Players celebrate their victory with Coach Martin -- Photo courtesy of The Baltimore Sun (Kenneth K. Lam)

(Reposted with permission from http://pattersonbasketball.com/ )

Patterson won its first state championship in any sport on Saturday, grabbing the 3A title with an 86-75 win over Thomas Stone at University of Maryland’s Comcast Center.

The Clippers became the only No. 15 seed to ever win a boy’s basketball state championship. It had to play all four regional games on the road before advancing to the state tournament. Despite that, Patterson won its six playoff games by an average margin of 19.7 points.

It didn’t come easy on Saturday. Patterson built an early 11 point lead, but Thomas Stone (25-2) outscored the Clippers (21-7) 29-12 in the second quarter to go into halftime leading 43-34.

But Patterson responded out of the locker room and quickly erased the deficit. Devin Hebron scored all 23 of his points in the second half–17 of which came in the third quarter–to help Patterson to a one-point lead heading into fourth quarter.

Thomas Stone briefly regained the lead, but the Clippers got key contributions from a number of players to put away the Cougars.

Aquille Carr finished with a game-high 28 points. He also added eight assists, six steals and three rebounds. Leonard Livingston had eight points, four rebounds and 11 blocks. In two games at Comcast, Livingston had 19 blocks — the three other state champions, in six games at Comcast, had a combined 14 blocks.

Shakir Brown had 18 points and 10 rebounds while Myrek Lee-Fowlkes had six points, eight rebounds and three steals. Hebron also added seven rebounds. Nyme Manns, who finished with two points and three rebounds, won his second state championship — he was on last year’s 2A champion Digital Harbor team.

Patterson scored 34 points off of Thomas Stone’s 24 turnovers. In two games at the state playoffs the Clippers forced 53 turnovers.

For Thomas Stone, four players scored in double figures. Emeka Mbakwe had 18 points; Michael Briscoe had 15; Brelin Elliott had 14; and Brandon Stewart had 10.

Patterson's Varsity basketball team celebrates their victory over Milford Mill. (Photo: pattersonbasketball.com)

(Reposted with permission from http://pattersonbasketball.com )

Patterson scored 12 straight points in the third and fourth quarters to erase a nine-point deficit and held on to beat Milford Mill, 75-72, to claim the 3A North title and earn a trip to the Comcast Center for the state tournament.

Aquille Carr led all scorers with 31 points and his dunk with the game tied at 53 highlighted the Clippers’ second-half rally. Carr stole the ball at half court, converted the one-handed dunk, drew a foul and completed the three-point play.

But a host of other Patterson players also contributed to the comeback. Myrek Lee-Fowlkes (16 points, five rebounds) hit two 3-pointers during the stretch. Shakir Brown, who finished with five steals in addition to his 10 points and eight rebounds, helped the Clippers (19-7) slow down Milford Mill on the defensive end. Devin Hebron (eight points) had a crucial offensive rebound off a missed free throw to give Patterson another possession.

And down the stretch, freshman Dereck Oliver (six points) and sophomore Kwynten Brooks hit key free throws that allowed Patterson to hold on to its slim lead despite its three frontcourt players fouling out.

In addition to scoring a little less than half of Patterson’s points, Carr added nine assists, three rebounds and two steals. Leonard Livingston helped control the paint with five rebounds, three blocks and two steals, while Eric Woods played in important defensive situations at the end of both halves.

Patterson, which is making its second straight trip to the state playoffs, will face 3A West winner Tuscarora at 5 p.m. on Thursday at Comcast Center. The winner advances to Saturday’s 3A championship game.