After Wilde Lake’s season-opening loss to Glenelg Country School on Saturday, head coach Rhonda Corkeron said she was “quietly confident” that the Wildecats would have a better season than their previous two.
She was right.
After 32 straight Howard County losses, the Wilde Lake girls basketball team won its first county game of the season Wednesday with a 36-31 victory at Glenelg.
The triumph is the Wildecats’ first county win since their victory over Hammond on Feb. 17, 2017.
“Everybody expects us to lie down and die,” said Corkeron to her team after the game. “But not this year.”
The county win is the first for Corkeron, who is in her third season at the helm. Her daughter, however, was a freshman on the 2016-17 Wilde Lake team that won on Senior Night against Hammond. Kalani Corkeron, who led the Wildecats with 11 points on Wednesday, said the win validates the hard work the team has put in over the past few seasons.
“It’s so nice to get this win,” Kalani Corkeron said. “I feel like we’ve all come such a long way from my sophomore year, when we had seven players, to my senior year, where we have more players and we’re more developed and we’re making progress.”
The biggest difference with this season’s Wilde Lake team, according to Rhonda Corkeron, is the number of players on the roster. Compared to seven or eight players in the past two seasons, Wilde Lake has a full roster comprised of girls with varsity experience.
“Now they know they can compete and that we can win,” Rhonda Corkeron said. “The program is now moving in an upward swing. We have some players who have come with some talent, and we’re not starting from ground zero like we were before.”
Glenelg head coach David Ebbe said overlooking the Wildecats wasn’t why the Gladiators lost Wednesday. He saw Wilde Lake scrimmage Damascus in the preseason, and he knew they were a “legitimate varsity basketball team.”
“We knew what we were walking into. This wasn’t like we underestimated them by any means. We knew they were good coming in," Ebbe said. “... They have good talent, and they’re athletic. They also have a good mindset this year, so they’re playing with confidence.”
The low-scoring game at Glenelg High School started with Wilde Lake (1-0 Howard County, 1-1) coming out fast. The Wildecats took a 13-1 lead after the first period, led by five points from Kalani Corkeron and a 3-pointer from freshman Nevaeh Brown.
“We dug ourselves a hole in the first quarter,” Ebbe said. “We definitely did not handle their press well early on. We struggled to get into a half-court offense. We missed quite a few layups, and we missed too many free throws. For the game, we only made 8 of 24 free throws.”
Glenelg (1-2, 1-2) responded in the second quarter, though, with a run of its own. They shut out the Wildecats in the period and scored 10 points, including six from freshman Lauren LaPointe, to trail 13-11 entering halftime. LaPointe led the Gladiators with 11 points in the loss.
After taking a four-point lead into the fourth quarter, the Wildecats pulled away in the first four minutes of the period. Sophomore Claire Zimmerman hit a crucial 3-pointer, sophomore Mia Swaby-Rowe made two layups and Kalani Corkeron made all four of her free-throw attempts to put away the Gladiators.
“We had to celebrate the little victories to get through such a long season like the winter is,” said Kalani Corkeron of the difficulties of the past two seasons. “The progress that everyone made, we battled injuries and played games with six or seven players. It was mentally and physically challenging to be constantly beat down. To show this season that this is who we are and this is what we’re capable for doing is going to make up for all of it.”
Wilde Lake is back in action Friday at Hammond, while Glenelg’s next game is Monday at home against Westminster.
BOX SCORE:
Wilde Lake 36, Glenelg 31
WL (1-0, 1-1): K. Corkeron 11, C. Zimmerman 8, M. Swaby-Rowe 7, B. Floyd 5, N. Brown 3, J. Johnson 2.
G (1-2, 1-2): L. LaPointe 11, G. Tolbert 8, A. Cook 4, S. Salafia 3, L. Davis 3, J. Torres-Kruger 2.
Halftime: 13-11, WL
OTHER SCORES:
Mt. Hebron 64, Centennial 62
Senior Tori Valentine scored a career-high 35 points in Mt. Hebron’s first county win of the season over rival Centennial. The point guard outscored the Eagles by herself in the first quarter, 12-10. She scored eight more points in the second quarter and even made three 3-pointers in the second half. Erin Dixon and Ashley Unkenholz both chipped in with seven points in the triumph. Dixon helped seal the victory with two clutch free throws in the fourth quarter.
Box score:
MH (1-1, 2-1): T. Valentine 35, E. Dixon 7, A. Unkenholz 7, A. Harrington 5, R. Vidal 4, D. Bodziak 4, K. Milano 2.
C (0-2, 1-2): B. Anderson 22, T. Pearson 14, L. Pellegrini 11, A. Urquiaga 5, S. Sopchick 4, O. Jackson 2, C. LasCasas 2, O. Reese 2.
