When Severna Park forward Jennifer Holmes went to the bench for the first time yesterday, she had 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Annapolis coach Dave Griffith put two players on her -- both freshmen more than 6 feet tall. Neither could make a difference.
The problem would worsen for Annapolis. There still was another half of basketball to go when Holmes returned.
The 6-1 junior continued to dominate inside, finishing with 27 points, 26 rebounds and six blocks to lead No. 9 Severna Park to its fourth win, 55-48, over the visiting Panthers.
Griffith was pleased at halftime that his defense had shut down junior Angela DeSalvo, who scored two points and got into early foul trouble. She came in averaging 19 points.
But Holmes took advantage of the Falcons' poor outside shooting with numerous put-backs, something even 6-1 Kammi Cottrell and 6-2 Jackie Edwards couldn't prevent. And they often were on the court at the same time.
"We tried everything we could against her," said Griffith, whose team has lost three of its first four games for the second straight year. Last season, the Panthers bounced back to make the state playoffs.
"We had one fronting her and one behind her. A little of the inexperience hurt us, but not much. She just tore us up. She's going to be a force in [Anne Arundel County]."
Said Holmes, who has 86 rebounds in four games: "When the competition gets better, you have to rise to the occasion."
She nearly went through the roof.
The next time Holmes was removed, with 1:11 left in the third quarter, she had 22 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks. But the Panthers, down 38-73, were staying close.
They got within 38-37 at the beginning of the fourth quarter on a basket by Emily Nugent. Holmes then made a layup, passed to Lisa Davis for a short jumper and scored inside off a feed from Davis for a 44-37 lead.
When Lauryn McAlister put back a missed shot for a 46-37 lead, Severna Park appeared to be safe.
But the long-range shooting of Nugent, who had 16 of her 19 points in the second half, and Jamie Pleyo (18 points) kept the outcome in doubt until the final seconds.
Falcons senior Sandy Jenkin (13 points) made some big plays down the stretch.
She hit from the outside and made a free throw for a 49-40 lead with two minutes left, and passed to DeSalvo (eight points) for a left-handed layup.
She also made a couple of steals and grabbed some key rebounds in the quarter despite picking up her fourth foul with 6:25 left.
With Jenkin and DeSalvo in foul trouble and starting guard Alli Adams unavailable because of a family commitment, coach Kevin McGrath had to go to his inexperienced bench more than normal.
He used 11 players in the first half, when Severna Park went ahead for good, 20-18, on DeSalvo's baseline jumper.
"It's not perfect yet, but it's coming together," he said. "There were certain things we did tonight that we've never done. The defense is getting better."