The Atlantic Trojans girls basketball team dropped their Friday night contest to the Lewis Central Titans in a game that came down to the wire. Although the Trojans dominated the first half, the Titans flipped the script in the third quarter, taking the lead at the end of the half. The fourth quarter was a battle that Atlantic fought valiantly but ultimately came up just short in a 54-50 loss.

From the get-go, it was clear that the Trojans were motivated. Looking for their first win against Lewis Central in 20 years, Atlantic got off to a good start as they opened the scoring with a Peytn Hartr field goal and a Zoey Kirchhoff free throw. Although the Titans responded with a five-point run of their own, it would be the last time Lewis Central led in the first half. Hartr and the Trojans offense exploded. In addition to Hartr’s six first-half field goals, Lila Wiederstein knocked down three while Kirchhoff hit two three-pointers. The Trojans’ defense also played lights out in the first half. They not only limited the Titan’s opportunities but forced them into turnovers. To put an exclamation point on a stellar first half, Makenna Schroeder sunk a long three-point buzzer-beater to give the Trojans a 32-19 lead at the half.

Although Atlantic was able to maintain their lead for the first few minutes of the third quarter, the tide slowly started to turn. Lewis Central made adjustments on both sides of the ball as they started to chip into the Trojans’ lead. Defensively, the Titans keyed in on Hartr in the paint, limiting her to just one second-half field goal. Atlantic scored just 4 points in the third quarter. Offensively, Larsen made her presence felt on the inside. She hit six field goals and went eight-for-nine at the charity stripe to accumulate 20 second-half points. As time ticked down in the third quarter, a last-second foul and ensuing free throws gave Lewis Central their first lead since early in the opening quarter.

Now down by two, the Trojans did everything they could to give themselves a chance to win. Although the Titans extended their lead to early in the fourth, Atlantic battled back at every turn. Down by three with under two minutes to go, Kirchoff came up with a steal and sprinted down for a breakaway layup to cut the deficit to one. Despite getting a stop on the next possession, Atlantic failed to score and with the shot clock off, was forced to foul. Larsen knocked down the ensuing free throws, but Atlantic wasn’t done yet. With 17 seconds remaining, Wiederstein earned a trip to the free throw line. She knocked down both with the game on the line to again make it a one-point game. However, Atlantic’s only option was to foul and hope for a miss. Unfortunately for the Trojans, Larsen hit her remaining to lift Lewis Central to the win.

Although the loss is a tough one to swallow, the improvement from the start of the year to now is apparent. When put in similar situations earlier in the year the Trojans did not handle it nearly as well as they did Friday. Head Coach Dan Vargason was proud of the way his team battled when faced with adversity.

Although Atlantic’s four-game winning streak came to an end, Vargason likes how his team is playing heading into the holiday break.

The 5-3 Trojans will be back in action on January 3rd when they host Shenandoah.