At 6-foot-3 and 245 lbs., Brandon Wilson, Jr. looks like a defensive lineman who terrorizes quarterbacks and corrals running backs on the gridiron.

Wilson can do more than that, as he showed in West St. Mary’s 44-42 road upset of Catholic High in a District 8-2A basketball game on Friday.

He canned 7-of-10 shots from the field and nailed a crucial fourth quarter free throw en route to finishing with 15 points for the Wolfpack (6-5, 1-1).

“The big guy was the story tonight,” WSM coach Gary Burrell said. “I’ve been trying to get him the ball inside all season. Tonight, we were able to find him, and he made some big plays for us.”

The left-handed shooter made most of his baskets on quick moves off the dribble. He earned his points with Catholic High’s 6-foot-6 freshman Joab Trosclair prowling the lane.

“I just blocked it out and went to work,” he said of the height disadvantage. “We played a good team, and I played a good game with my team. This gives us a lot of confidence and puts us in a better position towards winning the district.”

The Wolfpack were coming off a 54-33 loss at home to Ascension Episcopal. Burrell said his squad may have been rusty in Tuesday’s district opener after playing only two games from Dec. 16 through Jan. 3.

“We got a little out of sync (after the layoff),” Burrell said. “Playing Ascension Episcopal, it really opened our eyes and let our kids know that it’s not going to be easy playing anyone in our district.

“The difference tonight was we were able to jump on them the way Ascension Episcopal did to us.”

The Wolfpack got out to a 12-2 lead in the first three minutes against CHS (7-6,1-1). Steven August began the scoring with his only basket of the game. After Kylen Chretien answered for CHS, Kaylon Carter and Wilson each added a bucket. Deandre Robertson followed with consecutive three-pointers.

The Panthers took a 27-24 halftime lead and were up 32-31 after the third quarter. Neither team scored in the third until Carter made a three-pointer at the 3:30 mark.

Kyzun Clay came off the bench and connected with consecutive three-pointers to begin the fourth quarter. Wilson’s basket extended the lead to 39-32.

“Clay has been hitting big shots for us all season, Burrell said. “He gave us what he normally gives us. Robertson hit some big shots. Jymier (Garry-Shields) had a nice game also. (Zyrie) Colar came in and gave me some big minutes.”

The Panthers used a 6-0 run to even the score at 41-41. Jaiden Mitchell, who had a game-high 19 points, hit a three-pointer, then converted an and-one opportunity with a steal, lay-up and a free throw.

“No. 1 (Mitchell) made some plays on us,” Burrell said. “He made it look like we weren’t moving at all on defense. He’s a good player.”

The Wolfpack led 43-42 after Wilson’s free throw with 11 seconds remaining. The Panthers, who made 6-of-15 free throws, missed two from the charity stripe with 2.6 seconds on the clock.

“My guys showed some guts tonight,” Burrell said. “When we went down by three points (in the third quarter), we hung in there and fought back. We played hard, got back in the ball game, and pulled this one out. It’s tough to play here.”

Wilson and Mitchell were the only double-digit scorers. Trosclair, who came off the bench, was a force down low with several rebounds and blocked shots.

“He’s still learning the speed of a varsity game,” CHS coach Casey McGrew said. “He was an eighth-grader last year who has stepped right into playing varsity basketball, and we’ve played a tough schedule.”

McGrew lamented the slow start and a sluggish third quarter that saw the Panthers accumulate more turnovers (seven) than points (five).

“Missing free throws, turning the ball over,” he said. “That’s why we lost. And starting out slowly. You can’t win basketball games that way.

“We have to get better at the small things. Basketball games are the cumulation of small things. If you can’t do the small things right, you can’t do the big things right.”