It had all the makings of a disastrous loss for the Mount Hebron girls basketball team.

The seventh-ranked Vikings endured a nine minute, 13-second stretch in which they couldn't manage a single point, and watched as No. 6 Long Reach turned a 19-point deficit into a one-point fourth-quarter lead.

But senior guard Thera Wolven asserted herself at a critical time, knocking down three-pointers on consecutive possessions to jump-start the Vikings to a 48-35 win over the scrappy Lightning in the Howard County opener for both teams at Mount Hebron.

"It would have been devastating to lose this game because we're the county champs from last year, and to see them ranked ahead of us was really a big motivating factor," said Vikings senior Kristen Waagbo, who turned in another stellar outing with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field and 4-for-5 from the foul line.

Only three other Vikings scored, with Wolven and junior Lauren Chell registering 10 points each and senior Stephanie Bissett adding eight.

It was Wolven, however, who hit the biggest shots of the afternoon for the Vikings (2-0).

Long Reach (1-1), which didn't make a field goal in the first quarter and the first 2 1/2 minutes of the second and trailed 22-3 at one point, engineered a 15-0 run spanning the second and third quarters. The Lightning eventually took a 31-30 lead on a put-back from junior guard Lytia Blackmon in the opening minute of the fourth.

With Waagbo being denied the ball by the Lightning's Whitney Ward and others, Wolven stepped up and hit two three-pointers from the top of the key. The second one gave the Vikings a 36-31 lead with 5:50 remaining

"I would say as a team that we stayed mentally in the game and that helped us a lot, especially when they had their big run," Wolven said. "Our team got momentum after those threes."

The Vikings scored on three straight possessions after the three-pointers, and would score 12 straight points to lead 48-31 with two minutes left.

"I just thought our kids showed a lot of moxie," said Vikings coach Scott Robinson. "It was gut-check time and we went on that run."

Long Reach junior guard Timisha Gomez had 13 points on 5-for-12 shooting. The Lightning showed great resiliency but didn't shoot or defend well down the stretch.

Said Lightning coach Kevin Broadus: "I give Mount Hebron credit because when we were up by one, they started hitting shots and that's the name of the game."