Having watched an 18-point second-half lead disappear Monday night against Oakland Mills, Marriotts Ridge found itself in desperate need of an answer.
Down a point with 19 seconds left on the clock, senior Arjun Patel provided one.
Curling off a screen a couple feet beyond the 3-point line, Patel caught the ball and proceeded to sink the game-winning basket in a, 58-56, road victory.
"Coach was telling me that was my shot … this is what I'm made for," said Patel, who finished with a team-high 28 points. "It was up to me to go out and do what I had to do to finish it."
Patel's shot, just 19 seconds after Oakland Mills had taken its first lead of the game, 56-55, on a put-back basket by Antonio Manns (36 points), improved Marriotts Ridge to 2-0 on the young season and dropped the Scorpions to 0-3.
The three was Patel's fourth of the game.
"Patel is fantastic, man," Oakland Mills coach Jon Browne said. "Coming off that down screen, they were just waiting for it and he's so quick to get it off that I don't know how you really defend him that far behind the line. You just hope he misses … but he's just such a clutch player."
Oakland Mills had two possessions in the final 18 seconds with a chance to tie or win, but was unable to find the basket on a pair of attempts.
The fact that the game even came down to the final few seconds was somewhat remarkable considering how lopsided the first half had been. Marriotts Ridge scored the first seven points of the game and was ahead 25-12 by the end of the first quarter. Then, on the back of D.J. Tucker (11 points), the Mustangs were able to maintain a double-digit lead for the entire second quarter and led 44-29 heading into intermission.
Following a 3-pointer by Patel 90 seconds into the third quarter, Marriotts Ridge had its largest lead of the game, 47-29.
From there, though, with its back against the wall, Oakland Mills found life. Taking advantage of its full-court press, the Scorpions closed the quarter on a 9-0 run to trim its deficit to single digits. Daivon Tapscott keyed the run with five of his seven points on the night.
From the 6:30 mark of the third quarter to the 5:34 mark of the fourth, Marriotts Ridge didn't register a single field goal.
"The press obviously worked wonders," Browne said. "It just changed the course of the game. We didn't get a lot of steals out of it, but it forced them into a lot of quick shots and our guys fought to get themselves back in it."
Patel ended the drought with a three-point play that made it 52-43, but Oakland Mills was undeterred.
Over the next five minutes, the Scorpions went on a 13-3 run to take the lead. Manns scored 11 of the team's points during that stretch.
Just as Oakland Mills had finally fought all the way back, though, Patel stepped in with the dagger. Despite being outscored 27-14 in the second half, Marriotts Ridge was able to walk out of the gym at 2-0 and tied for first place in the county standings with Centennial (2-0).
"We scored 14 points in the second half and still found a way to win the game and that's what we've been preaching, it doesn't matter if its 20 points or two points you just have to find a way," Marriotts Ridge coach Mike Coughlan said. "There's just two undefeated teams left in the county right now and we're one of them.
"For these guys, after eight wins and zero wins the last two years, it's an exciting start."
Marriotts Ridge 58, Oakland Mills 56
MR (2-0, 2-0): Patel 28, Tucker 11, Delaney 7, Harrison 4, Menker 4, Miller 2, Davis 2.
OM (0-2, 0-3): Manns 36, Tapscott 7, Lee 6, N. Zayatz 4, Russell 3.
Half: 44-29 MR.
Friday score:
Howard 64, Wilde Lake 62
Ho (1-1, 1-1): Dyer 15, Alexander 15, J. Bartnik 13, K. Hawkins 10, Marsh 6, Wendt 5.
WL (1-1, 1-1): Devaughn Garner 15, Dante Garner 9, Handy 9, Mynatt 8, Miller 7, Barnes 7, Williams 3, Burgess 2, McNeal 1.
Half: 37-25 WL.