Missed opportunities will haunt Oakland Mills. The Scorpions trailed Glenelg until midway through the fourth quarter when the two teams traded narrow leads.
Oakland Mills, looking to beat Glenelg for the first time in over a year, went ahead, 37-36, with two minutes to play but couldn't hold onto its advantage.
The Scorpions played a huge part in their own downfall.
In the final two minutes of play, they lost the ball on four turnovers, including steals by Glenelg's Sam Heisig, Mary Kittleman and Danielle Burris. Those changes of possession combined with three Emily Russo free throws in the final 42 seconds allowed Glenelg to win, 39-37.
After calling time out with 7 seconds left, Oakland Mills, trailing by two, managed the last shot of the game, but did not get the ball off in time.
"We knew they were going to go Jasmine (Hill) and that we could not give them any open 3s and that we could not foul them because they would get the one-and-one," Burris said.
It was Glenelg's fourth consecutive victory over Oakland Mills.
"This is a strong rivalry. Everyone wanted to fight to win this game," said Burris, who scored a game-high 17 points.
"That was probably the most physically intense games of my entire life," said Russo, who scored 12 points. Even though Glenelg had home court advantage it didn't seem like it, she said.
"We are lucky that we got the win," Russo said. "Some of the things that we normally do, like boxing out, we didn't do and they punished us."
Oakland Mills had a decided height advantage. Glenelg is a team of guards.
"We missed putbacks around the basket that would have put us in the driver's seat," said Oakland Mills coach Seth Willingham.
"I told my girls before the game that there are 18 games after this. Whether we win or lose there is still a long season ahead of us and we need to get better ever day. We'll have our chance at them again," Willingham said.
Glenelg 39, Oakland Mills 37
G - Burris 17, Russo 12, Heisig 5, Kittleman 3, Parker 2. FT: 12-18.
OM - Hill 11, Jones 8, Hight 7, Twardowicz 3, Diggs 2, Brockington 2. FT: 12-18.
Halftime: Glenelg, 17-14.
Howard 55, Atholton 32
Ho - Kinsey 13, Butler 12, Biniak 10, Kuhn 10, Hoesman 4, Delcoco 2, Harriston 2, Randazzo 2. FT: 10-21.
A - Keating 8, Hart 5, Weinberg 5, Caldwell 4, Taborn 2, Palmer 2, Peterson 2, Tatum 2, Mitchell 2. FT: 2-2.
Halftime: Howard, 28-12.
Centennial 44, Marriotts Ridge 35
C - Pino 11, B. Anderson 10, Benzing 8, Downing 6, Rockefeller 5, M. Anderson 2, Mitchell 2. FT: 5-8.
MR - Fleming 10, Grote 10, Stukenberg 7, Bergquist 4, Sharbaugh 2, Miller 2.
River Hill 52, Long Reach 31
Alexis Briscoe had a double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) for Long Reach, but Alauna Jackson (16 points, 15 rebounds) countered with a double-double for River Hill in the Hawks' 52-31 victory.
RH - Jackson 16, Julia Collins 10, Rowe 8, Sterling 6, Jenna Collins 6, Sandler 2, Nichols 2, Arensmeier 2. FT: 6-15.
LR - Briscoe 20, Callan 6, Ratliffe 3, Peterson 2. FT: 10-16.
Halftime: River Hill, 26-15.
Reservoir 68, Hammond 10
Blair Bonner had a career-high 20 rebounds (12 on the offensive boards) as Reservoir defeated Hammond, 68-10. Bonner also had six assists. Zelor Massaquoi led Reservoir with 19 points, Tara Thompson added 18.
Re - Massaquoi 19, Thompson 18, Fowler 8, Rager 7, Pickens 5, Bonner 4, Johnson 3, Wilson 2, Lamm 2.
Ha - Faass 3, Conley 2, Lee 2, Griffin 1.
Mt. Hebron 76, Wilde Lake 26
Mt. Hebron's Knowlej Thomas (18), Megan Doherty (13) and Kelly Jones (12) scored in double figures and the Vikings recorded 30 steals in defeating Wilde Lake. Kourtney Harrison led Wilde Lake with 8 points
MH - Thomas 18, Doherty 13, Jones 12, Bowen 7, Kelliher 6, Crump 4, Tavai 4, Rochester 4, Konig 2, Vogan 2. FT: 13-22.
WL - Harrison 8, Williams 4, Richardson 4, O'Rourke 4, Corbett 3, N. Sciabarra 3. FT: 7-22.
Halftime: Mt. Hebron, 38-12.
Standings (as of Dec. 14)
Glenelg, 3-0 county (4-0 overall)
River Hill, 3-0 (3-1)
Howard, 2-1 (3-1)
Long Reach, 2-1 (3-1)
Mt. Hebron, 2-1 (3-1)
Oakland Mills, 2-1 (3-1)
Reservoir, 2-1 (3-1)
Centennial, 2-1 (2-1)
Atholton, 0-3 (1-3)
Hammond, 0-3 (0-4)
Marriotts Ridge, 0-3 (0-4)
Wilde Lake, 0-3 (0-4)