It has come to our attention the real reason, absolutely no doubt about it, why the Atlee High School boys basketball team is a game away from a state championship, which would be its first since the school opened in 1991.

Milk shakes. That’s it, pure and simple … according to Dale Boice, who happens to be coach Rally Axselle’s mother-in-law, and Angela, his wife and youngest daughter of Dale and the late Bill Boice.

The 25-1 Raiders have won 16 in a row since dropping a double-overtime game to Heritage on a buzzer-beating layup December 28 in the final of the Lake Braddock Tournament. In other words, they are unbeaten during the 2025 calendar year, or since Dale and Angela included what, for some of us, is one of the major food groups as part of their pregame meal. Of course, it began innocently enough. 

“We just like milkshakes,” Dale said, “As the season wore on, and we kept winning, well, we both are a little superstitious, so …”

A little superstitious might be a big understatement … especially in this season of seasons for Axselle, the coach in his eighth season at the Hanover County school in Mechanicsville, and the Raiders themselves. Admittedly, Angela has acquired numerous, albeit small, superstitions since her days as a scholarship athlete at North Carolina-Chapel Hill where she was a record-setting high jumper. 

While her husband insists he doesn’t believe in such stuff, he isn’t about to dismiss it as foolish either. A coach never knows when he might get caught up in the whole thing, which Rally Axselle did (sort of) prior to the start of the Group 4 state event.

Imagine looking up at the banners that ring the walls of your home court, testimonials to Atlee’s athletic successes, of which there have been many … and noting that boys basketball did not have an entry. Not even a district title. Not one!

Well, R. Axselle did, and he didn’t like it. So before embarking on the Raiders’ history-making trip … “I took a picture of our banner,” he said, “and gave a copy to every one of our players.”

Message sent and understood. In its states debut, Atlee handed Churchland of Portsmouth a 63-54 whipping. Not that the Raiders played their best basketball but, nevertheless, they were simply too good for the Truckers despite 28 points from 6-7 senior Sincere Jones, a Virginia Tech signee.

Then, a week later, in the Group 4 semifinals before a raucous standing-room only home crowd of 2,000-plus, Atlee disposed of Lynchburg’s E.C. Glass 69-55 to climb from 18^th to 10^th in the Virginia schoolboy rankings.

It began with – what else? – Dale and Angela arriving, milk shakes in hand. At halftime Atlee’s lacrosse coach, Fielding Crawford, sank a shot from midcourt to claim whatever it was they were giving away. OK, so he banked it in off the backboard without “calling it,” which everyone who has ever played “H-O-R-S-E” or “AROUND THE WORLD” knows is a must – or it doesn’t count.

But, seriously, folks, the only thing that really mattered on this near-perfect night was what Will Hopkins, Rally Axselle, Connor Wilcox and the rest of the Raiders did.

Against the much smaller (but scrappy) Hilltoppers, Atlee imposed its will in the first half, led by as many as 21 points after intermission and, for the most part, looked like a team that has outplayed all of its opponents by an average of 22.9 points.

Next for Atlee is the state title matchup with Varina, another Richmond-area school, on Friday at 8 p.m. at VCU’s Siegel Center. In the teams’ only meeting of the season, Atlee prevailed 66-59 at home in the regional final February 28. 

The now-11th-ranked Blue Devils (19-4) are among only three teams to lose by single digits to the Raiders … including Highland Springs, which dropped a 63-58 decision Dec. 17 at Atlee then was a 60-42 victim on its floor six weeks later.

It should be noted here that the game with E.C. Glass could have gotten out of hand. In the second half, it became more hand-to-hand combat and less basketball. To the players’ credit, they kept their cool.

“Officiating from the regular season is different in the playoffs. It’s a game based on skill but they let it become more physical,” Axselle said. “It turned into a wrestling match out there tonight.”

That, he was told, should have been ideal — tailor-made for his bigger, more talented team. The tallest of the Hilltoppers was 6-foot-3, while most of them were in the 5-9 range or shorter.

“We prefer to make a skill game out of it,” Axselle said … and let it go at that.

Chances are there will be more of the same in Friday’s high-stakes, winner-take-all matchup with Varina. Axselle wouldn’t be surprised. “Familiarity can breed contempt,” he said.

Axselle's path to coaching

BY THE WAY, coach, while we’re at it, the burning question is — no, not the origin of that … ahh, unique given name? Please, tell us, where did you go wrong?

Your father, the late Billy Axselle, was a lawyer and member of the General Assembly, a unique politician you could actually trust. Honest! He would have been a shoo-in for national service either as a Senator or member of the House of Representatives … but chose instead to give full attention to his family and law practice.

Father-in-law, the late Bill Boice, likewise was a lawyer until he was appointed a judge and handled several high-profile cases that brought controversy as well as applause for a job well done. A wicked sense of humor helped.

Now wife Angela, the last of Dale and Bill Boice’s four children, upholds the family tradition. She is a lawyer for the firm of Wimbish Gentile McCray & Roeber  … and, word is, you don’t want to mess with Angela, not in a courtroom anyway. Prior to private practice she was a kick-ass, take-no-prisoners prosecutor.

Rally? Coaches are in a state of perpetual second childhood, for crying out loud, and like writing about the games people play, it beats working for a living. So much for stereotypes.

Of course there have been up and downs during 34 years of Xs and Os. It goes with the territory, after all. At the moment Axselle is up, way up. As he puts it, he's “living the dream.”

Truth be told, R. Axselle never was inclined to join the his father’s profession. (At least he doesn’t add the old putdown: “Just what the world needs, another lawyer.”)

From the beginning, Rally was hooked on sports, thanks in no small part to his uncle, Ron Axselle, who was the first football coach at Mills Godwin High, which opened in 1981 on Pump Road, a mile or so from his home in the Kingsley subdivision in western Henrico county.

Rally’s coaching career has taken him from the 9^th grade team at Godwin to Deep Run High School to Hampden-Sydney College and now Atlee, where he’s taken an also-ran and built it into a winner.

“It’s about time, don’t you think?” Axselle said.

This article was updated to reflect the name of standout player Connor Wilcox.