By halftime of Saturday's matchup of girls basketball heavyweights, No. 3 Milford Mill had all but turned out the lights on No. 2 Roland Park.
Then, in a flash, the visiting Reds awoke.
Down by 12, the private-school power stormed back with 10 straight points to start the second half, ramping up its intensity and dominating play the rest of the way in a 71-59 win that ended the Millers' 31-game winning streak while handing them an ultra-rare home defeat.
"We talked about it at halftime and said, 'Let's go up a notch. Let's play like we can play. Let's get in their face and see what we can do,'" Roland Park coach Scott Buckley said. "If we come out and play with our kind of intensity, we like our chances against anybody."
With those words providing the spark, senior Lindsey Edwards scored all but four of her game-high 21 points in the second half, helping Roland Park (20-4) outscore the defending Class 3A state champions, 45-21, over the final two quarters.
Jaia Alexander finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Reds, who shot 58 percent from the field after halftime by consistently pushing the ball downcourt and using an assortment of well-executed screens, cross-court cuts and backdoors to get easy looks at the basket.
It also helped that top defender Ryan Holder, who had ridden the bench with foul trouble for much of the first half, returned to guard the Millers' top player, Dionna White, and held the senior to just four points in the second half. White, who had entered the day averaging 20.6 points per game, finished with 12.
For Milford Mill (16-1), it was an unthinkable collapse.
"[Roland Park] stepped up, and we stayed where we were," Millers coach DeToiya McAliley said. "They were told in the locker room that the game would get tougher. That [the Reds] would do certain things, and what they should be looking for. I think that if we had listened, it would've been a different outcome."
It was Milford's first loss since falling to Poly at the Basketball Academy last January, and its first home defeat since 2011.
For much of the game, however, the Millers seemed destined for another win.
They used their quickness and hot shooting to dominate play early. White's layup with two minutes left in the half capped an 8-0 run that extended their lead to 10, and they took a 38-26 lead into the break.
"In reality, I thought the first half was an embarrassment for us," Buckley said. "It had nothing to do with the score or anything like that. We play at a certain intensity level, and it was nonexistent in the first half. That's not who we are."
The difference was noticeable in the second half.
Playing a far more intense version of their stalwart man-to-man defense, the Reds held Milford without a point for the first 3:56 of the half. Meanwhile, they consistently beat the Millers down the court to create good shots.
When Jeydah Johnson (13 points) nailed a 3-pointer to cap a 10-0 run, Roland Park had pulled within two. The Reds then took a 55-54 lead — their first since the game's opening minutes — when Edwards scored on a fast-break layup and completed the three-point play with 5:10 left.
"We definitely knew we had to turn it up, and we knew it had to start on the defensive end," Edwards said. "We were more intense on getting defensive stops and that was able to carry over on the offensive end."
Up 61-59, Roland Park held Milford without a point for the final 2:37, sealing the win with a pair of layups by Edwards and and four straight free throws in the final minute.
"Maybe this will make them hungrier to perform and do the things they've been asked to do," McAliley said. "Hopefully, we adjust."