The Pike Patriots struggled defensively in their 65-48 loss to Autauga on Thursday.

The loss drops the Patriots to 1-4 on the season.

“We took a step backwards,” said head coach Allen Ponder. “We thought we had taken some strides. It’s disappointing to see us play the last two games and then play the way we played tonight. The things we did well in the last two games, we didn’t do tonight.”

The Generals stormed to an early 9-3 forcing Ponder to take an early timeout. The Patriots came out after the timeout and closed out the quarter strong trailing by four at 18-14. Reece Burbage knocked down two three-pointers and Reed Jinright had four quick points.

The Generals led by as many as 18 points in the second quarter, before the Patriots were able to close the gap, ending the half trailing 39-26.

Ethan Green finished the first half with 12 points, all of which came in the second quarter. The sophomore also scored the Patriots’ final seven points of the period.

The Generals put the game out of reach in the third quarter. The Patriots had trouble holding on to the basketball and the Generals led by as many as 25  before taking a 58-36 lead into the final quarter.

“They played harder then we did,” Ponder said. “We stress that defense leads to offense, and they played physical on defense and we didn’t. We didn’t deserve to come down here and make buckets because we didn’t work hard enough on the defensive end.”

Both teams emptied their bench in the fourth quarter when the outcome was well in hand. The Patriots managed to score eight points, but it wasn’t enough.

“We have to realize that we can’t take nights off,” Ponder said. “We can’t take a practice off. We have to come out with the same intensity every day, if we do that we will have a chance. If we don’t we will continue to be very inconsistent.”

Green led the Patriots in scoring with 12, while Burbage finished with 11.

The Patriots will be back in action this evening when they take part in the Macon East tournament.