Lusby, MD – Patuxent and Calvert, the rival schools, met this past Wednesday night, Feb. 10. Calvert took the 20 minute drive south to Patuxent to take on the Panthers.
The Panthers won the first meeting of these two teams 65-56 at Calvert Jan. 15.
When this game tipped off, the stands at Patuxent were as full as they have been all season and Patuxent attempted to start the game early. One pass and a three pointer clanked off the rim. A quick steal and three point jumper by Brendan West opened the scoring for Patuxent. After a Calvert miss, the Panthers got a 5-0 lead on a Jaquan Kellley layup. The ensuing Calvert possession was an impressive one. Numerous passes, 3 missed shots, and 2 offensive rebounds culminated for Calvert operating in the midcourt for just over a 2 minute stretch without putting the ball in the basket. The swarming man-to-man defense of the Panthers proved to be ready to play as they collected the defensive rebound and advanced the ball up court.
The Panthers led 12-8 at the end of the quarter. In the second, the tempo was set early when after he gave the ball up to a double team, Patuxent guard Terrell Gross sprinted back on defense and sent a Calvert lay-up into the Patuxent student section, who lost their minds as the inbound passer came in front of them.
The crowd began their impersonation of the Cameron Crazies, the Duke University student section, who reaches out at the opposing inbound passer whenever they stand in front of them. Calvert ended up not scoring on the possession which just got the crowd more into the game. Going into half, Patuxent guard Darus Maddox had 11 points on his own, and Calvert had that many points as a team. Patuxent led 22-11 headed into the halftime locker room.
In the third quarter, Patuxent began to really pull away from Calvert as they found a consistent solution to the pesky Calvert 2-3 zone. The crowd had mellowed out over the halftime break, but again, Terrell Gross got them going again with a fast break left handed jam. The Panthers led 40-19 at the end of the third, and were beginning to coast.
In the fourth, Calvert scored what they could, but could never get within 19 of the Panthers. Patuxent dribbled out the clock for the last minute of the game and walked out of the gym with a 52-35 victory under their belts. For Patuxent, Darus Maddox put up 24 points, and Myron Young had 6 points. Calvert was led by freshman Ryan Rachic with 10 points, and Jack Lanham had 8 points.
Both teams are back in action this Friday Night, with Calvert playing Leonardtown at home, and Patuxent travelling to Chopticon. Both games are set to tip off at 6:30.