In a battle for pride and second place in the county standings, 13th-ranked Mount Hebron fended off 16th-ranked Wilde Lake's fourth-quarter charge to claim a 48-42 win yesterday.
Mount Hebron improved to 8-4 in the county (13-7 overall). The Vikings have not lost five county games since 1983 and have finished third or lower only once in the last 16 years.
"We're playing for dignity now," said Mount Hebron junior point guard Alisha Mosley, who finished with 25 points.
"We've had a few close losses and want to get back into a groove heading into the playoffs. We thought if we won this game we would finish in second provided we win our last two games."
Wilde Lake, who earlier this season upset the Vikings at home, 57-48, fell to third place with a 7-5 county record (12-6 overall).
After six second-quarter lead changes that ended with the Vikings taking a 20-18 lead at intermission, Mount Hebron slowly built an 11-point advantage in the second half.
A Jenny Joyce layup and a free throw by Mosley gave Mount Hebron a 40-29 edge with 5:20 left.
Wilde Lake went on an 11-0 run in the next three minutes to tie the game at 40. Freshman Bridget White's layup started the Wildecats' offensive surge that was capped by White's assist to Krista Entrop (13 points, 20 rebounds) for the game-tying jumper.
Two free throws by Mosley gave Mount Hebron the lead for good with just over a minute to go.
Wilde Lake pulled to 42-40 on Entrop's layup with 51 seconds left, but the Wildecats could not capitalize off a midcourt steal by Toni White seconds later. Wilde Lake missed on three consecutive shots at the basket that would have tied the game at 42.
"We were starting to get a little tired at the end because we didn't have as many subs with Sarah [Eberhart] sitting out sick," Mosley said. "We made some bad passes."
Mosley sealed the victory with four free throws to give the Vikings the six-point margin of victory.
"We were happy we beat them the first time," said Wilde Lake senior and leading scorer Kristen Riismandel (nine points). "So we didn't feel any extra pressure to win here. I just couldn't get the ball early on as Kathy Doyle played great defense against me."