Officially, there is no longer a county basketball championship game, but this year, in practice, there will be — when Glenelg hosts River Hill Thursday night.
The winner will be the county champion, and the loser could be, too.
Both teams won Tuesday. Glenelg, which has a one-game lead over River Hill and has already clinched a share of the title, defeated Wilde Lake, 62-37, and River Hill defeated Reservoir, 50-36, to set up a last-regular-game-of-the-season drama.
River Hill-Reservoir was a track meet from the get-go.
"I've never run so much," said Reservoir's Zelor Massaquoi. "What we have to work on in practice is that type of intensity. That's the link that we don't have yet."
Initially, River Hill applied a full-court press that forced numerous Reservoir turnovers while leading to easy River Hill baskets.
"Julia and Jenna (Collins) played good defense and Katie (Arensmeier), she's a anticipator and a half," said River Hill coach Teresa Waters.
The Hawks led, 17-3, at the end of the first quarter and 30-13 at halftime.
Julia Collins hit a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to give River Hill a 24-point lead. When the Hawks started working in more of their bench players, and resting their starters for Glenelg, Reservoir cut into the Hawks' lead.
"We had a little slump in the fourth quarter and we got into foul trouble, but we kept playing hard and we got the win," said Holly Sandler, one of two River Hill players honored on Senior Night. Alauna Jackson was the other.
River Hill 50, Reservoir 36
RH – Arensmeier 12, Julia Collins 9, Jackson 8, Jenna Collins 5, Jones 4, Masker 4, Rowe 3, Nichols 2, Sandler 2, Sterling 1. FT: 7-11.
Re – Massaquoi 10, Fowler 10, Rager 6, Thompson 4, Bonner 4, Pickens 2. FT: 13-20.
Halftime: River Hill, 30-13.
Atholton put a damper on Mt. Hebron's final home game of the regular season. Although the Vikings jumped out to a 12-2 start and led most of the game, Atholton kept chipping away before pulling out a 47-43 victory.
It was Atholton's fourth victory of the county season; Mt. Hebron has 10 wins.
"We knew they would come out aggressive right away because it was their Senior Night," said Atholton coach Julia Reynold.
Mt. Hebron hit six 3-point shots, including two in the fourth quarter.
"All of the close games we've had this season helped us. We didn't panic," Reynold said. Atholton's bench players provided big minutes, all 13 Raiders played. "We tried to keep fresh legs on the floor," Reynold said.
The Raiders' Emily Pattillo and Sage Mayhew were in foul trouble and Audi Vitagliano took a hit and had to come out of the game in the fourth quarter.
Mt. Hebron's final lead was 43-41. Reynold said her team then got some fast-break layups and tried to play good defense and not foul.
Jackie Palmer (15), Hannah Keating (10) and Kalere Caldwell (nine) provided the scoring punch for Atholton. Amy Weinberg stepped up defensively.
Knowlej Thomas (12 points) and Kelly Jones (nine) led the Vikings' offense.
Atholton 47, Mt. Hebron 43
A – Palmer 15, Keating 10, Caldwell 9, Weinberg 5, Vitagliano 4, Mayhew 2, Tatum 2. FT: 1-4.
MH – Thomas 12, Jones 9, Tavai 6, Doherty 6, Crump 5, Rochester 3, Wallpher 2. FT: 9-22.
Halftime: Mt. Hebron, 23-21.
Glenelg's victory over Wilde Lake clinched a tie for the county title for the Gladiators. It is the team's second consecutive county championship. River Hill, which is one game back in the standings, can share the title, if it defeats Glenelg on Thursday.
If Glenelg and River Hill are co-county champions, then Howard County's representative in the Feb. 21 District V game will be determined by a coin toss.
Glenelg 62, Wilde Lake 37
G – Russo 13, Burris 12, Yuan 10, Wright 6, Heisig 6, Bendix 5, Parker 5, Tetro 3, Kittleman 2. FT: 1-2.
WL – Williams 11, Richardson 8, Harrison 4, Corbett 4, M. Sciabarra 2, Fisher 2, Bialek 2, O'Rourke 2, N. Sciabarra 1, Babaturk 1. FT: 6-11.
Halftime: Glenelg, 31-15.
Marriotts Ridge 67, Hammond 28
MR – Taylor 9, Grote 8, Stukenberg 8, Fleming 7, Williams 6, Keefe 6, Miller 6, Davey 5, Bergquist 5, Sharbaugh 4, Kerr 3. FT: 17-29.
Ha – Griffin 17, Lee 4, Hewitt 2, Conley 2, Hejnova 2, Callahan 1. FT: 3-6.
Centennial jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the first four minutes of the game. Howard then went on a 27-2 run led by sophomore Anne Kinsey who score eight of her game high 15 points in the second quarter.
Howard 60, Centennial 33
Ho - Kinsey 15, Butler 13, Kuhn 12, Natoli 6, Biniak 6, Hoesman 4, Robinson 2, Doermann 2. FT: 6-12.
C - Mitchell 11, Pino 7, Benzing 5, Rockefeller 3, Downing 2, B. Anderson 2, Eads 1. FT: 5-8.
Halftime: Howard, 28-14.
Jasmine Hill (16 points) and Nicole Twardowicz (12) led Oakland Mills over Long Reach, 46-40, in a very physical game.
Long Reach seniors Monah Chamb, Allysha Romero, Mallory Gray and Alexis Briscoe were playing their last regular season game at home.
Olivia Callan (12 points) and Briscoe (11) led the Lightning's offense.
OM – Hill 16, Twardowicz 12, Jones 9, Hight 9.
LR – Callan 12, Briscoe 11, Ratliffe 8, Sanders 5, Gray 2, Peterson 2.
Halftime: Oakland Mills, 29-19.
IAAM playoffs
Chapelgate and Glenelg Country School were both eliminated from the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland C Conference playoffs during Tuesday's quarterfinal round. While Chapelgate lost to Catholic, 60-27, Glenelg Country lost to St. John's Catholic Prep, 68-35.
Standings (as of Feb. 14)
Glenelg, 17-1 county* (20-1 overall)
River Hill, 16-2 (18-3)
Oakland Mills, 14-4 (17-4)
Howard, 13-5 (15-6)
Reservoir, 11-7 (12-7)
Mt. Hebron, 10-8 (12-9)
Long Reach, 10-8 (11-10)
Centennial, 6-12 (7-14)
Marriotts Ridge, 6-12 (6-15)
Atholton, 4-14 (5-14)
Hammond, 1-17 (1-18)
Wilde Lake, 0-18 (0-21)
Glenelg Country, 6-8 IAAM C (11-10)
Chapelgate, 6-9 IAAM C (8-14)
*Glenelg has clinched at least a share of the county title.