There was no way River Hill was letting Howard beat it again.

"That loss really hit us at the beginning of the season," said River Hill's Katie Arensmeier. "First, it was a loss and second, it was because of Alauna (Jackson). It was an important game for her. We wanted to win today for her."

For her first three years of high school basketball, Jackson wore Howard's jersey, but just before the season started, she transferred to River Hill.

Howard won the first meeting between the two teams, 54-48, in overtime. This time, playing at home Feb. 7, River Hill prevailed, 56-49.

It was the second time this season that defensive-minded Howard has given up that many points.

"They are a very talented and they really hurt us on the boards," said Howard coach Scott Robinson. "They are just good. Of their five starters there are no weak spots. Arensmeier, (Megan) Sterling and Jackson, they're tough."

River Hill out-rebounded Howard, 34-16. Jackson pulled in a game high 12 rebounds, Arensmeier and Jenna Collins each had seven boards.

The game was close and intense throughout and it wasn't until late in the third quarter that River Hill started to take control. Arensmeier scored six of her 11 points in the fourth quarter as the Hawks started to pull away.

"Katie was crunch," said River Hill coach Teresa Waters.

Sterling led River Hill with 17 points; Jackson had 14.

Howard's Brittany Butler was the game's top scorer with 21 points; April Kuhn added 10.

"We started off strong, we knew it would be a competitive game," said Butler.

But the game tempo and River Hill's press forced Howard into making turnovers.

"It was the little stupid mistakes that really bothered us," Kuhn said.

"We knew they were going to pressure us, so we went with guards. The first time we beat them we did it with four guards," Robinson said.

"I thought Emma (Hoesman) did a phenomenal job," Robinson said of his freshman point guard.

Foul trouble forced Howard to have to make adjustments this time.

Waters said she thought Howard played better than her team at times. "We had to realize that we had to kick it into gear and we can't just keep going through the motions."

River Hill's victory keeps the Hawks' hopes for a county title alive. With three games left in the regular season, River Hill is one game behind league-leading Glenelg. The two teams play the last game of the year.

River Hill 56, Howard 49

RH – Sterling 17, Jackson 14, Arensmeier 11, Jenna Collins 8, Julia Collins 2, Rowe 2, Sandler 2. FT: 12-18.

Ho – Butler 21, Kuhn 10, Kinsey 5, Hoesman 5, Natoli 4, Robinson 4. FT: 5-10.

Halftime: Howard, 27-24.

Oakland Mills 60, Atholton 41

OM – Hill 20, Hight 14, Twardowicz 11, Jones 10, Diggs 3, Thompson 2. FT: 18-25.

A – Palmer 11, Mayhew 10, Pattillo 8, Caldwell 6, Vitagliano 4, Keating 2. FT: 1-5.

Halftime: tied. 28-28.

Glenelg 62, Centennial 36

G – Russo 23, Parker 9, Burris 8, Heisig 8, Bendix 4, Tetro 4, Yuan 4, Kittleman 2. FT 15-19.

C – B. Anderson 12, Benzing 8, Hsieh 6, Rockefeller 4, Couch 2, M. Anderson 2, Mitchell 2. FT 5-6.

Halftime: Centennial, 40-21.

Mt. Hebron 56, Hammond 27

MH – Konig 11, Williams 11, Jones 7, Kelliher 6, Doherty 6, Tavai 6, Crump 4, Vogan 3, Rochester 2. FT: 8-15.

Ha – Faass 7, Griffin 7, Conley 5, Hewitt 3, Hejnova 2, Lee 2, Phillips 1. FT: 5-10.

Halftime: Mt. Hebron, 28-12.

Long Reach 64, Wilde Lake 23

Alexis Briscoe had a career high 26 points and a career high seven steals as Long Reach defeated Wilde Lake. She also had seven rebounds. Other Long Reach highlights included Olivia Callan's 18 points, Imani Sanders eight rebounds, Alana Ratliffe's seven points and Mallory Gray's five rebounds.

Alyssa Bialek, Kourtney Harrison and Roya Babturk each had four points for Wilde Lake.

LR – Briscoe 26, Callan 18, Ratliffe 7, Sanders 5, Gray 3, Peterson 3, Engelbrecht 2.

WL – Bialek 4, Harrison 4, Babturk 4, M. Sciabarra 2, N. Sciabarra 2, Fisher 2, Williams 2, Dowling 2. Corbett 1.

Reservoir 39, Marriotts Ridge 37

Re – not received

MR – Fleming 11, Miller 10, Stukenberg 5, Sharbaugh 5, Bergquist 4, Taylor 2, Williams 1. FT: 7-9.

Standings (as of Feb. 8)

Glenelg, 15-1 county, 18-1 overall

River Hill, 14-2, 16-3

Oakland Mills, 13-3, 16-3

Howard, 11-5, 13-6

Reservoir, 10-6, 11-6

Long Reach, 10-6, 11-8

Mt. Hebron, 9-7, 11-8

Centennial, 6-10, 7-12

Marriotts Ridge, 5-11, 5-14

Atholton, 2-14, 3-14

Hammond, 1-15, 1-16

Wilde Lake, 0-15, 0-18

Glenelg Country, 6-7 IAAM C, 10-8

Chapelgate, 6-8 IAAM C, 8-12