Severna Park's girls basketball team climbed the scoring ladder at home last night in honor of coach Bill Giblin, who fell off a ladder Sunday night putting up Christmas decorations and was in the hospital.
The unranked Falcons set a school record for points scored by the girls in a 97-58 romp over previously unbeaten and No. 16-ranked Hammond, leaving both teams at 2-1.
Jess Norris led four Falcons in double digits with 21 points as the Falcons varsity boys coaches, Paul Pellicani and Paul Bunting, ran the team along with longtime junior varsity girls coach Joe Gillespie.
Senior Kate Drazan (19) and juniors Julia Waters (18) and Lauren Hall (14) were the other Falcons who had big games. Waters also had a game-high 11 rebounds.
"We dedicated the game to Mr. Giblin and wanted to do well for him," said Norris, a junior guard who scored 14 of her points in the first half as the Falcons built a 16-point lead.
"We were a little skeptical at first, but our adrenaline started pumping as soon as the game started."
The Falcons hit 22 of 36 (61 percent) from the field in the second half, pushing the lead to 69-40 after three periods.
Giblin, who was recovering in the hospital last night and is expected to be released today and to be back at practice Wednesday, suffered a compound fracture of his right ankle.
"Bill's wife called me Sunday night and told me what happened," said Pellicani.
The Falcons beat the Golden Bears up and down the court, passed extremely well, especially their bounce passes, and hit their shots consistently to take a commanding 43-27 lead at the half despite 16 points by the Bears' Melissa Workman.
Workman finished with a game- high 24 and her scoring partner, Tara Zammichieli, added 22 points, but the duo got little help.
"We came in here flat, and maybe a little overconfident," said Hammond's first-year coach, Raymona Jackson.
Any hopes the Bears had of getting back into the game in the second half were erased when the Falcons began the third period with a 9-2 run, led by Drazan's five points.
