Patterson Mill boys basketball too much for Bo Manor in 67-39 senior night win
Feb. 18—Patterson Mill boys basketball took care of business on a night full of celebration.
Before dismantling visiting Bo Manor, 67-39, the Huskies' six seniors were honored with a pregame ceremony listing each of their individual accomplishments. Then at halftime — the game largely in hand — Patterson Mill coach Jeroud Clark was honored for eclipsing 200 career wins Feb. 3.
Clark, having picked up his 202nd career victory, said the halftime recognition was a surprise orchestrated by his wife. He got emotional having former players in attendance and receiving a commemorative basketball signed by his team.
Each commemoration might have been buried had Friday night's game been more competitive. Bo Manor coach Sandy Grimes said that his team is not as talented across the board as Clark's group.
"I'm starting three sophomores and a freshman," Grimes said. "We don't execute very well offensively. I thought we did a pretty good job energy-wise, but we were giving up second-chance points on the rebound and we don't have any real bigs. We're a work in progress."
Patterson Mill opened up a 13-2 lead before Clark subbed out all five starters in the waning minute of the first quarter. From there, its lead kept climbing.
Jackson Wheeler paced the Huskies with 18 points — eight of which came after cleaning up offensive rebounds.
Wheeler's most impressive play came off a baseline 15-foot jumper from his teammate, Jake Vaughan, in the opposite corner that kissed off the rim. Wheeler charged from the baseline, caught the ball in mid-air and finished a layup through traffic all in one motion.
Wheeler, Drew Pape and senior point guard Stephen Loidl had their fingerprints all over Friday's victory. Pape finished with 16 points, while Loidl contributed 11 points off three 3-pointers.
Jackson Wheeler has four offensive rebounds and four putbacks. Patterson Mill up 31-15 over Bo Manor at the half. pic.twitter.com/HRW6TGy2ol
— Sam Cohn (@samdcohn) February 18, 2023
Bo Manor's scoring was a bit more dispersed. Four players scored at least five points with Landon Horsey finishing as the team's only double-digit scorer (11).
"We've been hanging our hat on defense all year long," Clark said. "Today was just another one of those scenarios. Offense might not travel but we say defense always does."
Patterson Mill scored at all three levels and made life difficult for the visiting Eagles at both ends. The Huskies even drew two charge calls. But their advantage largely came from two places: rebounding and an ability to capitalize in transition.
"We work on it all the time," Clark added. "We're trying to find spacing and angles. And then they have to make reads off that. The boys were doing that and that's exactly what we practice."
