Then there was one.
The River Hill girls basketball team emerged as Howard County's only unbeaten team in the league after the No. 2 and host Hawks dispatched No. 4 Glenelg, 62-51, in Clarksville last night.
Senior forward Megan Buescher pumped in a game-high 19 points and came away with five rebounds, while senior guard Laura Hostetler added 16 points, six steals, four rebounds and three assists to lift River Hill to a 10-2 overall record and a 9-0 county mark.
The Gladiators suffered their first loss in the county, falling to 6-1 in the league and 9-2 overall.
"We just got the job done tonight," Hostetler said. "We'll go back to work tomorrow."
Unlike Friday's defensive display in which the Hawks scored just 47 points - their second-lowest total of the season - en route to a 12-point win against No. 5 Mount Hebron, they met a Glenelg squad that seemed to relish an up-tempo style of play.
Both teams scored 13 points in the first quarter before River Hill took advantage of seven Gladiators turnovers in the second quarter to enjoy a 31-21 lead at halftime.
"Our shots were working," said Buescher, who scored nine points in the first half. "We could break down their defense. ... I felt like today's game was much better than last Friday. That game was ugly."
The Hawks eventually extended their lead to 12 with less than two minutes left in the third period, but Glenelg junior guard Jess Slick scored five points and senior guard Katie Krumpotich accounted for three to spark a quarter-ending 9-0 run to shave the deficit to three points.
The Gladiators stayed within three until River Hill scored five straight points to open an eight-point advantage in the final quarter.
The Hawks sank five of eight free throws during a 7-2 run in the last two minutes to seal the outcome.
As in Friday's game, coach Teresa Waters found a contributor off her bench in senior forward Kristina Joyner.
Joyner scored seven of her 11 points in the second half and also pulled down eight rebounds.
"She was crucial," Waters said. "She gave us about four minutes of play that were as much as some people that played 15 minutes tonight. I thought she was the spark that we needed."
The Gladiators were led by senior forward Alli Biggs' team-high 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals and Krumpotich's 10 points and five assists.
Still, coach Ciaran Lesikar said his team sent a message to River Hill.
"I think the statement is that they better be prepared when they come to our place" in the regular-season finale on Feb. 24, he said. "We're no pushovers."