On Friday, Jan. 9, 2015 the Bel Air High School Boys’ Basketball team hosted the Patterson Mill Huskies in a highly anticipated in-county game.

The game, which had been talked about for weeks, was a huge event for both the Bobcats and the Huskies. The stands were packed with both schools showing up in force, along with spectators from others schools. All were there to witness a great game.

“We needed to start out strong,” said Captain JD Bruck, “We needed to get ahead early and not let them get any momentum. That’s how you beat a good team like them.”

The Bobcats did exactly that, with Kevin Morrissey and Jahari Carmichael hitting quick threes to start off the game. Bel Air continued to hit threes while Patterson Mill couldn’t buy a bucket. After a quick start, the Bobcats slowed down considerably but were able to maintain their lead due to the lack of scoring from the Huskies. The first quarter ended with a low score of 11 to 3 in favor of the Bobcats.

Coming out into the second quarter Bel Air grew hot again, not only scoring from behind the arc, but from inside as well with big contributions from John Gallina. Patterson Mill did not help their cause, turning the ball over on a lot of their possessions and on the possessions they didn’t turn it over, the ball would rim out with the Bobcats grabbing yet again another defensive rebound. Shortly into the second quarter Bel Air switched from a man to man defense to a 2-3 zone. This switch allowed Bel Air to contain Patterson Mill’s guards who had an uncanny ability to drive in and, either score inside or kick back out for a 3 pointer. The switch seemed to work well, forcing the Huskies to keep shooting outside, even though nothing was falling. The half ended with Bel Air having an outstanding 22-6 lead over bitter rivals Patterson Mill.

Being the talented team that Patterson Mill was, they would not go down so easily, confirming the fears of Bel Air fans. The Huskies came out just as Bel Air did, hitting a couple big three’s to cut down the sizeable lead. Bel Air continued to score, albeit not as fast and ferociously as before, but Patterson Mill kept chipping away at the lead until they were only down by 5 mid way through the 4^th quarter. As the game came to a close and the Huskies still not winning, they were forced to foul, hoping that the Bobcat players would miss their foul shots. Bel Air then put down any hopes of a miraculous comeback by sinking 4 free throws effectively putting the game out of reach for the Huskies and giving Bel Air a 49-40 win.

“This was a huge win for us,” said Captain Kevin Morrissey after the game, “This shows that we as a team and program can beat good teams like them. It definitely put us on the radar.”

Bel Air advanced to 4-3 on the season and they will travel to Edgewood to take on the Rams on Tuesday, Jan. 13.