Boys basketball suffered a 53 to 48 defeat at the hands of Herndon on Tuesday, Jan. 30. The close loss followed McLean’s stellar comeback victory against rivals Langley, when the Highlanders scored 40 points in the second half to overcome a 28 to 14 halftime deficit.

The low scoring affair featured dozens of turnovers by both teams, as offense was tough to come by for multiple stretches of the game without putting any points on the board.

“It came down to the wire. Most of our losses have come down to the wire and it’s always come down to a couple of free throws or a couple of turnovers that could have changed the way the game[s have] gone,” guard Andrew Lopez said.

In the past several games, there has been a resurgence on the defensive end for McLean, but their offense has not kept up in the last several games, unlike earlier in the season when the Highlanders put up 80 points twice.

McLean previously defeated Herndon 81 to 62 on Jan. 9. Evan Stout scored 31 points, one of two 30 point individual performances for the Highlander this season.

Tuesday’s game was close throughout most of the evening, as both teams had 25 points at halftime. However, McLean was able to buildup a 10 point lead in the third quarter, only to see it evaporate in a fourth quarter where the offense could only muster seven points.

The leading scorers were guard Matias Prock and forward Sean Senft, who led the team with 16 and 15 points respectively.

Forward Brian Aka also chipped in eight points, while going to the line a team-leading five times. He banked in three of them.

The Highlanders had a chance to reclaim the lead in the fourth when they were down by one point. Senft was fouled on a layup attempt and had two free throws. Unfortunately, he missed both and the team was unable to capture the rebound.

Moving forward, the team faces Washington-Lee in their first February game in a season where they are relevant in the playoff chase.

“If we play all four quarters we’ll definitely be a dominating team,” Lopez said.