FORT WASHINGTON – Coming into Tuesday’s game against Douglass, the Friendly Patriots had run off 14 consecutive victories, due mainly to their commitment on the defensive end.

In the first half, though, that defense was nowhere to be found as Douglass' Timmone Whatley nearly outscored the Patriots by himself and helped the Eagles build an 18-point lead.

Friendly responded, though, and senior guard Sherrod Baltimore hit the go-ahead basket with 15 seconds remaining to give the Patriots a 61-57 victory to run their winning streak to 15 games.

“We weren’t going to panic,” Friendly senior Michael Johnson said. “We’re battle-tested, and we’ve been through a lot of situations over the years together. We knew that we had to take it one possession at a time, and eventually we were going to get back into the game.”

Senior forward Davonte Morgan scored 24 points for Friendly, while Johnson added 22 and Baltimore finished with 10. The Patriots (16-3 overall and 13-2 in the league) needed every one of those points to offset a career-night from Whatley, who finished with 37 points in a losing effort.

“It’s a hard task to try to guard Timmone Whatley for 32 minutes,” Friendly coach Rob Garner said. “I think he’s probably the best one-on-on player – if not the best one-on-one player – in the county with the ball in his hands. We knew that type of night it was going to be.”

Whatley – who averaged 19.3 points per game as a junior last year and had 34 in a win over Potomac on Feb. 1 – scored as many points in the first half (20) as Friendly had as a team.

“He played well,” Douglass coach Tyrone Massenburg said. “It just tells a lot about his character. He just played Surrattsville last night and he didn’t really have the type of game that he’s capable of usually having – I think he only had, like, eight points and he was 0-for-6 from the free throw line -- and I think he came back tonight with a little more focus. He put us on his back on offense and we almost came away with a victory.”

The teams put up more turnovers than points in the opening minutes, combining for seven before Johnson broke the scoring drought with a pair of free throws with 6:18 to go in the first quarter. Johnson later scored to make it 6-6, but from that point on, Douglass (12-7, 8-7) took over. The Eagles scored the game’s next 11 points to take a 17-6 lead after the first quarter, and opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 24-6 lead with 6:10 remaining in the half.

The Patriots responded with a 6-0 run to make it a 12-point game at halftime, with Douglass leading 32-20.

The momentum shifted in the third quarter, as Friendly outscored Douglass 22-8 in the period. Morton made a free throw after getting fouled while making a lay-up to put the Patriots in front 41-40 with 58 seconds remaining in the third quarter. It was Friendly’s first lead since being up 2-0.

The Patriots extended their lead to five points in the fourth quarter, but Douglass came back and tied the score at 57-57 when Whatley made a shot while being fouled with 33.5 seconds to go. He missed the free throw, and Ray Gordon grabbed the rebound and passed it to Baltimore. The senior guard threw the ball across halfcourt to Victor Blakey, who gave it back to Baltimore with around 20 seconds remaining. Baltimore drove hard left against Douglass’ Vincent Williams and put up a shot that bounced off the backboard and in with 15 seconds left to play.

Whatley took the inbounds pass and raced up court before giving the ball to Marvis Davies, whose 3-point attempt bounced off the rim. Baltimore corralled the ball and threw it up court to a wide-open Johnson, who threw down a two-handed dunk just before the final buzzer to seal the win in style.

“We just had confidence,” Morton said. “We knew we weren’t going to lose that game; we had to come out stronger and just play together. We came out slow. I don’t know what’s up with that, but we were just too laid back.”

DOUGLASS

Whatley 37, Glover 8, Johnson 6, Calhoun 2, Williams 2, Cunningham 1, Davies 1.

FRIENDLY

Morton 24, Johnson 22, Baltimore 10, Blakey 4, Nelson 1.

Douglass 17 15 8 17 – 57

Friendly 6 14 22 20 – 61

3-Point Goals— D 0, F 4 (Johnson 2, Morton 2). Totals Fouls: D 16, F 17. Fouled Out— None. Technical Fouls – D (Whatley), F (Morton).