Paris Carter scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 40 seconds to play, as fifth-ranked Lake Clifton came from behind to win its seventh straight game yesterday over visiting, 13th-ranked Baltimore City League rival Walbrook, 57-52.

Carter's three-pointer gave the Lakers a 52-50 lead as part of his 11-point fourth quarter. Before that, the last lead for the Lakers (7-1 overall, 4-0 league) had been 18-16 early in the second period, shortly before an 8-0 run by Walbrook.

Carter was 8-for-9 from the free-throw line (6-for-7 in the fourth period). His pair of free throws had the Lakers within 42-41 with 5:33 to play, and his three-point play began the decisive 8-0 run that ended with his three-pointer.

"We come out to play four quarters; it's just that when we've made our run lately, it's been in the second half," said Carter, whose team has trailed in three of four games against city league teams.

Down 29-25 at halftime, the Lakers trailed by as many as seven points twice in the third period. But thanks primarily to the inside play of 6-foot-7 Tavon Nelson (14 points, 16 rebounds) and 6-8 Kyle Garrison (12 points, 13 rebounds), Walbrook (5-4, 2-2) never was able to put Lake Clifton away.

"This was tough, but we've got a lot of fight in us and we pull together even more when times are stressful," Garrison said. "We started going to the ball harder, playing more defense and just never let down."

Walbrook has led at halftime of every game this season, but last night marked the fourth time in as many games it has allowed the game to slip away in the final two minutes.

"My heart is still ticking, but it's barely ticking," Lake Clifton coach Herman Harried said. "They're competitive, they're tough and they're a dangerous team. They had us hanging on the ropes, but we stayed on our feet and never went down."

Walbrook's failure to deliver the knockout blow, said visiting coach Kelvin Bridgers, was due to inexperience. His team is made up mostly of players up from an undefeated JV squad and starts no seniors.

"The four games we lost got away from us down the stretch due to our immaturity," said Bridgers, who lacked six players - two of whom are starters - due to academic ineligibility last night.

Edward Tyson (13 points, five assists, three steals), Armond Gardner (12 points, five rebounds, three steals) and Dustin Lawson (10 points, four rebounds, three blocks) led a Walbrook squad that was coming off last week's victory over Patrick Ewing Jr.-led National Christian.

But Bridgers said the absence of two of his key players "took something from our focus." He said the players could return as early as next week.