The defensive pride that A&M Consolidated's boys basketball team wears almost like a suit of armor suffered a couple of dings against Harker Heights, but it was dazzling at the end.

Consol limited the Knights to four points in the fourth quarter, pulling away for a 54-44 victory in a battle between District 12-5A co-leaders at Tiger Gym on Friday night.

The 22nd-ranked Tigers (26-4, 10-1) avenged their only league loss and took sole possession of the 12-5A lead with three games remaining in the regular season. Harker Heights (23-7, 9-2) had an 11-game winning streak snapped.

Harker Heights trailed by seven points early in the second half, but charged back by making four consecutive 3-pointers. The last of the treys gave the Knights a 36-33 lead midway through the third quarter. At that point the visitors had made 6 of 10 from beyond the 3-point line, but they missed their last six shots from long range.

"I'm extremely happy with the way our kids buckled down and played," Consol coach Rick German said. "Our kids cranked it up and withstood that charge. After we settled in, they didn't hit any more of those shots."

Harker Heights missed 8-of-10 shots in the fourth quarter, allowing the Tigers to take command by scoring 15 of the first 17 points in the period. Consol improved to 20-0 in games in which its opponents scored less than 50 points.

"They did a tremendous job on defense, cutting down our driving lanes," Knights coach Celeneque Bobbitt said. "We hit a lot of shots in the third quarter, but usually jump-shot teams are feast or famine. We were feasting in the third quarter and it became a famine in the fourth."

The Knights pulled within 45-42 when Josh Delaney made an 18-footer with 5 minutes, 7 seconds remaining. However, the visitors did not score again until the 1:54 mark, after Consol had pushed its lead to 12 points.

During its 3-point barrage, Harker Heights looked capable of repeating its first-round win over Consol, when the Knights pulled away in the second half for a 60-44 victory. The Tigers stayed within striking distance in the rematch thanks to a monster third quarter by junior Jimmie Gilbert.

The 6-foot-5 post player delivered 10 of Consol's 12 points during the period on his way to a team-leading 14 points. Gilbert also hauled down six of his game-high 12 rebounds during the third quarter.

"I felt like it was time we picked up our intensity," Gilbert said. "We had to get to playing Tiger ball and doing what we do best, which is playing defense.

"It feels amazing. There's no way to describe it. Hopefully we'll play the rest of the season just like that."

The game was played in front of a loud crowd that filled about half of the bleacher seats, many coming into the gymnasium wet because of the heavy rain. Lightning flashes could be seen through the small windows at one end of the gym, which went dark for a few seconds after a power outage late in the first quarter.

Josh Stewart hit Consol's only 3-pointer and made a couple of layups after assists by Alex Caruso as the Tigers twice built six-point leads in the first quarter, but Harker Heights went 10-for-10 from the free throw line for a 16-15 edge after the opening period.

Consol broke the Knights' full-court pressure to score four baskets in the first half and led 27-24 at intermission. Starting guard Quinton White missed much of the half with foul trouble, but the Tigers got a lift off the bench from Josh Potter, who made a couple of free throws and hit a basket.

Caruso, the Tigers' scoring leader for the season, finished with 11 points as he hit 4-of-10 shots. Harker Heights was able to limit how often Caruso touched the ball in scoring position, but paid a price near the basket. Gilbert and Caruso (eight rebounds) helped Consol build a 34-16 advantage on the boards.

"We focused so much on making sure Caruso didn't get shots," Bobbitt said. "Gilbert did a great job of doing what he does, hitting the boards and being solid."

Bobbitt called the game good preparation for the postseason. Consol will go into the playoffs as the district's top seed if the Tigers close the regular season with wins over Belton, Temple and Killeen Ellison.

"We knew we had to beat them if we were going to get what we want," German said. "We talked about championships before we ever played a game, that this was going to be our season."

A&M Consolidated 54, Harker Heights 44

(Numbers indicate field goals, free throws made-attempted, fouls and points)

CONSOL (26-4, 10-1) -- Josh Stewart 6 0-0 2 13; Josh Potter 1 4-5 1 6; Quinton White 3 0-0 3 6; Kerry Thomas 1 0-0 1 2; Alex Caruso 4 3-4 1 11; Jeremy Capps 1 0-0 1 2; Jimmie Gilbert 6 2-4 2 14; Josh Kipp 0 0-0 1 0. Totals: 22 9-13 12 54.

HARKER HEIGHTS (23-7, 9-2) -- C.J. Rodriguez 1 4-4 2 6; Cameron Delaney 4 0-2 1 12; Thomas Cherry 4 2-2 0 10; Josh Delaney 3 2-2 0 10; Blake Ervin 0 3-8 3 3; Andre Hughes 0 0-0 0 0; Naashon Hughes 1 1-1 2 3; Trumell McCrimmon 0 0-0 3 0. Totals: 13 12-19 12 44.

Heights 16 8 16 4 -- 44

Consol 15 12 12 15 -- 54

Field goal shooting: Consol 22-46, Heights 13-36.

3-ploint shooting: Consol 1-7, Heights 6-15.

Rebounds: Consol 34, Heights 16.

Turnovers: Consol 15, Heights 14.

JV: Heights 68, Consol 50.

Next: Consol will play at Belton on Tuesday.