Hammond can clinch its second straight Howard County girls basketball championship with a win tonight at Mount Hebron.
The No. 2-ranked Golden Bears are unbeaten in 10 league games and lead the No. 13 Vikings by three games. The last time the two met, the Bears pulled out a 60-55 win after Mount Hebron rallied to tie at 51.
This time, however, both teams are coming off losses. The Vikings (12-6) were upset by Glenelg, 56-52, Friday.
Hammond (15-3) has a 30-game winning streak against county competition, but the Bears didn't quite have enough to beat Gar-Field Saturday. Gar-Field, 19-0 and ranked fourth in the Washington Post Top 20 coaches poll, defeated the Bears, 65-52, in Woodbridge, Va.
Against a front line of three players 6-2 or over, the Bears got into foul trouble and 6-1 Rene Hines and 6-0 Kellye Townsend only managed to combine for 12 points. From the outside, the Bears, who are ranked ninth in the Post poll, were more successful with Tameka Harrison scoring 23 and Tiki Nicholson adding 13.
"It was a good game. They were excellent," said assistant coach Al Moraz, filling in for injured head coach Joe Russo. "They were very big and a lot deeper than we were. They were up a couple times by 10 and we made a run at them, but Rene and Kellye got into foul trouble, so they were never in at the same time in the fourth quarter."
Transition time
Centennial's Amanda Brewer was supposed to undergo surgery two weeks ago to correct a painful foot problem. Instead, she has played in the last five basketball games.
Her return to the lineup could not have come at a better time. The 5-9 sophomore came back just in time to fill a void created by two other injuries. Kathleen O'Connor, a 5-10 forward, is lost for the season with a torn knee ligament. Meredith Price, a 5-11 forward, is out with a severely sprained ankle.
"Luckily, Amanda didn't have surgery," said Eagles coach Dave Greenberg. "She stepped in when we needed her, and now, she knows that she's got to be counted on. She's able to deal with [the pain]. She just can't move quite as well."
Greenberg said Brewer has an extra bone in her foot that causes the pain. Since the condition cannot get worse, Brewer will have the surgery after the season ends.
With Brewer filling in, the Eagles have not lost any ground. They vaulted into the Top 20 last week for the first time in at least six years. The Eagles remain at No. 20 this week after nearly upsetting Mount Hebron, 55-54, and beating Oakland Mills, 38-30.
The defense has come on strong behind Gina Dinisio, Jodi Godbout and Mallory Groves, and Kish Jordan continues to lead the offense. Jordan ranks second in the metro area in scoring with a 23.1 average. She scored 35 against Mount Hebron and 24 against Oakland Mills.
Dragon All-Stars
Glenelg Country School's Robin Zimmerly and Sonia Fernandez-Martin were selected Association of Independent Schools girls basketball all-stars. Zimmerly, a senior veteran, and Fernandez-Martin, an exchange student from Spain, led the Dragons to the AIS B Division regular-season championship and the runner-up spot in the tournament.
Only seven girls were selected from the six B Division teams. Those six will mix in with 14 A Division selections for tonight's annual AIS all-star game at 6:30 at Roland Park Country School.
Playoff-bound
Chapelgate Christian's girls basketball team will play host to a Maryland Christian Athletic League semifinal game next Tuesday at 5 p.m.
The Flames (10-11) finished in a three-way tie for the regular-season championship, but ended up second in the tiebreaking process behind Lanham Christian. As second seeds, they will play host to third-seeded and defending champion Rock Church in the semifinal. If they win, the Flames advance to the championship game Feb. 25 at 5 p.m. at Essex Community College.
Chapelgate, which finished second in last year's tournament, split its two meetings with Rock this year.