Missed opportunities will haunt Oakland Mills. The No. 14 Scorpions trailed No. 6 Glenelg until midway through the fourth quarter, when the two teams traded narrow leads.
Oakland Mills, looking to beat the Gladiators for the first time in over a year, went ahead 37-36 with two minutes to play but couldn't hold on to its advantage. The Scorpions helped 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 free throws by Emily Russo in the final 42 seconds to allow let Glenelg to win, 39-37.
After calling time out with seven 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.
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.
Half:
Glenelg, 17-14.