Host Century took its best shot at unbeaten Winters Mill last night. In the end, however, it was the No. 9 Falcons who delivered the knockout blow.

Trailing by 10 midway through the third quarter, Winters Mill charged back with improved perimeter defense and clutch shooting down the stretch, surging to a 62-58 win that clinched the Carroll County title for the Falcons.

"We didn't hit [shots] early, but we managed to do some things at the end," Falcons coach Bernie Koontz said. "I was proud of the kids for being able to manage the ball and not panic."

Winters Mill (19-0, 10-0 county) has a two-game lead over Century (15-5, 9-2) with two county games to play. If the teams finish in a tie, the Falcons would claim the title because of their two wins over the Knights.

Guard Stefanie McLallen scored 15 points in the first half, helping the Knights build a 39-29 lead. Once Winters Mill switched from man-to-man to zone defense, however, Century's perimeter game virtually disappeared, as the team shot just 31 percent in the second half, including 2-for-12 from three-point range.

Winters Mill, meanwhile, began increasing the tempo and creating more easy looks at the basket. Jen Peters scored 22 points, and fellow guards Jordan Neville and Cassie Cooke added 14 each. The Falcons hit 11 of 15 shots over the final 9:34.

"We went to zone to get out on the shooters better because we weren't doing so well in man on that," Peters said. "But once we were in zone, we pretty much shut down their outside shot, which helped us a lot."