Second-ranked Hammond seems to face more pressure all the time, but it doesn't stop the Golden Bears from winning.
With last night's 61-58 win at Glenelg, the Golden Bears (12-2, 7-0) have swept the competition in their first-half run through the Howard County league. The defending county champions lead everyone by at least two games.
But the unranked Gladiators (10-5, 3-4) did not make last night's win easy. Hammond led by six or more points four times but could not break away.
Hammond's last big lead came when Brandy Peaker fed Tina Wilmer for a 16-footer to pull ahead 57-50 with 2:36 left in the game.
Then Lauren Brown fed Jill Younce and Kim Brown hit three of four free throws to pull Glenelg to within 57-55 with 56 seconds to go.
Tameka Harrison drove the baseline for a layup to push Hammond's lead back to four, but Kim Brown found Carrie Brown open on the wing for a three-pointer to bring the Gladiators within 59-58 with 17 seconds remaining.
Glenelg threw on the press, but the Bears cut right through it. Harrison found Monica White open under the basket for the easy lay-in to seal the game with 11 seconds left.
"We wanted to press them and not let them get the ball inbounds or foul them right away," said Kim Brown. "But we didn't get the foul and they made the shot. We didn't have a timeout, so we had to try for the three-pointer but it didn't work."
Not only did the Bears not allow Glenelg the shots it wanted late in the game, but they dominated the boards -- 11 rebounds to five -- in the last five minutes.
"I think it just came down to rebounding really," said Hammond coach Al Moraz. "They were getting some rebounds, but then in the last three or four minutes, we were only giving them one shot and we picked it up on defense. We win our games on defense; you're not going to win it with offense."
The Bears surely weren't going to win last night's game with offense because they had only two real offensive threats the whole night.
Harrison and Kellye Townsend combined for 49 points. Harrison, a 5-foot-9 guard, scored a season-high 25 points and added three assists. She also made four three-pointers to set the school record for most three-pointers in a single season with 18.
Inside, the Gladiators had no one who could match up with Townsend, a 6-0 junior forward. She scored eight points in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter and finished with 16 rebounds.
The pressure was on Townsend, because the Bears played without their leading scorer (13 points) and only other inside veteran, 6-1 Rene Hines, who sat out for disciplinary reasons.
"Somebody had to pick up the slack for that, so I knew I had to work harder," said Townsend, who added that she and Hines average about 24 rebounds.
"A lot of the people that moved up to starting positions weren't used to that pressure, because this team is really physical."
For Glenelg, Younce scored 19, including two quick three-pointers and a layup that erased a seven-point Hammond halftime lead. Carrie Brown added 17 and Kim Brown, 12.