Last night's matchup between No. 2 St. Frances and No. &&TC; Hammond in the Holly and Hoops Tournament at Essex Community College figured to be an exciting contest.
And it was, although it certainly wasn't predictable.
In a game that featured a bench-clearing scuffle, the ejection of both teams' best players and an unlikely comeback, the Golden Bears prevailed, 56-51, to advance in the Holly Division.
Hammond (4-2) will meet No. 8 Severna Park (6-0), a 61-58 overtime winner over Frederick's St. John's-Prospect Hall (7-6) in the other Holly Division game last night, in tonight's championship game at 8.
St. Frances (7-2) will play Prospect Hall in the consolation game today at 4.
In the Hoops Division yesterday, No. 20 Loch Raven (4-1) upset No. 14 Mount Hebron (4-3), 47-37, and No. 10 Seton Keough (7-1) routed C. Milton Wright (3-3), 65-32.
Loch Raven and Seton Keough will play for the championship tonight at 6. Mount Hebron will face C. Milton Wright in the consolation game at 2.
Hammond had trailed by as many as 10 points with 4:45 remaining, and was down 49-41 with 2:39 left.
That's when the Golden Bears, specifically sophomore Rene Hines, went to work.
Hines, who had missed her first 10 shots, scored all 12 of her points in the fourth quarter, including nine in the final 2:39.
After a basket by Tameka Harrison (17 points) pulled Hammond within six, Hines scored six straight points to tie the game at 49 with 1:19 remaining.
Hammond took a 51-49 lead on Kellye Townsend's hook shot with :48 left, but St. Frances point guard Jakia Ervin made both ends of another one-and-one with :45 left.
Junior Monica White, who is rarely on the court in crucial situations, scored on a follow shot and was fouled to put Hammond ahead to stay, 53-51, with :21 remaining.
White missed the free throw, but Brandy Peaker came up with a steal with four seconds left.
Hines hit a three-pointer as time expired.
"We started to press and pick up the tempo in the fourth quarter," Hammond coach Joe Russo said. "I think we outhustled them."
Both teams had been playing without their All-Metro players -- St. Frances' Melba Chambers and Hammond's Tiki Nicholson -- since late in the first quarter.
A scuffle between the two with 1:40 left in the first half resulted in their ejection, along with that of St. Frances freshman Nillon Lambert.
To further complicate matters for St. Frances, Kortni and Kristi Webb were both in foul trouble for most of the game. Kortni fouled out with :21 left. Kristi finished with 18 points.
In the Hoops Division, Loch Raven outscored Mount Hebron 29-12 in the second half and limited it to 4-for-29 shooting from the field.
Kelley Powell and Nicole Froman led a balanced Loch Raven offense with 13 points apiece. Powell, who scored 10 in the second half, also pulled down nine rebounds and Robyn Harry added 10 points.
Loch Raven, which was behind by as many as nine points early in the second half after trailing 25-18 at the intermission, began the third quarter on a 14-4 run and never trailed after taking a 30-29 lead on a basket by Harry with 3:12 remaining in the period.
The Vikings, who suffered a major blow when point guard Alisha Mosley went out with an ankle injury with 2:20 left in the first quarter and did not return, went through two long stretches without a field goal in the second half.
Rebounding was a key factor in the Raiders' win. After being out-rebounded 15-5 in the second quarter, Loch Raven held a 28-21 edge on the boards in the second half.
"Their offensive rebounding was killing us," Loch Raven coach Ken Witts said. "Even though we like to play matchup defense, sometimes when you're denying and you're in front of the player and the ball goes up, you don't get a chance to go around and box out. So we went to a little zone and that gave them a fit."
In the other Hoops Division game, Melanie Morris scored 12 points to lead Seton Keough over C. Milton Wright.