'Jacks to face tough task in De La Salle today

Patterson hopes the second time is the charm when De La Salle comes to town for a regional round game in the Class 3A playoffs today at 7 p.m.
Earlier this season, De La Salle defeated Patterson 80-70 on Dec. 22 in Patterson.
“Both teams just had open dates, and we were looking for someone to play, so things fell into place,” Patterson head coach Ryan Taylor said. “It was a very competitive, fast-paced game, but it was just our fifth game of the season and we weren’t in great shape yet and they wore us down. We had a four- or five-point lead at halftime, but they took control in the second half. They hit some big shots, and their pace is outstanding. They push the ball the entire game. And we had careless turnovers that led to easy baskets for them because we hadn’t jelled yet.”
At the time of that first meeting, De La Salle already had played 11 games. Patterson was also without standout guard/forward Daylon Charlot, out with injury.
In that first matchup, Patterson had four players reach double figures — Taylan Grogan with 20 points, Mykel Jones and Nehemiah Augustus with 14 apiece and Kenneth Washington with 10 points.
D.J. Jones added eight points.
“We’re a different team now, a much better team, but so are they,” Taylor said. “De La Salle isn’t your standard 10th-seed. They played in the same district with John Curtis, who beat them twice so they didn’t get the bonus points for winning their district. They took Curtis to overtime in their first matchup, and the second game was close. They’ve only lost five games and two was to Curtis.”
John Curtis (21-7), the No. 3 seed in Class 3A, beat the Cavaliers 94-93 in the first game and 79-72 in February.
De La Salle (23-5), the No. 10 seed, beat No. 23 South Beauregard 79-48 in Class 3A Bi-district playoff action Friday to set up tonight’s rematch with Patterson.
Patterson (19-6), the No. 7-seed, routed Jennings 100-61 Friday in bi-district playoff action.
Patterson, however, didn’t get off to a good start. The ’Jacks missed three straight layups to open the game before Washington scored with 4:44 remaining in the first quarter.
“We started a little sluggish, missed some easy shots, just trying a little too hard to score,” Taylor said after Friday’s game. “It took a while to get our legs under us and get into the rhythm of the game. It’s a first-round playoff game. Everybody is amped up, but I thought we did a good job of settling into the flow.”
Patterson trailed 9-4 with 2:28 left but made a run to end the first quarter down 12-9.
The ’Jacks opened the second period with a three-point play by Charlot, which opened the flood gates, and they closed the quarter with another three-point play by Augustus en route to a 40-21 halftime lead.
Patterson continued to pour it on in the third quarter after a great no-look pass by Grogan led to a layup by Malik Garrett and a 46-26 lead with 5:58 to play.
Jennings (12-16) then went to a full-court press that rattled Patterson, forcing a timeout at 2:29 with the lead down to 53-39.
“We kind of lost our focus there,” Taylor said Friday. “We told the guys in the timeout that we didn’t do anything we practiced. In fact, we did the opposite, so we just had to settle down and refocus.”
The ’Jacks answered with a 3-pointer by Augustus and a steal and layup by Grogan in the final seconds to re-establish control, 62-44.
Patterson cruised through the fourth quarter getting all of its players in the game.
Augustus led the Patterson scorers with 24 points off the bench. Grogan and Jones had 16 points, Charlot, 15 points and D.J. Jones, 10 points.
While Patterson is also an up-tempo team, Taylor says the ’Jacks must slow things down a bit tonight.
“We have (to) play at our speed,” he said. “We will try to get fast-break points when we can but slow down and run our offense when the break isn’t there. We have to rebound well and make shots to slow their breaks down, and we can’t turn the ball over and give them easy points. We will play our game and see where we’re at in the second half.”
Additional reporting by The Daily Review Sports Editor Geoff Stoute.