ELLICOTT CITY, MD — After losing to C. Milton Wright in the Milford Mill tournament over the holidays, the previously undefeated Mt. Hebron girls basketball team was eager to turn the calendar over to 2015.
"It was humbling. I think we needed that. It couldn't have come at a better time," coach Tony Bell said. "The girls have been practicing so hard after that happened. They've been really refocused."
The Vikings, who defeated Frederick in the first game of that tournament, got back to their winning ways with an emphatic 60-32 win over visiting Long Reach Monday night.
"The boxing out today, the way we were passing the ball, making our shots ... we're gearing up for the second half of the county run," Bell said.
Gabby Green led all players with 15 points in the first half, but a crowd of Mt. Hebron players came off the bench to contribute in the second half.
"Gabby is phenomenal. And the good thing about us is there's no one-stop player," Bell said. "If you stop Gabby. Then you have to worry about Megan Doherty (5 points). Stop Megan Doherty, then you have to worry about Megan Konig (3). Stop Megan Konig, then you have worry about Nia Crump (12). Then we have girls who come off the bench, shooting, looking to score, aggressive. You can't ask for more."
Olivia Williams dominated the boards in the second half, pulling down 13 rebounds.
"I call her the quiet assassin. She's not going to be the loudest person, but at the end of the day she's going to be the one on the floor who does all of the dirty work that goes unnoticed," Bell said of Williams. "But we notice it on our team, we know how important she is to this team."
Giovanna Alli came off the bench to score six points with three rebounds and a block in the second half for the Vikings.
Long Reach coach Kelli Cofield knew what her team was going up against, but was encouraged by their efforts.
"We saw some good things, (Alana Ratliffe) really helped us out defensively on our side," she said. "But we've got to be a little more disciplined and running our sets regardless of pressure."
The Lightning was led by Jaya Green and Alana Ratliffe, who combined to score 15 points. Emily Joyce came off the bench to add six points for Long Reach.
LR (2-4): Green 8; Ratliffe 7; Joyce 6; Ezimako 4; K. Williams 4; Mata 2; D. Williams 1.
MH (6-0): Green 15; Crump 12; Alli 6; Doherty 5; Purnell 5; Demek 4; Konig 3; Kumar 3; LeConte 3; Williams 2; Devine 1.
Half: MH 31-12