Halftime: 38-30, MH
Marriotts Ridge 51, Long Reach 15
The Mustangs have started the 2019-20 season 4-0 overall and 2-0 in county play. After coming back to defeat South Carroll on Tuesday, senior Emma Morath scored 14 points to lead the Mustangs to a convincing win over Long Reach on Wednesday. Morath also scored 10 points in Marriotts Ridge’s win Tuesday.
Box score:
MR (2-0, 4-0): E. Morath 14, M. Lee 9, K. Lee 7, E. Miller 4, K. Bryan 4, C. Meininger 4, A. Windsor 3, C. Del Monte 2, C. Crawford 2, N. Held 2,
LR (0-2, 0-3): T. Whittle 4, O. Aofolaya 4, J. Putman 3, S. Sims 2, A. Nagle 2.
Halftime: 31-9, MR
Reservoir 67, Hammond 38
A few days after scoring 26 points to lead Reservoir to a season-opening win over Mt. Hebron, Tiffany Hooker scored 27 Wednesday to lead the Gators to a convincing win over Hammond. Hooker also had seven assists and three steals in the triumph. Maddy Davis chipped in with 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals, while Kate Abunassar tallied eight points and six boards. Hammond was led by junior Jocelyn Fogle, who scored 19 points and made two 3-pointers.
Box score:
Re (2-0, 2-0): T. Hooker 27, M. Davis 13, K. Abunassar 8, A. Pressley 5, L. Dudzinski 4, K. Holmes 2, R. Malwitz 2, L. Hardie 2, A. Jenne 2, A. Pennington 2.
Ha (0-2, 0-2): J. Fogle 19, M. Woodson 9, K. Brown 4, R. Smoot 3, J. Thomas 2, K. Beahm 1.
Halftime: 32-22, Re
Howard 71, Oakland Mills 34
For the third straight game to start the season, Howard’s Anii Harris, Marisa Sanchez-Henry and Gabby Scott scored in double digits in a Lions victory. Harris scored 17, while Sanchez-Henry and Scott chipped in with 15 and 10, respectively. Emily Durkee also made two 3-pointers for the Lions in her 12-point performance. Jazmine Washington led Oakland Mills with 17 points, including three 3-pointers.
Box score:
Ho (3-0, 3-0): A. Harris 17, M. Sanchez-Henry 15, E. Durkee 12, G. Scott 10, K. McDuffie 6, C. Malagar 3, L. Fritz 3, S. Nasir 2, K. Denicola 2, K. Sabitini 1.
OM (0-1, 1-1): J. Washington 17, D. Chisholm 8, J. Harris 7, M. Pritchett 1, K. Browne 1.
Halftime: 40-14, OM
Glenelg Country School 47, Notre Dame Prep 40
GJuniors Ashlyn Bender and Caroline Haynes led Glenelg Country to an IAAM B Conference win. Bender scored 14, and Haynes scored 10 to improve the Dragons’ conference record to 3-1. Both juniors made two 3-pointers apiece in the win. GCS started fast and got out to a 15-5 lead. After winning 30-14 at halftime, NDP made a comeback in the second half, but four points in the quarter from Cydney Lisk helped seal the win.
Box score:
GCS (3-1 IAAM B, 4-3): A. Bender 14, C. Haynes 10, B. Byrne 8, C. Lisk 6, A. Keenan 5, N. O’Ferrall 2, L. Doreen 2.
NDP: S. Davis 9, A. Melchiaani 9, L. Regan 6, M. Mercadante 5, A. Rudolph 5, T. Johnson 2, E. Ezumba 2, S. Britt 2,
Halftime: 30-14, GCS
River Hill 51, Atholton 38
Box score:
RH (2-0, 3-0): K. Clark 13, A. Smith 12, S. Jackson 10, C. Duffy 9, A. Thompson 4, K. Kettleman 2, E. Devine 1.
A (0-2, 0-3): N. Blair 15, M. Hargrett 10, T. Kidd 4, S. Mims 3, L. Cowsette 3, E. Morton 3.
TUESDAY’S SCORES:
Marriotts Ridge 38, South Carroll 33
Free-throw shooting led Marriotts Ridge to its third straight victory to start the season. The Mustangs made all 12 of their free-throw attempts in the second half to defeat South Carroll in a non-count contest. Seniors Emma Miller and Emma Morath led the Mustangs with 10 points apiece.
Box score:
MR (1-0, 3-0): E. Miller 10, E. Morath 10, M. Lee 6, C. Crawford 4, K. Bryan 4, A. Windsor 2, C. Meininger 2.
SC: B. Fowler 9, R. Tackett 8, L. Habighorst 5, S. Hill 3, P. Abbott 2, S. McTavish 2, G. Oetken 2, K. Evans 2.
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Halftime: 17-12, SC