With Southwestern leading visiting No. 1 Lake Clifton by 13 points late in the second half yesterday, visions of a repeat of last season's stunning upset of Southern-B probably were running through the minds of the No. 6 Sabers.
But those visions quickly vanished for Southwestern, and the Lakers, ranked No. 14 in this week's USA Today Super 25, rolled to an 82-69 victory in a Baltimore City 4A League game.
Shawnta Rogers led all scorers with 23 points for the Lakers (16-1, 9-0) and added seven assists and seven steals. Ronald Byrd added 20 and Guy Butler had 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Ernie Evans led Southwestern (12-6, 6-3) with 17 points and Stanley Parker and Aaron Jolly each added 13. Reginald Johnson had 10 points for the Sabers, who lost to Lake Clifton, 85-61, in the teams' previous meeting.
But other than Parker, Southwestern starters saw considerable time on the bench in the final quarter because of foul problems. Evans and Johnson both fouled out in thequarter, leaving Sabers coach Terry Leverett to depend on his bench.
No contest. The Lakers simply wore down and overmatched the Southwestern nonstarters in the second half, holding the Sabers to one point during a five-minute stretch from late in the third period into the fourth quarter.
"We didn't get anything from our bench," said Leverett. "We have a young team and these are growing pains. Right now, the kids are growing and I'm hurting."
Despite their foul woes, the Sabers were still within striking distance at 70-63 with 5:04 remaining after a three-pointer by Alex Scott.
Jimmy Moore and Ronald Byrd each hit two one-and-one free throws, with Byrd's following Evans' fifth foul. A jumper by Byrd put the Lakers comfortably ahead, 76-63 with 3:33 left.
"We wore them down and made them go to their bench," said Lake Clifton coach Charlie Moore. "The foul situation forced him to go the bench. They shot the ball extremely well, but the game consists of four quarters, not two, and I think that was on display today."
The Sabers dismantled Lake Clifton's 3-2 zone in the opening stages, building a 22-8 lead. The Lakers began pressing Southwestern and they closed the margin to 33-25.
The Sabers scored four straight pushed the lead to 37-25 before Byrd hit a jumper, pulling Lake Clifton to within 37-27. Andre Swann came off the bench for Southwestern and hit a three-pointer, giving the Sabers a 40-27 lead with 2:51 left in the first half.
Then in less than two minutes, it started to collapse for Southwestern. Lake Clifton went on a 12-0 run to pull to within 40-39 as Johnson picked up his third foul and sat on the bench and the Sabers turned the ball over five times.
Trailing 42-41 at halftime, Lake Clifton had control of the game late in the third quarter, scoring the final seven points to secure a 62-54 advantage. Rogers converted a Sabers turnover into a layup, then a free throw by Henry Hurst pushed the Lakers' lead to 68-56.
* St. Paul's 58, Curley 47: Justin Singleton scored 18 points and Garth Timoll added 11 to lead St. Paul's (17-3) over host Curley (10-12).