Antoine Allen knew exactly how it felt to lose a Baltimore City championship.

The Lake Clifton senior guard was part of last season's team that lost to Northwestern in the championship game. Memories from that loss were fresh in his mind when the Lakers played Douglass last night at Morgan State for this year's city title.

"Basically, I was just thinking about the feeling I had last year, and I wasn't trying to go through that again," Allen said. "So I just put it all out there on the court."

Allen's crucial steal and layup late in the fourth quarter helped seal an exciting 53-42 victory for the No. 1 Lakers.

"It was different with this group; they were willing to sacrifice the individual for the sake of the group," Lake Clifton coach Herman Harried said. "The key is playing together and [doing] what's best for the team, and that's why we won tonight. A group effort."

Lake Clifton never trailed in the game, but No. 6 Douglass (17-5) never stopped coming, tying the score at 40 with 4:46 left in the fourth quarter when Omar Strong made a three-pointer from the left corner. When the Lakers inbounded the ball, Strong forced Allen to travel, swinging the momentum in Douglass' favor.

After the teams traded baskets and with 2:01 remaining, Lake Clifton (23-1) ran a minute off the clock but couldn't get a good shot. When Douglass got the ball back, Strong tried to beat Allen off the dribble, but Allen stole the ball, raced in for a layup and was intentionally fouled by the Ducks' Kemp McCray.

He made one of two free throws to put Lake Clifton up 48-45. He then was fouled again but missed the first shot of a one-and-one, giving Douglass another opportunity.

On the next possession, Strong missed a difficult three-point attempt from 25 feet with 11.4 seconds left. He was blanketed by Allen.

On the next play, the Lakers' Jason Sharp Jr. was intentionally fouled hard by Justin Berry, leading to an extra free throw. Douglass was given a technical foul for arguing, and Sharp made all four free throws, sealing the victory.

Allen had 16 points and five rebounds. Strong and Brandon Simms had 13 points each but on combined 10-for-27 shooting.

Girls

No. 6 Western 57, Poly 37 --The Doves ran away from the opening tip in the championship game, defeating the Engineers for their third straight city title.

The Doves (20-3) never trailed and led 18-6 after the first quarter and 35-9 at halftime. They used a 1-2-2 press defense that forced Poly into turnovers and gave Western easy transition baskets. The Engineers (17-5) scored only nine points in the first half and didn't make a field goal in the second quarter.

"They were intense and came ready to play," Western coach Tiffany Silver said of her team. "The plan was to use the bigger court to our advantage defensively, use our speed to get steals, and that's what we did."

Poly opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run and stayed close by getting to the foul line (17-for-33), but the halftime deficit was too much. Ashle Craig led Western with 14 points, and Keirah Hicks chipped in 13. Poly's Cynthia Johnson had 11 points.

stefen.lovelace@baltsun.com