Hebron

During the regular season, No. 6 Mount Hebron managed to come within two points of winning one game from No. 1 Centennial. Last night, the Vikings came within a few points of stealing the Class 3A East regional title from the three-time defending state champs.The host Eagles (21-1) finally recovered the momentum late in the fourth game en route to a 15-12, 15-5, 9-15, 8-15, 15-10 victory in a match that lasted more than two hours.The Vikings (14-6) jumped ahead 11-4 in the first game and forced Centennial to fight for every point the rest of the match.

Local bragging rights are all that remain of the Hammond-Mount Hebron girls basketball rivalry, but that's enough to make it the marquee matchup of the Howard County League.Tomorrow night, No. 2 Hammond hosts the No. 6 Vikings at 7:30 for the first of two league showdowns.This rivalry has grown fierce over the past few years, because only one could emerge from their Class 2A region to advance to the state final four."The last two years when we've played in the regionals, most people thought that game would determine who was going to win the state championship," said Mount Hebron coach Dave Greenberg, whose team last won a state title in 1991.

Never before has one county high school lost so many coaches in so short a time.Mount Hebron continues to experience an unprecedented coaching turnover and has posted 14 coaching openings for fall and winter sports.Seven of those are actual openings. Six are for positions currently filled by so-called emergency coaches who are not school-system employees.One position was posted prematurely. Head varsity boys basketball coach Scott Robinson said he is still the coach but is waiting to hear about another position.

Hammond can clinch its second straight Howard County girls basketball championship with a win tonight at Mount Hebron.The No. 2-ranked Golden Bears are unbeaten in 10 league games and lead the No. 13 Vikings by three games. The last time the two met, the Bears pulled out a 60-55 win after Mount Hebron rallied to tie at 51.This time, however, both teams are coming off losses. The Vikings (12-6) were upset by Glenelg, 56-52, Friday.Hammond (15-3) has a 30-game winning streak against county competition, but the Bears didn't quite have enough to beat Gar-Field Saturday.

The good news for Mount Hebron is that the Vikings will not have to play Hammond a third time this season.For the past two years, the Vikings have beaten Hammond twice during the regular season only to fall in the Class 2A regional playoffs. Now, the Vikings have moved up to Class 3A and out of Hammond territory.To Vikings coach Dave Greenberg, however, the move to Class 3A will neither help nor hurt his squad."I don't think it matters that much," said Greenberg, whose squad has won six state titles.

MIDDLE VILLAGE, N.Y. -- Six-foot-1 sophomore Chamique Holdschaw scored a game-high 14 points to lead Christ the King, ranked third nationally by USA Today, to a 42-24 victory over Mount Hebron last night.Kristen Lloyd scored eight to lead Mount Hebron (2-2), ranked fourth by The Baltimore Sun. Christ the King (2-0), which is a three-time defending state champion, took a 21-7 lead into halftime."I'm a little disappointed because we missed some shots I think we should have made, but we didn't embarrass ourselves," Mount Hebron coach Dave Greenberg said.

Mount Hebron had been pointing toward yesterday's match with Glenelg. The Gladiators beat Mount Hebron twice last year, and the Vikings were coming off of a shaky victory over Atholton earlier this week."

Hammond guards Kacy Williams and Sonia Keiner have been friends since kindergarten. It seems they've been waiting that long to beat Mount Hebron in a regular-season game.Yesterday, the two seniors combined for 25 points to lead the No. 2 Golden Bears to a 49-34 victory over Girls basketballNo. 6 Mount Hebron in a Howard County league girls basketball game.Although the Bears (6-1, 2-0) had beaten Mount Hebron in the Class 2A regional playoffs each of the past two years, they had lost both regular-season meetings -- and the county title -- each year to Mount Hebron.

While the setting for yesterday's Liberty-Mount Hebron volleyball match was different than the last one, the result was the same.The two last met in last year's Class 2A state title match. Last night, Mount Hebron showed plenty of power to win the final two games and score a 15-17, 15-12, 8-15, 15-13, 15-10 victory over host and No. 10 Liberty last night.Mount Hebron (5-4) lost five starting seniors from last year's squad -- a 3-1 victor over the Lions for the title. That has caused problems for coach Jeannine McCrumb.

Mount Hebron's first-half shooting clinic proved too much for a scrappy Howard team to overcome as the sixth-ranked Vikings (9-5, 6-1) prevailed over the Lions last night, 51-38, to remain a game behind Howard County-leading Hammond.Mount Hebron senior forward Kristin Lloyd (11 points) began the Vikings' nearly flawless offensive attack that featured Mount Hebron converting 11 of its first 13 field-goal attempts for a 27-14 second-quarter lead. The Vikings finished the first half shooting 75 percent from the field (15 of 20)