When the confusing final few seconds were over and the clock struck zero Thursday night in the Gwynn Park High School gym, the Friendly High boys' basketball team had ended the Yellow Jackets' 28-game conference winning streak.

The Patriots beat Gwynn Park, 54-53, in a victory they essentially had to earn twice.

"We were in a hostile environment and the bottom line is our kids showed up to play today," Friendly coach Rob Garner said. "We came into Gwynn Park and got a very, very tough win."

In the end, a free throw by Friendly's R.J. Sims with 3 seconds remaining proved to be the winning point, as a jumper at the buzzer by Gwynn Park's Brandon Ford bounced off the side of the rim. But a strange sequence ensued in between those two plays.

Gwynn Park tied the game at 53-53 off of a Corey Williams putback with 6 seconds remaining. As Sims raced down the sideline, he collided with Ford with 3 seconds to go, and a blocking foul on Ford sent Sims to the line for two free throws. Sims missed the first shot, but made the second to give Friendly the lead.

"He's been shooting free throws all season and has spent a lot of time working on it at practice," Garner said of Sims' free-throw shooting. "He came off the bench and made the free throw that we needed. He's a mentally tough kid."

But the final 3 seconds had to put a strain on Friendly's mental toughness.

Gwynn Park's Brian Blue inbounded the ball after Sims' free throw and his pass hit a rafter on the ceiling, which gave the ball back to Friendly. The Patriots inbounded the ball and A.J. Thomas was fouled with 2 seconds remaining. Or so everyone thought.

One of the referees stopped play due to a substitution mistake, and the referees eventually ruled that play should have been halted for the substitution prior to the Gwynn Park inbound attempt that flew into the rafters. So the Yellow Jackets got the ball back for one last chance to win the game, but couldn't capitalize, as Ford's shot hit the side of the rim.

Ford scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Yellow Jackets (9-4 overall, 8-1 in the County 3A/2A/1A League). Ryan Woodard was next with nine, while Maurice Peavy chipped in eight.

"This was two very evenly matched teams and it was a great basketball game," said Gwynn Park coach Mike Glick, whose team last lost a league game in February 2007. "I am very proud of our guys because we fought back and we were resilient. That was a tough call at the end of the game, but it was a one-point game. This is going to make us better in the long run and it's probably going to make Friendly better."

Thomas scored 13 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead Friendly (11-1, 10-0). George Latson added nine, while Sims and Bryan Brooks scored seven.

As big as the victory is for the Patriots, they don't have much time to enjoy it. They travel to Forestville tonight in a game that Garner said is just as big.

"Our kids came in and wanted to win this ball game, but we don't have much time to celebrate," he said. "We play a very, very tough Forestville team on the road. And if we don't win that game, this victory doesn't mean as much. We have to turn these guys around after this emotional victory and get them motivated to play Forestville."

E-mail Joshua Hudson at jhudson@gazette.net.

Friendly 54, Gwynn Park 53

Friendly (11-1, 10-0): Henry Hood 5, Michael Gonzalez 6, Sherrod Baltimore 2, R.J. Sims 7, A.J. Thomas 13, Gamari Mayfield 2, George Latson 9, Bryan Brooks 7, Chris Adewole 3.

Gwynn Park (9-4, 8-1): Keith Thomas 5, Brandon Ford 18, Corey Anderson 7, Brian Blue 3, Ryan Woodard 9, Corey Williams 3, Maurice Peavy 8.

Halftime score: Gwynn Park 25, Friendly 25.