The Harford Community College men's and women's basketball teams are on the brink of winning Maryland JUCO championships.
Both teams are in the championship round, scheduled for Wednesday after bad weather caused postponements and delays in the tournament schedule.
The HCC women (#2 seed) will play Hagerstown (#4) at 6 p.m., while the HCC men (#7) will meet Frederick (#1) at 8 p.m. Both games are scheduled to be played at Montgomery College. Should weather be a problem, action will move to Thursday.
The HCC women reached the final for the third consecutive season, knocking of the host Raptors of Montgomery on Semifinal Saturday, 80-70.
Ashley Hightower powered the squad into the finals with her second double-double of the tournament, 14 points and a career-high 24 rebounds. The Raptors scored on the first possession of the game, but Harford scored 22 of the next 30 points to take the lead for good and cruise to the victory.
Jazmin Johnson led all scorers with 22 points and six assists, while Ashley Smith chipped in with 20 points and nine rebounds. Mia Fitts netted double figures for the second playoff game with 14 points.
The Fighting Owls were a perfect 14-for-14 from the free throw line, making the team 22-for-22 from the charity stripe in this tournament. It is also the fourth time this year the team was perfect from the line in a game.
Harford advanced to the semis Thursday, with a 91-40 victory over Prince George's in the quarterfinals. Six Fighting Owls scored in double figures.
Hightower recorded a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. She shot eight-for-13 from the floor and pulled in seven offensive and defensive boards. Classmate Smith also tallied 16 points on six-of-10 shooting to go with six rebounds and five assists.
Jasalyn Denkins recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Johnson added 14 points, seven boards and five assists, while Mia Fitts stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Zana Godoy netted 13 bench points and Connor Hanley (Bel Air) had a baker's dozen rebounds.
The Fighting Owls started the game off on a 16-0 run and never trailed in their 18th win in their last 19 games.
Men impressive, too
HCC men is headed back to the championship for the second time in three seasons after Cedric Hines connected on a game-winning, three-pointer with 0.7 seconds left to give the Fighting Owls a 66-63 victory over third-seed CCBC Dundalk on Saturday in Rockville.
With the score tied at 63, the Fighting Owls called timeout with 12 seconds left, after corralling an offensive rebound to set up one final shot. The play was designed for sophomore Brandon Spain to drive to the basket, but when the defense collapsed on him, he kicked the ball out to an open Hines who buried the game-winner with less than a second remaining.
Exzavier Cooper tied the score at 52-52 with 7:56 remaining after Harford trailed by seven with 9:57 left. The score was tied four more times down the stretch, but Harford broke the tie with the lead every time, including Hines' clutch triple.
Cooper led the Fighting Owls with 20 points and 14 rebounds, bouncing back from a foul-plagued quarterfinal performance. Spain contributed 17 points, seven boards, seven assists and four steals, while Hines added a dozen on five-of-nine shooting, including two, three-pointers.
HCC advanced to the semis with a 63-52 victory over second seed Garrett on Friday afternoon. Sophomore point guard Spain recorded a double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
Spain connected on a jumper with 2:37 left to kickstart a 12-0 Fighting Owls run to end the game. Trailing 52-51, the sophomore netted nine of his game-high 24 points in the decisive run, including a three-pointer with 1:38 left to give the Fighting Owls cushion. He was also four-for-four from the line in the final moments.
Sophomores Malachi Seney and Alie Kondeh both tallied 10 points off the bench, while Hines and Jon Warren netted seven and six, respectively. Both Hines and Warren dished out four assists.
The Fighting Owls forced 22 turnovers, a Garrett season-high, and held the Lakers to a season low 52 points on 35.4 percent shooting, their third-lowest percentage from the floor this year. Earlier this season, Harford handed Garrett an 85-59 loss on the road.