Patterson and Thomas Stone had relatively easy games on Thursday in the Maryland 3A state semi-finals. Aquille Carr led all 3A scorers on Thursday with 24 points.
We break down the 3A semi-finals.
Patterson 70 Tuscarora 46
Patterson basketball knows what it feels like to win in the state semi-finals, compete for 32 minutes in the state championship game with 10,000+ fans in attendance, and come up just short. It happened to the Clippers in 2011. This year Patterson has some new faces, notably in their front court. Their back-court tasted defeat last year and this new-look Patterson Clipper bunch has their eyes set on the prize this year. Their is no other option besides taking the hardware back to Kane Street.
In Thursday’s second semi-final Aquille Carr went for 24 points, four steals, and three rebounds in leading the Clippers to a 26 point victory. Patterson forced 29 turnovers and outscored Tuscarora 38-25 in the second half to run away with it. Devin Hebron added 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Nyme Manns, who won a state championship with Digital Harbor last year double-doubled for the Clippers, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 boards. Myrek Lee-Fowlkes, the only returning Clipper besides Carr to this year’s team scored eight points, and collected seven boards. Shakir Brown, who layer at St. Frances his first three years added six points and 10 boards for the Clippers.
Tuscarora was led by Kwaveon McDonald and Jaylen White who scored 11 and 10 respectively. The two did combine to turn the ball over 17 times. The story of the game was the Patterson pressure defense. At time Tuscarora just couldn’t get the ball past mid court and Patterson would score multiple consecutive buckets off back-court turnovers.
Tomas Stone 69 Centennial 61
The score may not be a good indicator of how competitive the fourth quarter was. The game became a free throw shooting exhibition in the fourth quarter as Centennial began the fouling process with close to three minutes remaining in the game. Thomas Stone would miss 11 second half free throws to keep it interesting but it was never in doubt after a third quarter that saw Thomas Stone outscore Centennial 22-11.
Thomas Stone was led by standout guard Michael Briscoe who scored 21 point and had five assists. He was also 8-8 from the line. Emeka Mbakwe double-doubled for Stone going for 11 and 10 before fouling out. Keyonte Potts had a strong showing for Centennial in a losing Effort. Many will remember Potts for his strong showing in last years state semi finals as well. Potts scored a game high 22 points on 8-19 shooting.Centennial’s Timi Tinuoye also had a strong showing going for 19 points and 16 assists.
Thomas Stone and Patterson should be a very good game. Thomas stone is very disciplined, and have a superb floor general in Briscoe. Patterson has experience and they have the best player on the court. Can Aquille Carr lead Patterson to it’s first state championship in school history. in two days it’s show time!
Highlights of these two 3A games will be coming tomorrow.