No doubt the No. 1 Patterson boys basketball team would have liked to cut down the nets in its own home gym when capturing its first region title last week against Urbana.

But with the game being played at Morgan State University -- as part of a doubleheader with the Class 2A North region title game won by Digital Harbor -- the Clippers (24-1) got to experience yet another game played on a bigger college court.

In all this season, Patterson played eight of its games on college courts, something coach Harry Martin believes will be a big advantage when his team takes on Eleanor Roosevelt (17-8) in Thursday's Class 4A state semifinal set for 7 p.m. at the University of Maryland's Comcast Center.

The Clippers have an explosive team that averages 84 points per game led by sophomore point guard Aquille Carr. They love to run as much as they can and also run isolation plays in their halfcourt sets. Comcast will provide plenty of valuable space against the Raiders, who average 58 points, while yielding only 46.

"It's good for us to play on college court. With that big court, we're going to push. So for a team to beat us I think they're going to have to score in the 70s or 80s," Martin said.