Rams’ Varsity Basketball dropped to 1-4 Friday, Dec. 19, after a 45-43 loss to the Knights of Wheaton HS. It was their first loss coming off of their 20-point victory against Poolsville HS.

The Knights controlled the game for just about the entirety of the game, extending their lead to 13 points in some instances. this is largely attributed to their accurate outside shooting, and the Rams’ inability to create offense as well as the abundance of turnovers.

One bright spot for the Rams was the return to the lineup of senior Rakeem Hoy-Farria, who has missed three straight games due to a concussion. He contributed 12 points off of the bench for the Rams, second in scoring behind the 14 from junior Ben Wiebusch.

With approximately six minutes left in the game, the Rams began to tighten the score, getting within seven points of the Knights. This came as a result of elongated possessions and pressure defense, forcing four Wheaton turnovers in a three minute span. They could not recover completely, however, as the Knights sealed the game with free throws to put them in the lead by five with just three seconds to spare.

“[It’s] definitely frustrating,” junior Essex Thompson said. “We need to perform better.”