Patterson Mill's Kyle Luddy puts up the shot over Havre de Grace's Brayden Malloy during the boys 1A East section I championship game at Patterson Mill Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Patterson Mill senior Kyle Luddy scored 28 points Wednesday night to lead the Huskies past visiting Havre de Grace, 76-70, in the Class 1A East Region I final.

It’s Patterson Mill’s first region title since 2018 and it gives the Huskies (20-2) a Friday state quarterfinal against a team to be announced.

A pair of 3-pointers from Luddy got the Huskies out to an early 13-9 lead. Fellow senior Tyree Wilson added six points in the quarter, taking advantage of second and third chances for the Huskies.

The Huskies lead was 22-12 after one quarter, but Havre de Grace (14-7) hung tough. Jason Hayes’ 3-pointer off the bench had the Warriors within five, 24-19.

Patterson Mill, though, scored the next seven points to push its lead out to 12 with 2:45 left in the half. Luddy’s third 3 of the half capped the run.

“The last playoff game I was kind of hot from 3 and then I missed my last two and I knew that I could hit a few,” Luddy said.

Wilson added four more points in the quarter and the Warriors could make up any ground. The Huskies lead was 10, 34-24, at the half.

Luddy made two more 3-pointers to begin the second half and the Huskies’ lead jumped to 14, 40-26.

Will Lawder’s 3-point basket capped a 7-0 Warriors run and it brought Warriors within seven, but Will Pape answered with a steal and a basket for the Huskies.

Back came the Warriors. Braydyn Malloy drained a 3-pointer and then the senior scored a traditional 3-point play, pulling his team back to within three, 42-39.

Havre de Grace's Jason Hayes dives for the loose ball with Patterson Mill's Kyle Luddy, right, and Drew Pape, back, closing in during the boys 1A East section I championship game at Patterson Mill on Wednesday. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

The last few minutes of the quarter really proved to be the difference in the game. Havre de Grace had three straight possessions to either get closer or even tie, but missed shots, a turnover and a charging foul left the Warriors empty.

Patterson Mill had a big answer. The Huskies outscored the Warriors, 13-2, over the final four minutes of the quarter, pushing the lead to 55-41, as the game headed to the fourth quarter.

Midway through the fourth, Malloy scored another 3-pointer, cutting the lead back to nine, 63-54.

The lead was eight, 65-57, with 1:30 to play and time running down on the Huskies shot clock. Wilson fired a long, desperation 3-pointer as the shot clock expired that banked off the glass and went in.

“The clock was running down, they said shoot it and I knew I had to shoot it,” Wilson said. “It came off my hands, I was like, it’s going in.”

The basket pushed the lead back to double digits but Havre de Grace did not go away. Dominik McKenney-George, a senior guard, scored 19 points in the fourth quarter for the Warriors.

The Huskies kept it interesting with six straight misses from the foul line as the Warriors inched closer. In a case of too little, too late, time ran out on the Warriors.

“This means everything in the world, I cried a little bit in the locker room,” Wilson said. He finished with 18 points and Pape added nine.

McKenney-George shared high-game honors with 28 points, while Malloy added 16 points and Lawder netted 12.

“I think, really, we lost in the beginning of the game. The first half everybody struggled with getting shots,” McKenney-George said. “The shots were finally open, they just didn’t fall and it happens. We didn’t box out as well as we should and they got a lot of second-chance points and its really hard to rally those points back up.”

The Fallston boys basketball team proudly displays their trophy after defeating Elkton in Wednesday night's 2A East region I championship game. (courtesy Brian Hulka/Baltimore Sun Media)

The host Cougars (14-7) used a Dylan Wheeler jump shot with eight seconds left to get past the Elks (10-8) in the 2A East Region I championship. Wheeler finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Trailing 51-50 in the final minute, Fallston missed a jump shot with 42 seconds left and Elkton rebounded the ball and and pushed it up court. With 30 seconds left, a steal by Wheeler gave Fallston the ball, with no timeouts.

Wheeler then made the contested jumper, but Elkton still had a chance. The Elks, again, pushed the ball up court, but with three seconds left, Fallston senior Matt Manolis made a steal. The Cougars dribbled out the clock for the win.

“That was definitely the most intense basketball game I’ve ever been a part of. Emotional roller coaster - I’m just so proud of the way we fought from the opening tip against a very good Elkton team,” coach Brian Hulka said. “The ending, with no break in the action for the last 50 seconds, was just crazy - I’m still in shock. To get two steals in the last minute to win the regional title was just a dream ending.”

Charlie Widomski added 13 points and five assists; Luke Wolff had six points and nine rebounds; and Dylan Kreis had eight points and four rebounds.

“These seniors have been through so much...missing all of last year and then playing in empty gyms most of this year, I’m just so glad that ‘Cougar Nation’ got to experience this,” Hulka said.

It was Fallston’s first region title since 1993. The Cougars will visit Westlake on Friday in a 2A state quarterfinal.