THE THRILLER IN POTOMAC

by Derek Toney

The most poignant moment of Saturday
night’s boys’ basketball game between Digital Harbor High and Lake
Clifton didn’t happen on the court.

“Baltimore missed a heck of
a ballgame,” said the public address announcer sitting behind the
scorers’ table in the gym at Winston Churchill in Montgomery County
before the post-game ceremonies for the Chick-fil-A Holiday Classic.

For
the handful of spectators who traveled to the outskirts of the nation’s
capital, they weren’t disappointed. The No. 4 Lakers outlasted
third-ranked Digital Harbor, 60-58, in overtime for the tournament
championship.

Daniel Horton’s layup with about five seconds
remaining in the extra session was the eventual difference for Lake
Clifton (7-1). Antoine Allen was able to get a piece of Digital
Harbor’s Justin Jackson’s three-point attempt, ending the best contest
so far this season involving teams from the Baltimore City league.

Antoine
Allen, a senior guard, scored 22 points to lead Lake Clifton, and
backcourt mate Derrious Gilmore added 17. Justin Jackson, a sophomore
guard, tied for game-high honors with 22 for the Rams (4-2), and
juniors Kevin Davis and George Jackson contributed 12.

Playing
with four fouls, Gilmore helped rallied the Lakers from a nine-point
deficit in the fourth quarter, then set up Horton for the game winner.
The senior picked up all four infractions in the opening half, and was
on the bench for the entire third quarter.

“I tried to stay
mentally and physically tough, but it got kind of hard,” said Gilmore,
who had seven assists. “My teammates cheered me on and kept me focused,
and told me I had to carry us when I got back in. I did a good job of
keeping my team involved and getting through this.”

Gilmore
brought the Lakers even in regulation with two free throws with 13.3
seconds remaining. He had a basket in overtime, but three key assists
including a pair of drives-and-dish offs to Horton (six points). Lake
Clifton coach Herman Harried said Gilmore’s maturity was the difference.

“A
year ago, he [Gilmore] would’ve had put head his down and I would have
keep trying to get him to keep his head up,” said Lake Clifton coach
Herman Harried, who got a solid performance from reserve Jaquan Jones
in Gilmore’s absence. “I looked over my shoulder one time, and he was
cheering and clapping. When he was called back on, he said he would not
foul out this game.”

After the squads an exchanged of free
throws to start overtime, Gilmore went nearly the entire length of the
court for a layup. The Rams answered with two free throws from Jermaine
Edwards, then Gilmore found Jason Sharp for a three-pointer giving Lake
Clifton a 53-50 lead with two minutes left.

Digital Harbor
responded again with a three-pointer from Justin Jackson before Horton
scored off a pass from Gilmore. A three-point play by Allen (five
points in overtime) gave the Lakers a 58-55 advantage with 57.2 seconds
left, but Davis came right back for the Rams with a three-pointer with
46 seconds remaining.

Gilmore missed on a drive, but Lake
Clifton was able to retain possession. Gilmore drove down the lane and
passed off his left to Horton, who went up for the easy basket off the
glass. Digital Harbor got a timeout with 1.2 seconds remaining, but was
unable to pull off another victory against a team ranked in the Digital
Top 20.

“Late in regulation, we got complacent with the ball and
didn’t make the right decisions,” said Rams coach Johnny Grimes. “I’m
happy for them and I’m proud of them because it ended like it suppose
to end.”

The south Baltimore school appeared headed to a fourth
straight decision over a Top 10 squad, opening the final quarter with a
13-4 run for a 44-35 advantage with 3:07 left in regulation with the
Jackson brothers creating opportunities off of drives to the basket.
The Rams, however, didn’t score again until 22 seconds remaining.

Allen
scored six straight followed by a free throw and basket by Gilmore,
tying the game at 44. Justin Jackson hit a pull-up from the free throw
line, giving Digital Harbor the lead back. After Gilmore’s free throws
tied the game at 46, Digital Harbor tried to get a final shot off but
George Jackson was called for a charge and fouled out.

Like a
round of a championship boxing match, the three-minute overtime was a
battle royale as the first seven possessions resulted in points. On the
eighth, Justin Jackson missed a shot, but was able to steal the ball
back, leading to a tip in by Jermaine Edwards (10 points), tying the
game at 55.

The Rams and Lakers don’t play during the
regular season, but could meet in the City championship game if they
both win their respective divisions. They might be hard pressed to
match Saturday.

“Everybody probably wanted to see this,” said
Gilmore standing in the near empty gym in Potomac, nearly 50 miles from
Baltimore. “This is one of the best games you’ll get this year.”

Chick-fil-A Holiday Classic
at Winston Churchill High
Championship
Lake Clifton 60, Digital Harbor 58, OT
Lake Clifton: Gilmore 17, Allen 22, Horton 6, Sharp 5, Jones 1, Melvin 9. Totals 21 14-20 60.
Digital Harbor: G. Jackson 12, J. Jackson 22, Edwards 10, Davis 13, Johnson 2. Totals 22 12-12 58. Halftime: Digital Harbor 21, Lake Clifton 20. End of regulation: Lake Clifton 46, Digital Harbor 46.

Lake Clifton 14 6 11 15 14-60
Digital Harbor 6 15 10 15 12-58