Photo by Erik Kleinbussink

Wootton faced off against Rockville Dec. 15, winning 71-50. Senior Taj Smith dunks a ball to increase Wootton’s lead. “Everyone plays better together and better when the energy is high,” Smith said.

The Patriots have had a successful start to the season with a 6-2 record and they don’t plan on slowing down.

They had a hot start to the season with five straight wins with dominant performances. They first tipped off Margurder, just squeezing out a win with a final score of 59-58. The Pats then hit the road to meet a close competitor, Richard Montgomery. The game went into overtime but the Patriots got the win with a final score of 73-66. The next three games were all wins, with final scores Clarksburg 45-3, Northwood 64-44 and Rockville 71-50.

The week before winter break was a hard hit of reality with back-to-back losses against Churchill and Walter Johnson. Students from both Churchill and Wootton packed the stands in a heated match. Wootton took the early lead in the first quarter but then lost it after the half. Only down by a small margin, the two teams went back and forth, swaying momentum between the crowds. As time quickly expired, the Patriots found themselves down by two with only about four seconds left in the game. The final play had junior Khairi Hyde take a corner three for the win. In dramatic fashion, the crowd went silent as Hyde took the shot and the ball bounced around but eventually missed the net. Junior Brenden Famulare took one final shot but was unsuccessful.

Throughout the game versus Churchill, the crowds were chanting and rooting for their teams, as fans even talked down upon other players. After the loss, school security and administrators attempted to keep the Wootton and Churchill students separate. As students piled outside, a small altercation broke out but security was quick to break it up and separate the students. “I had no idea there was a fight but both schools were going crazy during the game,” junior Jack Sulivan said.

After a relaxing break, the Patriots came back to the grind, with their first matchup a home game against Bethesda Chevy Chase. It was a close game but ultimately Wootton took the lead and beat BCC 59-47.

Famulare had a momentum-swinging half-court shot as time expired in the third quarter. As expected, the student section did not disappoint and jumped around while chanting for Famulare. “I felt a little shaky and didn’t think it was going to go in but when I saw it did I was excited,” Famulare said.

As the team digs deeper into the season the chemistry for the boys has grown exponentially, according to senior Taj Smith. Everyone is starting to understand their spots on the team and figuring out how they can best help the team. “I feel as if our team chemistry has grown since the beginning of the season,” Smith said.

The away game against Walt Whitman on Monday, Jan. 8 resulted in a 59-55 win for the Pats. They take on Seneca Valley tonight at Seneca Valley at 7:30.