Aberdeen boys basketball starts fast, earning 70-64 win over Patterson Mill

© Brian Krista/Baltimore Sun/TNS Aberdeen’s Tyseaun Rodgers moves between Patterson Mill’s Jackson Wheeler, left, and Kai Gibson on a drive to the hoop during Friday’s game.

The Aberdeen boys basketball team jumped ahead early and held on late Friday in a 70-64 win over visiting Patterson Mill.

The Eagles (3-2) scored the first seven points, but the Huskies (3-3) showed no quit in the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference Chesapeake Division game.

“We start every game like that and then we fade,” Eagles coach Bill Jones said.

A Tylan Bass 3-pointer capped the early run and Huskies coach Jeroud Clark tried to slow the momentum with a timeout. The break did lead to the Huskies scoring their first points, but Aberdeen rolled on with all five starters in the scoring column before the game was four minutes old.

© Brian Krista/Baltimore Sun/TNS Patterson Mill’s Colin Reynolds tries to put a shot over Aberdeen’s Artarus Brown during Friday’s game.

Darrion Parris led Aberdeen with seven points in the first quarter, but it was Huskies junior guard Drew Pape who lit up the nets. Pape scored 11 of his game-high 26 points in the first quarter that ended with Aberdeen ahead, 23-16.

The Huskies scored four quick points to open the second quarter, but the three-point Aberdeen lead jumped to 11, 33-22 a minute later. That was the scenario throughout.

“They’ve got a lot of good kids, they’ve got a lot of good seniors that have been playing for a while,” Pape said, recalling games against Aberdeen last season being similar. “I was expecting the same thing, every time we hit a shot, they hit two more or three more shots in return.”

© Brian Krista/Baltimore Sun/TNS Aberdeen’s Artarus Brown, right, starts up the court with the ball after forcing a turnover against Patterson Mill’s Drew Pape during Friday’s game.

The Eagles lead was still 11, 39-28, with 1:59 left in the half, but Aberdeen’s lead was 44-21 at the half. Bass scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the quarter.

In quarter three, Patterson Mill outscored Aberdeen 7-2 to make it 46-38. Moments later, Pape’s third 3-point basket was answered by Bass’ fourth 3, making it 53-43. The quarter ended with Aberdeen ahead, 55-47.

“I’d say our kids are gritty, we’re super, super young,” Clark said. “We play a gritty style of basketball, always have, always will. You’re not going to knock us out with the first punch, I can tell you that.”

The grittiness showed in the fourth quarter. Pape’s final 3-pointer had the deficit to five, 57-52, but Aberdeen scored the next four points to slide back up by nine. The lead remained at nine, 65-56, in the final minutes.

“We just needed to start running our plays,” Tyseaun Rodgers said.

Rodgers came up big in the final quarter for Aberdeen. His eight points, including 5-of-6 at the foul line, kept his team ahead until the end.

Aberdeen’s lead was 68-58 after an Artarus Brown 3-point basket with under two minutes to play. But, back came the Huskies with six straight points to close within four with 1:12 to play.

© Brian Krista/Baltimore Sun/TNS Aberdeen’s Artarus Brown controls the ball with Patterson Mill’s Theo Druyor defending during a boys basketball game at Aberdeen High School on Friday, December 16, 2022.

The Huskies bid to get closer in the final 20 seconds resulted in a missed 3-point shot from freshman Kai Gibson. Rodgers then made two free throws.

“Overall, happy, it’s always good to play against coach Clark and his team and to actually come out and beat them, which I haven’t done much in my career, ” Jones said. “It makes for a plus.”

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