden put back a missed free throw by Joe Spengler which was followed by a Boone tip in. Bolden then scored inside to pull Lee-Davis within eight, 19-11 with :55 seconds to play in the first.

  “Lee-Davis is always tough inside,” said Atlee head coach Phil Reynolds. “They score inside they go to the boards hard and they made us pay for a good portion of the game. Their bigs were keeping them in the game.”

  But with 27.5 seconds left to play in the period, Price scored on a plus-one shot and Ruben Rucker got a steal and layup to push Atlee’s lead to 24-11.

  The Raiders held a 10 point lead heading into the third but Lee-Davis slowly chipped away with Boone, Bolden and Clark. The C-feds then pulled to within five on a short jumper from Boone with 1:49 to play in the period.

  According to Reynolds, the Raiders were doing their own part to allow Lee-Davis back into the game. “We got real impatient on offense but they had an advantage over us with their big guys who are tough down low and our guys weren’t defending very well in the post,” he said. “That was what was really hurting us. But I think a big part of it was we were extremely impatient on the offensive end. I think we got excited and thought we were really good and getting out of what we want to do and allowed them to get back in the game.”

  Another factor contributing to the C-fed comeback was the gritty play of 5-7 junior guard Chris Kunca who pulled down rebound after rebound and showed no fear of playing among the trees.

  “That kid just hustles and wants to win,” Metzger said. “Good things happen to kids like that. He’s a little vertically challenged so it’s sometimes hard for him to get his shot and he gets trapped, but the kid just works his tail off to get open and find his open teammates.”

  Price widened the Atlee lead back to seven on back-to-back shots to end the period.

  Lee-Davis appeared to have Atlee right where they wanted them when Kunca made a free throw nine seconds into the fourth to pull within six, 46-40. However, the Raiders went on lock-down with a defensive switch.

  “They took Pulisic and (Bryan) Reiss out, two shooters, and put Drayton and Williams on our guards,” Metzger said. “Those two, they’re not big offensive players but they shut our guards down defensively in the fourth quarter and I think that was the difference.”

  The Raiders also got solid defensive contributions from bench players Rucker and Jacob Hurd. “We had guys sitting on the bench who normally play a lot but we were happy with the way the guys were playing out on the floor,” Reynolds said.

  “We tried to just keep up our ball pressure and limit them to one shot at a time so we could get our lead back,” Price said.

  And get the lead back they did, not allowing Lee-Davis to score again, closing the game on an 18-0 run.

  “I think because we dug such a deep hole it took so much energy to get back and I think the fourth quarter we were a little exhausted,” Metzger said. “The excitement of the start and the excitement of cutting it back and then their defense.”

  After a slow start to the season, Atlee has now won four straight and Price believes the team is coming together. “We were a new team at the beginning of the season so we just had to gel and I think that time has come,” he said. “We’re starting to become a real family out there and learning how each other plays. We should have a pretty good season the rest of the season. It’s pretty fun out there. Everybody is like on the same page, just trying to have fun and play their hardest. I like it.”

  Meanwhile, Lee-Davis is still looking for answers. “We’re still looking for leadership,” Metzger said. “We’ve got to find leaders as a young team and we’re just all kind of floundering right now.”

  However, the play of Kunca gives Metzger reason to be optimistic as he looks ahead to the return of Harvey and guard Cedric Holley. “I think we found some bright spots there,” Metzger said.
 
ATLEE 64, LEE-DAVIS 40
ATLEE (6-5, 3-1 Capital) — Price 22, Pulisic 7, Rucker 6, Gray 0, Drayton 3, Williams 13, Ratchford 0, Reiss 8, Rodgers 3, Hurd 0, Snyder 0, Randolph 2. Totals 22 14-24 64.
LEE-DAVIS (4-6, 0-3) — L. Dandridge 2, Abbott 1, Powell 0, Kunca 3, T. Dandridge 0, Spengler 1, Boone 4, Bolden 12, Autry 0, Clark 11, Bassett 0, Oldaker 0, Boze 6. Totals 15 8-20 40.

Atlee…................... 24 8 14 18 — 64
Lee-Davis…........... 11 11 17 1 — 40

3-point goals — A: Price 2, Reiss 2, Pulisic, Williams; LD: Boze 2.
Highlights — A: R.J. Price 5 assists, 8 rebounds, 5 steals; Shaq Williams 6 for 6 from free throw line, 3 steals; LD: Abdiel Bolden 10 rebounds, 5 blocks; Shrevon Clark 10 rebounds.