With a 15-point halftime lead at Edmondson, the Lake Clifton boys basketball team braced itself for an expected push from the Red Storm.
It came, and when the home team fought all the way back to take leads in the fourth quarter, panic could have set in for the No. 2 Lakers. Instead, they showed poise.
Senior guard Gary Jefferson made a fade-away jumper from the right side with 15 seconds left to give the Lakers the lead for good. After a defensive stop and two free throws by senior Derrick Green with three seconds left, No. 2 Lake Clifton secured a 51-48 over No. 8 Edmondson in a key Baltimore City Division I game.
Jefferson finished with a game-high 23 points, and twice scored after Edmondson took leads before making his final, decisive shot.
"Confidence is everything and you have to have confidence to take the shot," he said. "And I believe in myself and my team believes in me and I went ahead and took the shot. It's big — I couldn't do it without my team, so we're celebrating together."
With less than two weeks left in the regular season, spots in the Baltimore City championship game are still up for grabs. Edmondson (13-3) dropped to 8-2 in league play, while Lake Clifton (15-2) and No. 5 Patterson (14-3) are both 7-2. City (14-4, 6-3) can still earn a berth, too.
The Lakers' 1-3-1 zone defense smothered the Red Storm in the first half as the visitors took a 28-13 halftime lead. But Edmondson regrouped and outscored the Lakers, 18-6, in the third quarter — Demitrius Hoskins hitting two 3-pointers and Kani Coles getting the crowd going with a thunderous follow dunk — to cut the Lakers' advantage to 34-31 going into the fourth quarter.
Edmondson senior point guard DeAndre Lloyd, who is now a key reserve after starting earlier in the season, was nearly the hero. He made a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to give the Red Storm its first lead, 37-36, since the opening minutes and, with 33 seconds left, he converted a three-point play to give the home team its final lead, 48-47.
It turned out to be Jefferson's game, though, as he scored nine of his 23 points in the final quarter. Getting the ball on the right side, he pulled up for the fade that found nothing but net for the 49-48 lead. Green (20 points) made two free throws to seal it.
"My hat goes off to Edmondson — tough — they just battled from being down and made some tough shots," Lake Clifton coach Herman "Tree" Harried said. "But we didn't panic. Normally when a team is up by that kind of margin and they lose a lead, they fold. We didn't fold. It says a lot about their chemistry, it says a lot about their toughness and it has a lot to do with how we prepare for these games. Our preparation played a big part in getting us through this tough stretch."
Lloyd finished with 14 points to lead the Red Storm and Keandre Cook had 12. Edmondson coach Darnell Dantzler, who watched his team go nine minutes, 20 seconds between baskets and fall behind 26-7 late in the second quarter, was impressed how his players battled past adversity and gave themselves a chance to win.
"I'm 100 percent proud of the effort," he said. "I told them to be patient. I told them we weren't going to get it all back in a bunch. As long as by the fourth quarter if we could get that 15-point lead down to where it's manageable — about seven or eight points — if we're within striking distance, than we can go from there. They played as hard as they could all the way around, through all the adversity, so it's a tough loss but I'm proud of them."