A number of things separated the South Carroll Cavaliers from the rest of the county this season.
It took less than a quarter last night against Liberty to see the biggest, as 6-foot-4 senior center Matt McGrane scored 12 of the Cavs' first 14 points to get things started.
In the second half, it was the guard play of senior Greg Mihalko, who finished with 15, including a big three-pointer in the Cavs' first possession of the half, to give them a 13-point lead.
Throw in better and better balance as the season progressed and a little more experience than the rest of the field and there you have it.
South Carroll's 73-60 county-clinching win over visiting Liberty featured all of those things as the Cavs ended Westminster's two-year reign as county champs.
Mihalko added one final ingredient to the Cavaliers' recipe. "It was heart more than anything," he said. "When it was close late [in county games], we just didn't want to lose."
The Cavaliers (7-13) are 5-0 in county play with one game remaining against North Carroll on Friday.
The Cavaliers made sure that game wouldn't matter with a 14-2 run to start the third quarter against Liberty (4-15, 2-4) that pushed a 10-point halftime lead to 54-32 with 3:56 left in the third.
"It's been an up-and-down season, but this means a lot -- a championship is a championship," Mihalko said.
The Cavaliers looked to McGrane (22 points) early on with him the beneficiary of their ability to break the Lions' half-court press.
The Lions kept it close behind Tyrone Ellis (15 points) and Luke Vriezen (11 points) before the Cavs showed signs of pulling away in the final minute of the first half with a 6-0 run.
Bryce Baker converted a three-point play with 22 seconds left and Matt McGaw hit a jumper at the buzzer to give the Cavaliers a 40-30 lead at intermission.
They put it away early in the second half with Mihalko hitting two threes and senior John Eaton added six points to push the lead to 20 midway through the third.
South Carroll coach Jim Carnes said there was little separation this season between the four county teams -- Westminster and North Carroll the others -- eligible for the county title.
"I don't think there was a big difference. Most of the games were close," he said.
"We had a little bit more size than the rest of the teams and maybe experience. Liberty is very young and North Carroll is young.
"The best thing about tonight was it was parents' night and everybody got a chance to play. It was kind of exciting at the end, though."
Carnes had to temporarily put his starters back in with 52 seconds left after the Lions rattled off 10 straight points late to get within eight.