The Edmondson boys basketball team made a halftime adjustment on defense Tuesday against visiting Lake Clifton, going man-to-man after playing zone most of a tight first half.
Red Storm coach Darnell Dantzler's instructions to the offense were both simple and familiar: Get the ball to senior guards Rodney Pratcher and Kavon Pyatt.
The two responded as they had many times before, Pratcher scoring 15 of his game-high 26 points in the second half and Pyatt adding 16 of his 18 points after intermission to lead the No. 5 Red Storm to a 72-58 win over the No. 10 Lakers.
Edmondson, the defending Baltimore City champion, improves to 12-1 and 5-0 in league play, while the Lakers drop to 10-3 and 2-2.
Trailing 30-28 at the half, the Red Storm forced seven Lake Clifton turnovers in the third quarter -- staking a claim to a 43-36 lead going into the fourth with Pratcher accounting for nine points. Pyatt helped the home team pull away with 13 points in the final quarter.
"We just come out and play hard, play our game," said Pratcher, a four-year starter. "It's easy. We've been doing it for four years. We know each other and just know we have to come out and play hard."
The Lakers got 16 points from Aaron Parks, 15 from Leron Fisher and 13 from Trae Summers.
glenn.graham@baltsun.com
No. 1 Patterson 86, Douglass 66: Aquille Carr posted 33 points and Myrek Fowlkes had 25 to power the visiting Clippers (13-1) past the Ducks.
The full-court press wore Douglass down and increased Patterson's lead to 20 in the fourth quarter.
No. 2 John Carroll 47, St. Maria Goretti 31: The visiting Patriots (23-1) took a 9-0 lead, but the Gaels used zone defense to slow the tempo and scoring. Ronald Scott had a game-high 22 points for John Carroll.
No. 4 St. Frances 73, Calvert Hall 60: After a slow start, the Panthers (12-2) used a balanced offense to build a 13-point lead in the second half over the Cardinals (10-13).
Greg Lewis and Eddie Tarver combined for 41 points --21 and 20, respectively -- to lead St. Frances. Justin Beck had 18 for Calvert Hall.
No. 6 Dunbar 64, Poly 45: The visiting Engineers (6-3) ran a 2-3 zone to control the pace, but the Poets (13-0) proved too much for them. Devante Wallace had 24 points for Dunbar and Poly's Gavin Pettiford had a game-high 26 points.
No. 11 Forest Park 67, Southwestern 46: DeAnthony McCormick scored 13 points and Quintin Judd had 11 points and 11 steals to power the visiting Foresters (11-3) past the Sabres.
No. 13 McDonogh 63, Archbishop Spalding 60: B.J. Andrews hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer from the left wing to lift the visiting Eagles (15-6) over the Cavaliers in overtime.
Andrews finished with 13 points. Spalding's Chris Kemp made the game-tying bucket to force overtime, when the Eagles outscored the Cavaliers 8-5. McDonogh's Kayel Locke had a game-high 20 points.
Girls
No. 4 Aberdeen 66, Patterson Mill 26: Brianna Jones had 15 points and Nia Alleyne 14 to lead the host Eagles (13-1) past the Huskies.
Dunbar 47, No. 5 Poly 45: The visiting Poets (10-2) went on a 13-5 run in the third quarter to take control and held off a late rally by the Engineers (7-5).
Dunbar switched defenses and built a seven-point lead in the second half. Poly came within two with 30 seconds left in the game, but no closer. Michelle White (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Oma-ah Tayong (16 points, 11 rebounds) each had doubledoubles for Dunbar.
City 47, No. 6 Western 46: Precious Palmer (10 points) hit a half-court buzzer-beater as the host Knights (8-6) upset the Doves (7-7).
In a fast-paced game, both teams pressed, but City took an eight-point lead early in the second half, the biggest lead of the game.
Wrestling
No. 5 Owings Mills 55, Franklin 21: The Eagles (18-0) collected five forfeits in a win over the Indians.
Baltimore Sun staff contributed to this article.