Last modified: Friday, February 29, 2008 11:53 PM EST Seekonk's Tyler Patch (44) runs into Scituate's Sean McCarthy. (Staff photo by Martin Gavin) Patch ends career atop points lists BY MARK FARINELLA / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF SCITUATE - He almost couldn't believe that the game, the season and his high school career were over. "Even when I came here tonight," Tyler Patch said Friday night, "I didn't expect that to be my final game until the last few seconds ran off the clock and I looked at my dad." His father, of course, is Seekonk High boys' basketball coach Rick Patch. And together, they've forged quite a basketball legacy at the school on Arcade Avenue over the past four years. A part of that legacy came to a close Friday at Scituate in the MIAA Division 3-South Tournament quarterfinals. Riding a 20-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter, No. 4-seeded Scituate eliminated the No. 5 Warriors, 72-52, and ended the younger Patch's stellar four-year career. Patch scored 27 points in the defeat, just about three points shy of his average for the season, against probably the toughest and most physical defense he's seen this year - so tough, in fact, it sent him to the floor after an elbow to the solar plexus on his first trip downcourt dropped him to his knees and left him unable to breathe for a few moments. "That's normal," he said. "That's kind of what you expect in a game like this." But Patch soldiered on - and cemented his position at the top of local basketball lore in the process. His 27 points gave him a career total of 1,746 over 91 games, propelling him past 2000 Dighton-Rehoboth alum Tom Blessing (1,725) for the lead in all-time career scoring among boys' basketball players from the 11 schools covered by The Sun Chronicle. Patch's total also eclipsed the 1,728-point school record of Kim Lynch set 16 years ago. Given the physical and aggressive nature of Scituate's defense, it took a while for Patch to get even remotely good looks at the basket. Blessing's record fell with 4:33 left in the second quarter on a 25-foot three-pointer from the right side, on a pass from Alex Miller, to drop Scituate's lead at the time to nine points, 24-15. Lynch's mark fell three minutes and 13 seconds later, on a straight-on trey from nearly 27 feet, to keep the nine-point deficit intact at 31-22. Patch's mind was understandably not on the records after the emotional defeat Friday, although he knows that at some point, he'll be able to look back with pride upon his place in local basketball lore. More important to him is the legacy of success that he and his Seekonk teammates have established in recent years, becoming perennial tournament entrants. "I never expected all the success of the past four years," he said. "I never thought in my wildest dreams that we'd do the things we did from where the program started, and to get to the semifinals in my first year. "It all starts with coaching," offering a nod to his father. "Where this program was when my dad first got in it and where it is now, it's two completely different levels. I think they were 0-20 the season before they got here, and now, 18- 19- or 20-win seasons are normal now. It's completely different, the atmosphere and everything." Needless to say, the elder Patch was bursting with pride at the conclusion of his son's outstanding career. "Look at what he's done, and that's the defense that he sees every night," Rick Patch said. "As a father, I'm proud as a coach, I'm extremely proud. "Kimmy Lynch is at a level all to herself," he said of the former Warrior girls' point guard, who also started for four years at Holy Cross. "Three sectional finals I've never met her, but I've read all about her and she's just phenomenal. For him to be spoken of even in the same breath is a great honor, just as it is for him to be with all those great scorers (Attleboro's Derek) Swenson, (Bishop Feehan's) Mark Schmidt, (Feehan's) Casey Carney, (North Attleboro's) Mike Babul, and to score that many points, we never expected it. "I think he's got more basketball to be played, too," he said.