When he started playing basketball in elementary school, Glenelg Country senior point guard Pat Curtin quickly found what he enjoyed most about the game — shooting and, ultimately, scoring.

The Curtin family’s lingering joke is how he would eagerly take and make so many shots, his team would quickly build such a big lead that his coach would have to ask him to put on the breaks.

These days at Glenelg Country, which is ranked No. 2 in The Baltimore Sun poll with a 10-4 record, Curtin is still doing the same. Except now, when the 6-foot-2 sharpshooter gets the frequent hot hand, the more makes the merrier.

“Ever since I was young, I just loved shooting the ball. I think scoring is the most fun part of the game and it’s the most powerful part of the game. So it’s just always been so fun to me,” he said.

A four-year varsity standout who spent his freshman year at Marriotts Ridge, Curtin, a Bucknell commit and All-Metro second-team selection last season, is posting prolific scoring numbers.

Able to find his shot anywhere on the floor and particularly efficient at the 3-point line, Curtin has led his team in scoring in each of his four varsity seasons. After Monday’s loss against Mount Saint Joseph, he has scored 1,802 career points. This season, he’s averaging nearly 27 points per game and hitting 41% of his 3-pointers.

While Curtin’s scoring prowess has always been front and center, his well-rounded game and leadership have had an equal impact as Glenelg Country has emerged in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference. He averages seven rebounds and three assists per game this season and plays savvy defense.

“I’d say the thing he brings most to the team is the absolute belief that we’re going to win the game,” Glenelg Country coach Garrett O’Donnell said. “He goes in thinking he’s going to put up big numbers and we are going to win with absolute no doubt. And the guys come in with that belief, so it’s infectious. Everybody else is like ‘Hey, if he believes it, we believe it.’”

In a huge early-season league test at John Carroll on Dec. 18, Curtin was at his lights-out best from behind the 3-point line. In constant motion to shrug off double teams, he set the tone with six 3s in the first quarter and went on to finish with 11, putting in 36 points to lead the Dragons to a 65-61 win over the Patriots.“I still can’t get over some of the shots he made in our game,” John Carroll coach Seth Goldberg said. “The fact he’s just able to get some of those tough shots off is incredible. If you are looking at them live, you’re thinking those are tough shots. And then you watch them on film and see him getting off some of those 3s, it’s really something.

“For him to make such a high percentage of those contested 3s is just really special, and not a lot of guys are able to do that.”

Curtin can sense when his shooting is particularly on, like in the John Carroll game. He calls it being in “the flow state.” For him, that feeling is a reward for all the hard work he puts in.

“The reason I’m able to get in that flow state is because I work on those moves every day and I practice those same moves,” he said. “So when I’m coming off those shots, all I see is the work I’ve been doing, the shots I’ve been taking over and over. So it comes with sort of a confidence when you catch that ball and put it up.”

After basketball topped the list of all the other sports he played in his youth — soccer, football and baseball — Curtin became fully invested and he believes the daily grind has helped build his character. He spends hours in the gym because he enjoys it, but also fears his opponents are doing the same.

“My favorite thing with basketball is just working out and getting better. The process is the biggest thing for me,” he said. “Working up to the game, getting ready for the game, I think that’s where you win the game. I think that’s when I have the most fun because I know that’s when I’m gaining an advantage on my opponent.”

The Dragons believe they have all the pieces in place to win the league championship. Ronald Alford’s consistent play at point guard is an ideal complement to Curtin. Up front, Jalen Baker and Donavan Marshburn team with 7-footer Deng Jok, and they all bring their own special attributes to help bring home wins.

Alford, who has known Curtin since elementary school, has come to appreciate all the different things his backcourt mate brings to the team.

“Pat works on his game all the time and it really shows. Not only does he produce points — people see that — but he’s also a really good teammate and a leader,” he said. “I think it inspires us because we know, at the end of the day, we’re all together. We know Pat is going to score, but we also know what a team player he is. So for us, it’s helpful to know that.”

The Dragons showed their promise in last season’s playoffs when they opened with an upset win over perennial power St. Frances in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Mount Saint Joseph by two points in the semifinals. Now, the tight group wants to fulfill the promise.

“I feel our mindset is on winning the championship, through all our workouts, the preseason and I think we’ve kept that mindset going into the season and started off strong,” Curtin said. “We just have to keep pushing and keeping that same mindset is really going to help us.”

Have a news tip? Contact Glenn Graham at ggraham@baltsun.com, 410-332-6636 and x.com/GlennGrahamSun.