A few minutes after Milford Mill handed his team a 30-point loss last month, Overlea coach Tom Gere said the Falcons would be ready for the rematch. Last night, Overlea appeared ready -- especially Rob Cousins.
Cousins scored the final two of his 25 points on a 15-foot jumper with 10 seconds left to give No. 18 Overlea a 61-60 victory over No. 12 Milford Mill in a Baltimore County 1A-2A game.
The Overlea victory ended host Milford Mill's two-year, 38-game Baltimore County 1A-2A winning streak. The last loss for Milford Mill was in February 1993 to Sparrows Point.
The win also pulls Overlea (18-1overall, 18-1 in county) into a virtual tie for first place in the division with Milford Mill (18-3, 16-1). The division winner plays at No. 7 Randallstown for the county title on Saturday.
When the two teams last met, Milford Mill turned the game into a track meet and scored a 99-69 victory. This time, Overlea controlled and slowed the tempo, forcing the Millers to play a half-court game.
Overlea likes to run, but the Falcons rarely did this time. They stayed in control much of the way and held Milford Mill to its lowest point total of the season.
"We played smarter, much smarter, this time," said Gere. "We felt we could execute down the stretch."
And so they did. Milford Mill switched to a man-to-man defense in the second half, but Overlea then spread the floor and did a good job of finding high-percentage shots.
Still, the Millers nearly pulled it out. They hit eight of 12 from the field in the fourth quarter and their 15-5 run gave them a 56-53 lead with two minutes left. The Millers held a 60-57 lead with 49 seconds remaining, but Cousins sparked the final comeback.
Cousins, who scored 11 in the fourth quarter, fed Shawn Hampton for a layup that cut the deficit to one with 40 seconds left. Keon Sellman (20 points) then missed the front end of a one-and-one for the Millers, and Overlea set up an isolation play for Cousins, who hit the game-winner.
"When I got some breathing room, I shot," said Cousins. "I knew it was going in as soon as I shot it."
Overlea made most shots difficult for Milford Mill and Blanchard Hurd. Last time, the area's leading scorer racked up 42 points. Last night, however, Overlea double- and triple-teamed Hurd, holding him to 20.
Hurd, also the area's top rebounder, pulled down 23, but Hampton (eight points, five rebounds) and Shannon Barnette (16, 15) helped to neutralize him inside.
"We played one-third of the game tonight," said Milford Mill coach Homer Seidel. "We weren't ready to play. They came ready to play, and we did not."