The W.T. Woodson boys' basketball team's string of come-back victories came to an end during the first round of the Northern Region tournament on Feb. 24.
Once again, the Cavaliers found themselves trailing an opponent, but unlike their previous outings in the Patriot District tournament, the Cavaliers weren't able to fight back to prolong their season.
Woodson, the Patriot District runner-up, lost 52-46 to J.E.B Stuart in a game that head coach Doug Craig said mirrored previous efforts this season.
"We've had several games where we just didn't shoot the ball particularly well," he said. "It was just another one of those games."
Max Lenox led the Cavaliers in scoring with 36 points, but the rest of the team struggled to contribute on offense.
"[The low scoring] is just a credit to Stuart," Craig said. "They played great defense."
Steven Noe had only three points, while David Lowe, Jamie Donelan and David Nosal added two points to the team's total.
"We just didn't play our best game," Craig said. "But you have to give Stuart credit. Their defense and game plan were better."
The loss ends the Cavaliers first season in the Patriot District, where they finished with a 6-6 record and a 12-12 record overall.
Woodson, formerly of the Liberty District, started the season cold, but heated up as Craig and his players grew accustomed to life in their new district.
"Every district has good teams," he said. "The Patriot District was just a much different style than the Liberty. The game just plays faster."
With a year of Patriot District experience under his belt, Craig said his team learned how to change their style of play.
"Our kids learned how to compete [in the Patriot District]," he said. "There were some times early in the season we just didn't compete in games and we got frustrated. Our kids have learned to handle that adversity now."
Craig also found solace in his team's accomplishments throughout the regular season. The Cavs faced a difficult schedule, including out-of-district matches against Centreville and Eastern Region team Phoebus.
"Every team has their adversity each year," he said. "We played a brutal schedule. I was really happy for the kids that we made our run [at the Patriot District title].
The Cavs Patriot District title run is another point of pride for Craig, who said his team had begun to click when it mattered the most.
"We were playing our best basketball at the end of the year," he said.