City junior forward Kendrick Anderson had never hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer. In fact, going into the last frantic seconds against visiting Dunbar on Friday night, he hadn't even made a basket in the game.
That quickly changed when the ball ended up in his hands with the score tied.
Anderson's hurried 3-pointer on the right side found nothing but net, and it proved to be the difference as the No. 3 Knights rallied for a 63-60 win over the No. 13 Poets.
The Knights, who trailed by 12 points in the second half and nine in the fourth quarter, took their first lead with 1:36 to play and then held a 60-57 advantage with 20 seconds remaining. But Dunbar senior point guard Corey Spence tied the score at 60 with a 3-pointer from the right corner with 11 seconds left. Anderson, with the clock down to three seconds, had the final answer.
"I knew there wasn't much time left and I hadn't hit one all game long, but I kept my head in the game, and that's what a good shooter does," he said. "We got heart. They came in and played tough, but we were able to come through in the clutch. It takes a lot of hard work to do that."
City improves to 11-1 on the season and goes to 1-0 in Baltimore City's Division II. Dunbar is now 9-4 and 0-1 in the division.
When Dunbar's Spence (16 points) had a steal at one end, then quickly raced up court to score a layup on the other, the Poets took a 42-30 lead with 3:28 to play in the third quarter.
The Knights, with forward Charles Tapper (game-high 20 points) scoring inside and guard Nick Faust (18 points) finding his 3-point shot in the second half, were able to give themselves a chance to win late.
Trailing 52-43 with 6:24 to play, City went on a 13-3 run, with Tapper's strong inside basket with 1:36 to play giving the Knights their first lead of the second half at 56-55.
"It was kind of hard because our team came out slow, but then we picked up the intensity and played better," Tapper said.
Senior center Jordan Latham added 13 points for the Knights, while the Poets got 17 each from seniors Derrell Edwards and Roderick Camphor. The Knights hit 18 of 22 foul shots in the second half to help in the win.
D-Edwards 17, Spence 16, Camphor 17, Scott 4, Duncan 3, Ayers 1, Kelly 2. Totals: 19 18-26 60.
C-Tapper 20, Faust 18, Latham 13, Cheatham 5, Amos 3, Anderson 4. Totals: 16 25-33 63.
Half: D, 26-19.