The boys’ basketball team (15–4) fell to the Walter Johnson Wildcats (9–10) on Friday night. The basketball team hadn’t lost a game since December 26th, when they played Milford Mill Academy in the Governor’s Challenge Holiday Tournament.  

From the beginning, the Vikings started out looking strong, but it rapidly went south. Junior Sean Curran scored the first eight points of the game but quickly found himself in foul trouble. Curran has been an asset to the team since the start of the season and Whitman could not afford to lose him, so Curran had to sit out the rest of the half. The Wildcats outplayed the Vikings in the first quarter securing a 17–14 lead. WJ stayed consistent through the second quarter, while the Vikings were underperforming both offensively and defensively. The Vikings went into the half losing by ten with a score of 35–24. 

Throughout the season the Vikings have been able to come back stronger after halftime, but this game was different. The Vikings couldn’t find their groove in the third quarter, even with junior Titian Derosa scoring 15 points to try and start a comeback. Going into the final quarter the Vikings were down 51–39. Whitman was able to put up some more shots in the fourth quarter allowing to close the gap in points. In the final minutes they were down by one, but could not secure rebounds from the Wildcats’ free throws, so ultimately it wouldn’t be enough. They lost to the Wildcats 64–58. 

The Vikings will face the Thomas W. Wooton Patriots (14–3) away on Tuesday night at 7:15. One of the Vikings’ previous losses was to Wooton, therefore this game is extremely important for the Vikes to win.