Edgewood, which seems to have different players step up FTC their intensity practically every night, ran its latest streak to four straight wins, six in the past seven games, with a second-half shutdown of visiting Fallston last night, 54-48.
The Harford County League decision boosted the Rams to 9-7, 6-2, and dropped Fallston to 10-6, 4-4. The Cougars alternated winning and losing last month, then won three in a row to get to 9-4, 4-2.
This time, Fallston jumped ahead 19-12 in the first quarter and retained most of the margin in going into the half, 30-25. But in the second half, the Cougars scored one fewer in the final 16 minutes than they had in the first eight.
The Cougars stretched a third-quarter lead to 39-29 before Edgewood charged back into contention. Mike Baldwin contributed two three-point baskets and Mike Brown began to assert himself inside.
The third and last Baldwin three-pointer sent the Rams ahead for the first time, 49-48, with 3:55 left in the game. A free throw by Brown made it 50-48, and the only basket of the night by team scoring leader Chris Finlay, who got out of a sick bed to go to school earlier in the day, pushed it to 52-48 in the final minute.
"Mike Brown has been playing better and better every game," Edgewood coach Bob Slagle said of his 6-foot-3, 260-pound starting center. "He finally has realized what he can do, and he's doing it.
"He takes up a lot of space in there, [his game] doesn't look pretty, but he does a good job of rebounding and this time, he made some foul shots, too."
Brown, who equaled his season high with 10 points, missed two foul shots badly in the first quarter, then made some key ones later, hitting four of six in the second half.
He had a part in the late third-period run after three teammates each missed a shot in succession, grabbing the rebound and hitting a shot.
Charlie Burkhardt did much of the second-half work that neutralized the scoring of Fallston scoring leader Kernan Kelly (16-point average), limiting him to one second-half basket.
The Rams did a good job of staying out of foul trouble and keeping Fallston off the line, especially in the second half, where it only got three chances, making them all.
Clayton Harrington led Edgewood with 14 points, followed by Baldwin, 11. Rich Shearer (15-point average) had 19 for Fallston, followed by Kelly with 11.
"I thought we shut down their perimeter shooting [with a 1-2-2 zone defense], and had a decent game, but down the stretch they did a better job of rebounding and we didn't get any calls," said Fallston coach Robin Hood. "And Brown made some big plays for them."