Wolverines rally in fourth quarter led by Patterson

EUPORA – It didn't take long in the first quarter for East Webster coach Michael Seger to pull star player Isaac Patterson from the game.

Patterson picked up a foul quickly in the early moments of the Wolverines' game against rival Eupora and frustrations were high.

A switch flipped after that for Patterson who put up 15 points and grab 13 rebounds leading a fourth-quarter comeback with his defense that gave East Webster a 64-59 victory on the road.

“He dominated the game defensively,” Seger said. “It wasn't just normal stuff. He came out of nowhere and blocked shots or chased down rebounds at the 3-point line. I thought his extraeffort plays changed the game for us.”

Patterson had big blocks and rebounds in the final 3 minutes of a basketball game that seemed to be fading away from the Wolverines in the second half. The shots weren't falling and the Eagles were doing everything in their power to push the lead out.

Up 55-49, Eupora couldn't overcome some of Patterson's defensive spark that keyed a 15-4 run to end the game.

Charlie Brand was big down the stretch for the Wolverines as well nailing one free throw after another to seal the game. Brand finished with a game-high 22 points and was 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.

East Webster had a 13-2 run early in the game that gave way to a 13-11 advantage after the first quarter. The Eagles started to shift things their way in the second stanza as they led 33-30 at the half.

It was 47-41 going into the fourth quarter, but Eupora never could put the Wolverines away.

The Eagles had a huge game from Makaylon Patterson, who finished with 18 points. Kiem Bell had with 12 points on 6-of7 shooting.

“That was a good ball team we lost to,” Eupora coach Danya Turner said. “I thought we played great defense, but we left some points out there by the things we do. They made shots when they needed to in the fourth quarter and we didn't. That's the ball game.”

Next up for the Wolverines (7-2) is a road trip to Ethel next Tuesday before they travel to Indiana to take on South Pontotoc. Eupora (5-5) goes to the Calhoun City Tournament Saturday to play Coffeeville.