By Jesse Dougherty; WASHINGTON POST

In almost any game and with almost any coach on the sideline, a 17-3 run by the opposing team would quickly trigger a timeout.

But Malcolm Battle never considered it. His Cesar Chavez team didn’t make it to the Public Charter School Athletic Association boys’ championship game by panicking, and it wouldn’t win by panicking, either. Battle let his players play, and they finished the quarter with 11 straight points that turned a 10-point deficit into a one-point lead.

The Eagles never trailed again in a 59-48 win over Thurgood Marshall in Northeast Washington on Sunday. Cesar Chavez’s Keleaf Tate, who either scored or assisted on all 11 points during that decisive stretch, scored 11 of his 15 in the second half for the Eagles (17-7).

Jacob Long scored nine of his 15 in the fourth. Thurgood Marshall was paced by Karl Robinson’s 12 points, but the Warriors (19-11) never recovered from the Eagles’ end-of-third surge.

“You see how your guys will respond, you test them,” Battle said. “And I know these guys well, so I knew they could do it. And next thing you know, they are the ones taking the timeout, and you’re going to win the game.”

Cesar Chavez’s preparation started all the way back on Nov. 30. With a strong core of seniors including Tate, Long, Tyrese White and Troy Johnson, Battle scheduled a road game with top-flight Paul VI for the season opener. The Eagles lost by 12, and on Feb. 4 they lost to Eleanor Roosevelt by three.

But they were learning how to play in games like Sunday’s, in which physicality, pressure and pace are unrelenting.

The Warriors pushed ahead by attacking the rim before burning the Eagles from deep. Tate, who shot poorly throughout, deferred to teammates as Thurgood Marshall’s lead ballooned to double digits. Then he went into full-on attack mode, scoring six straight points before closing the third quarter with two heady assists.

The first was a cross-court shovel pass that set up Khalel Tolen for a wide-open three-pointer. The second came after he danced through the Warriors’ full-court press, stopped on a dime at the elbow and set up a buzzer-beating jumper for Martin Lawrence.

After it swished through the rim, Tate clenched his fists and screamed at the ceiling. And the Eagles never looked back.

“Coach trusted us, and we trusted him back,” Tate said. “That’s how you win games like this.”