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It's a pattern of play that has plagued the Sussex Central High School boys' basketball team all too often this season.

Start the game sluggish. Trail by double digits in the second quarter. Use a second-half run to creep back into contention. Come up short at the end and wonder what might have been had the team played better early in the game.

On Tuesday night, Jan. 12, 1999, the Golden Knights were left pondering those same questions after a frustrating 49-42 loss to Southern Division-leading Lake Forest in Georgetown. After a lackluster start left it staring at a 14-point second quarter-deficit, Central rallied to tie the game in the fourth period, only tofall apart in the final four minutes.

"We still have that same attitude that we fight hard when we're down and I never can understand that. We should just go ahead and knock out somebody from the get-go," Central coach Tim Slade said. "It's just frustrating because there are certain players on this team that just didn't come to play tonight and they were just taken out of it early."

The loss dropped Central to 2-6 in the Henlopen Conference and 4-7 overall. Lake, which was seventh in this week's state top 10 rankings, improved to 6-0, 7-2.

"We have so many guys that can play on this team, but once they get in the game they don't play how they're supposed to play," Slade said. "I think my guys have become too relaxed since contending against (Sussex) Tech and beating Milford. They were really sluggish tonight."

Despite their lack of fire, Central had numerous chances to steal a victory down the stretch. Trailing 38-28 with 6:23 left in the game, the Knights went on a 12-2 run over the next two and a half minutes to pull even at 40-40. Deshawn Garrison had a layup and a jumper in the lane and Jay Balback a 3-pointer before Tony Cintron was fouled while putting in a layup and sank the ensuing free throw to tie the score with 3:52 remaining.

But Lake's Dorell Little took matters into his own hands in the closing minutes, scoring seven points during a 9-2 Spartan run that ended the game. Little sank a follow-up shot, a layup and three free throws during the decisive spurt.

Central, meanwhile, went cold from the floor and managed only a pair of foul shots from Balback after tying the score.

"From the first quarter you saw that the hunger is just not there throughout the whole thing," Slade said. "Certain individuals are just not taking pride like they should on this team and that's what makes it frustrating."

Balback finished with 14 points for Central while Drew Mills added 10. Standout center Travis Leonard was in foul trouble most of the evening and finished with just two points.

Little led the Spartans with 16 points.

Central outscored Lake 35-31 over the game's final 24 minutes but couldn't overcome a terrible first quarter in which they were outscored 18-7. The Spartans held a huge rebounding edge in the opening period and took advantage countless second-shot opportunities.

Lake's Larry Smith scored six points, all on layups, in the first quarter while Larry Bryant sank a baseline 3-pointer and Little converted a 3-point play to give the Spartans an 11-point lead after eight minutes.

That advantage ballooned to 23-7 when Little opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and Bryant followed with a layup off a long outlet pass.

Down by 14, the Knights finally pulled themselves together and finished the first half on a 14-4 run that cut the Lake lead to 27-21 at halftime.

Balback, Mills and John Gordy had four points each during the rally.

Central also came out of the gate strong in the third quarter, improving its play on the boards and pulling within 30-28 with 4:21 left in the period.

But the Knights would go scoreless for the next six and a half minutes and nearly let the game slip away. While Central was misfiring from the field and committing a slew of turnovers, Lake got a layup and a 3-pointer from Maquella Jones to trigger an 8-0 run that made it 38-28 with 6:23 left in the game.