Patterson falls from championship chase in triple OT thriller

Defending Non-Select Division III champion Port Allen knocked Patterson out of the boys basketball title chase Wednesday in a 77-75 triple overtime thriller at Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles.

Port Allen will move into the 4 p.m. Saturday championship game against Winnfield, which beat French Settlement 57-52 in Wednesday's other semifinal.

St. Mary Parish's title hopes now rest with Franklin, which will play North Central at 4 p.m. Friday for the Non-Select Division IV crown, also in Lake Charles.

Patterson, 22-5, relying on tough defense and the inside play of Josiah Jennings and Demond Davis, led by 14 points and 11 points over the course of the game. But a game that was marked by epic moments was also occasionally ragged.

Patterson was plagued by turnovers and eventually by foul trouble. Starters Davis, Kylin Brooks and Kendall Francois all fouled out, along with sixth man Taij Tillman.

Port Allen’s top scorer, Aries Lewis, spent large pieces of both halves on the bench in foul trouble and finished with only two points. The Pelicans also hit a woeful two of 28 three-point shots.

But Elliot McQuillan and Isaiah Howard stopped up to dominate Port Allen’s scoring. McQuillan finished with 35 points, including a 5-for-6 free throw performance in overtime, and Howard sank 32 points.

Jennings led Patterson scorers with 24 points.

Led by nine points from Davis and a pair of threes from Carlos Brooks, Patterson jumped to a 23-9 lead by 5:50 of the second quarter. Port Allen closed the half with a 16-6 run fueled by eight points by McQuillan, including a rare three-pointer.

Back-to-back buckets by Howard pushed Port Allen briefly into the lead at 32-31 in the third quarter. But Jennings went on a tear, working the paint for 10 points to put Patterson back on top 48-37 at the end of the third quarter.

Then, with the turnovers and fouls piling up, Patterson’s offense went cold. The Lumberjacks managed only a pair of Jennings free throws and a Khylin Brooks bucket in the first 4-1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter.

McQuillan and Howard, meanwhile, got hot. McQuillan hit 12 points in the third quarter, including an 8-for-8 performance at the line. Howard added seven points, including a layup and free throw inside the final minute, tying the game at 60 and sending the game into the first overtime.

Davis and Jennings kept the Lumberjacks afloat in the first overtime, along with a free throw by Kobe Marcel and a bucket by Ke’ron Ray. Howard hit five for Port Allen, and the score was 70-70 after the first overtime.

In the second, Port Allen held the ball until the Pelicans could set up Howard in the lane with 23 seconds left. But Patterson managed to get the ball into Jennings for a shot from the lane and a 72-72 tie.

Port Allen held the ball again in the third overtime, but this time went for the hoop with about a minute left. McQuillan rolled off five points, while Patterson could manage only a Marcel free throw and a Jennings two-pointer.