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by  Jim Bach

The Atholton Raiders faced the River Hill Hawks in early January with an undefeated, 8-0 record at stake against a county rival. However, the Hawks were unfazed by the stat sheet and gave the Raiders their first loss of the season with a 56-50 win.


Thursday night Atholton looked to erase this sour memory while also attempting to rebound from a 67-62 loss to Hammond the game before with a win at home. Unfortunately for them, their efforts fell short as River Hill once again came out on top with a close 51-49 victory. The Raiders dropped to 17-3 and have lost two straight, their longest losing streak of the year.

 

Atholton and River Hill battled it out from the beginning and the Raiders held a slim 14-11 lead by the end of the first. The second quarter saw a defensive struggle from both sides, as the Hawks outscored the home team 10-6 behind Junior Guard Varun Ram's 5 points. Atholton's Tom Hart hit a dazzling three-point buzzer-beater from the perimeter to bring the deficit within 1.

 

Junior Connor Cortes of Atholton began the third quarter with a three and sparked what had been a sluggish offense for most of the game. The Raiders scored 7 unanswered points and jumped ahead for the first time since the first quarter, but could not keep their lead long amidst the deft three-point shooting of River Hill's offense. The Hawk's forward Trey Ames hit 3 three-pointers in a row and Ram put River Hill ahead by the third quarter's close, 37-35.

 

The action heated up in the fourth quarter, and Ames started it out with his fifth of six threes on the night. The game came down to the wire at its end, River Hill held on to a thin 47-45 lead with 43 seconds left on the clock. Atholton, however, kept the battle going; Senior Shane Brown hit one from the foul line, and Junior guard Connor Cortes hit two more to put the score at 49-48 with 9 seconds left. Despite this, efforts at a comeback came to no avail and River Hill took the victory.

 

Ames had an impressive 22 points for the Hawks, as they got the upset and extend their win streak to seven games. They will bring their 13-6 record to Wilde Lake for their next match-up.

 

Atholton has lost their third game of the season and their second to the county rivals. They will travel to Reservoir next Tuesday and will need a win to stay atop the division and end their two-game skid.