With his team clinging to a four-point lead before the start of the fourth quarter against Poly, Lake Clifton coach Herman "Tree" Harried gave simple instructions: increase the intensity on defense and be more patient on offense.
The No. 2 Lakers took their coach's advice and quickly broke the game open, forcing five turnovers and scoring 13 of the period's first 16 points in an eventual 70-58 victory over Poly in a Baltimore City Division I game.
The win, combined with a loss by No. 6 Edmondson and win for No. 4 Patterson Friday night, earned Lake Clifton a berth in the Division I championship game. The Lakers will face the Clippers at Morgan State next Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
Harried's orders helped Lake Clifton (17-2, 9-2) dominate much of that fourth quarter. The Lakers, winners of 10 straight, forced five turnovers that all led to points, made six straight field goal attempts and made 13 of 17 free-throw attempts.
The Lakers scored 43 through three quarters but added 27 in that final period.
"We came together as a team then," Lake Clifton senior guard Gary Jefferson said. "We picked it up on defense and … had more passing on offense."
Even though Lake Clifton led for much of the game, Poly (11-10, 4-7) hung around. The Lakers held a 43-39 lead after three quarters but held the Engineers to one basket in the first 3:45 of the fourth.
Lake Clifton's physical, man-to-man defense helped cause turnovers on Poly's first three possessions that led to six straight points in 50 seconds and a 49-39 lead. The Engineers could not handle 6-foot-4 senior forward Rashad Hawkins (11 points, 14 rebounds), who blocked shots on two straight Poly possessions on plays that seemed to fire up the Lakers.
"He made some plays that we responded to," Harried said.
Joshua Parks posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Derrick Green and Jefferson each added 16 and Kai Thompson had eight.
The Lakers went up 25-14 during the second quarter before Hawkins left for about three minutes after getting hurt on a fall, and Poly scored 11 straight points to tie the game. Hawkins returned late in the quarter as Lake Clifton took a 29-25 halftime lead.
The Engineers repeatedly took long-range shots against a patient Lake Clifton defense. They made 10 3-pointers overall but sometimes fired too quickly while the Lakers showed more patience on offense, especially in that fourth quarter.
"We kind of lost composure in the fourth quarter," Poly coach Sam Brand said. "We didn't execute as well. We just didn't make enough plays for each other."
Marcel Thompson led Poly with a game-high 25 points, but no other Engineer could reach double figures. Poly still rebounded from a slow start in which Lake Clifton jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter, but the problems in that fourth quarter proved too much to overcome.
Lake Clifton next faces Digital Harbor, and the Lakers are looking for a spot in the city's Division 1 title game next weekend. Harried was very happy with how his team stepped it up in the fourth quarter to lock up this victory.
"That was the difference in the game," Harried said. "We just couldn't ever let up."