Defense, strong free throw shooting and the best game yet from senior center Chris Roscoe helped King’s Fork High School’s boys’ basketball team advance on Tuesday to the Conference 17 tournament championship game.

The Bulldogs led 36-34 going into the fourth quarter against visiting Deep Creek High School but then pulled away to win 60-48.

No. 1 Lake Taylor High School’s semifinal victory over Churchland High School on Tuesday helped the No. 2 Bulldogs clinch a regional berth.

King’s Fork coach Josh Worrell said the story of his team’s game against the Hornets on Tuesday was “paying attention to detail and understanding that every 50-50 ball, every loose ball, every rebound’s got to be ours if you want your season to continue to go on.”

In its last meeting with the Bulldogs, Deep Creek had defeated them 66-64 in overtime.

“We didn’t do things we were supposed to do, and we let our emotions get the best of us, and I told them, ‘Tonight, if that happens, we have no chance to win,’” Worrell said.

It did not happen, and King’s Fork stayed consistent enough to keep its season alive. It led 12-11 after the first quarter and 25-20 at halftime.

“I think in the second half, we did a much better job of defending,” Worrell said.

The Bulldogs went 27-for-38 from the free throw line for the night, 71.1 percent.

“It’s better than we have done in some games, and I just told them, ‘You’ve got to go in there and believe that you’re going to put the ball in the hoop when you shoot a free throw,’” Worrell said. “’You can’t go up there worrying if it’s going to go in. It’s all a mindset. It’s nothing else.’ We shoot them enough for them to know that they can make free throws.”

In the fourth quarter, King’s Fork was 15-for-19, many coming from Chris Roscoe, who kept his team ahead of the Hornets multiple times in the second half. He finished the game with 29 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.

“This is his best performance so far, and he just played hard,” Worrell said. “He didn’t complain, he listened, he didn’t gamble as much (on defense) because that was something he and I talked about a lot.”

Bulldogs sophomore guard James Hatton had eight points, senior guard Donjawnez Stancel had seven, senior guard Drequan Wilson had six and sophomore guard Rontre Pope had five points, six rebounds and three steals.

No. 2 King’s Fork (13-10) plays in the Conference 17 tournament championship game on Friday against No. 1 Lake Taylor.