Patterson senior guard Dereck Oliver was working on a special game early against visiting Edmondson on Tuesday.
But it was the Red Storm's execution at both ends in the closing minutes that made the final and biggest statement.
Led by junior Demitrius Hoskins and seniors Kani Coles and Keandre Cook, who combined to score 53 points, the No. 4 Red Storm scored the game's last seven points in a 55-49 upset win over the No. 1 Clippers in Baltimore City Division I play.
The game was stopped with 46 seconds remaining when an altercation broke out in the stands. A Patterson administrator announced the gym would have to be cleared for the game to continue. After supporters of both sides refused to leave during the course of a 10-minute delay, he announced the game was over.
At the time of the disruption, Edmondson senior Dezhan Jones-Harris was preparing to take two free throws.
Edmondson (9-1, 3-1 Baltimore City) was coming off a tough loss to No. 3 Lake Clifton on Friday. Oliver surpassed 1,000 career points in a 14-point first quarter and finished with a game-high 29. But the Clippers (8-2, 3-1) couldn't protect a 10-point third-quarter lead.
"This is a real big win for us. Patterson is ranked No. 1, they were undefeated in the division and they beat us last year. So to come to Patterson and play as hard as they did — my hats go off to the kids," Edmondson coach Darnell Dantzler said. "I tell them it's memories and games like this that you're going to remember for the rest of your life. They played hard, got down early, they stayed with it and fought as hard as they could and they were fortunate to come back strong at the end."
With Oliver and fellow senior guard Gary Blackston (12 points) seemingly in control as they helped the Clippers build a 37-27 lead with 5:16 left in the third quarter, the game changed dramatically. Blackston picked up his fourth foul and the Red Storm picked up its defensive intensity.
Hoskins, who scored nine of his team-high 20 points in the third quarter, got Edmondson on track at the other end by converting a three-point play that started a 14-4 run that sent the game to the fourth tied at 41.
Throughout the fourth quarter, neither team had more than one-point lead until the Red Storm's final surge. With the game tied at 49 with 1:40 to play, Coles (17 points, 15 rebounds) stole an inbounds pass by Patterson and took it straight to the basket for a 51-49 lead.
After Edmondson got a defensive stop, Keandre Cook (16 points) found Coles for an emphatic dunk to make it 53-49 with 1:12 to play. Another Patterson turnover turned into two points from Hoskins that gave the Red Storm six unanswered points in 42 seconds.
"We started the game off struggling, with no shots falling. But we came out strong after halftime, found their weaknesses and took advantage of it," Coles said. "It was a great game all-around and we just stood our ground. It feels great."
Patterson coach Harry Martin was disappointed on a number of fronts. When Blackston was on the bench in foul trouble in the second half, the Clippers didn't take care of the basketball well enough. They also rebounded poorly.
"With Dereck, Gary and Demetrich [Williams] — we've been around for awhile — and to lose a game here at home in this situation where we had a 10-point lead, we should have been able to put it away," Martin said.
As for the game ending prematurely due to the altercation, Martin said it was the right call.
"It's very unfortunate," Martin said. "Any time there's time on the clock you would like to give yourself a chance. ... Proper protocol is to clear the gym and resume the game, but we had some people that didn't want to leave. So at that point what do you do? Do you arrest them or do you just call the game? You don't want to escalate the situation."
Dantzler agreed.
"It's unfortunate that it ended like that. But the kids are intense, the coaches are intense, so the fans are intense as well. Luckily nobody got hurt and there was no punches thrown or anything like that," he said.