Patterson falls in basketball semifinals

One bad quarter was the difference in the outcome of last Wednesday’s Patterson-Vidalia Class 3A semifinal in the boy’s Top 28 Tournament.

Trailing by four points in the second quarter, the No. 2 Vikings went on a 14-0 run to end the first half.

The third-seeded Lumberjacks did not threaten to take back the lead in their 66-55 loss to the state runner-up at Lafayette’s Cajundome.

“We’re going to work our hardest to get back here next year,” Patterson head coach Ryan Taylor said after the game.

“I can’t fault my guys’ effort. They did everything I wanted from the tip. You’ve got to give Vidalia a lot of credit. They turned it up on us in the second quarter, they took a big run on us and we let them get too far ahead,” he added.

“We hit a stretch where we had some turnovers, and they got easy buckets,” the coach said. “We never got into a flow where we could make easy baskets.”

The Lumberjacks got balanced contribution from its top scorers. Senior Landon Lightfoot led the team with 13 points. Troy Watson had 12; Kenny Hilliard had 11; and Terrance Johnson scored 10.

Patterson tried to contain the Vikings top scorer, Quartrell Thomas. However, the junior guard netted 22 points, including 6-for-7 from three-point range.

“The majority of the game our defenders were tight on him. He just made good shots,” Taylor said. “They were patient on offense, and that put us in a bind.”

Good shooting and tough rebounding propelled the Lumberjacks to a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Patterson was ahead 19-15 with six minutes left in the second quarter before Vidalia went on its run to go up 29-19 at halftime.

The Lumberjacks cut the deficit to single digits twice in the second half, but each time Thomas nailed a three-pointer to push the Vikings’ lead back to double digits. Vidalia was up 49-35 after the third quarter.

Despite the loss, the 2008-09 season was still a remarkable one for the Lumberjacks.

Taylor told his squad he was proud of them and this one game does not define their season.

“They did everything I asked of them,” Taylor said. “They played hard to the final horn, and they never gave up – not one time.

According to the coach, there were two games against Class 5A teams back in December that became turning points for Patterson this season.

The first was a four-point loss to the Thibodaux Tigers. The other was a four-point victory over perennial 5A power the Westgate Tigers the day after Christmas.

“After that, the guys really started to believe in themselves and thought they could do something special this season,” Taylor said.

Taylor credited his strong senior class for getting Patterson (25-5) to its first Boy’s Top 28 Tournament in seven seasons.

Johnson, Watson, Lightfoot and Willis Verdine have been with the team since their freshman year. Johnson has been a four-year starting point guard. The others have seen significant playing time for three years.

“They worked their way through the system. We were fortunate to have that experience going into the season,” the coach said. “They led the young guys from day one. To see the development of our younger players as the season went on was remarkable.”

The coach is less concerned about the points his team will lose next season with his graduating seniors leaving than about who will fill the leadership roles.

Taylor is confident he has players capable of stepping up, such as Hilliard, a sophomore who started at forward this season.

“We have a lot of talented young guys who got some playing time. Coming off the bench we played a junior, a freshman and a sophomore,” Taylor said. “It’s going to come down to whether or not they want to put in that extra effort to lead these guys.”

While many might consider next season a rebuilding year, expectations of a district title and a playoff run will remain the same, according to Taylor.

“If you set your goals low, that’s what you achieve,” he said. “We’re going to keep the bar high, and we’re going to battle to reach it.”

Editor’s Note: Writer Howard J. Castay Jr. contributed to this report.