From the HCC sports desk…
BEL AIR, Md.—Freshman Sarah Spalt (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston) put up a triple-double and was just three steals away from a quadruple-double as she scored 28 points to lead the Harford women’s basketball team in its 79-60 rout of Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon at Susquehanna Center. The Fighting Owls (2-7) closed out the month and the calendar year with their second win, while the Colonials dropped to 7-4 on the season.
Spalt was quiet in the first half, tallying just five points on 1-for-2 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 from the line, but exploded for 23 points on 10-for-11 shooting, 2-for-3 from the line in the second half. On the day, the guard tallied 28 points on 11-for-13 shooting, 5-for-7 from the free throw line with one 3-pointer, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and seven steals as she played every minute of the game.
Freshman Kiara Reeves (Aberdeen, Md./C. Milton Wright) came just two boards away from a double-double, with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field, 5-for-6 from the line and eight rebounds.
Alicia Wilson led the Colonials, recording 26 points, eight rebounds, eight steals, and four assists as she shot 9-for-17 from the field and 8-for-9 from the charity stripe.
The Colonials took control early, building a 7-0 lead over the Owls three minutes into the first half, but a 7-0 run by Harford which saw a trey from freshman Brittany Mears (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston) and fast break layups from Mears and Reeves knotted the score at seven with 15:30 to go.
Harford would take its first lead of the game, 11-9, at the 14:00 mark thanks to two buckets by sophomore Marie Fox (Edgewood, Md./Edgewood) and would build the lead to seven points, 23-16 with just under nine minutes to play, but Philadelphia answered with eight straight points over the next 1:45 to take a 24-23 advantage with 7:15 left in the half.
The Colonials would hold the lead for the next four minutes, building it to as many as three, but the Owls slowly chipped away and knotted the score for the fourth time in the half, 27-27 at the 3:15 mark but a fast break layup by Mears and the ensuing make on the and-one free throw put Harford up, 30-27 and one made free throw each by freshman Natasha Bond (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen) and Mears put the Owls up, 32-37 with 55 seconds left.
A Colonial free throw cut the lead to four, but two more free throws, one each from Spalt and Reeves gave the Owls a 34-28 lead going into the half.
Harford wasted no time in the second half, building its lead to eight points thanks to a fast-break layup from Spalt to take a 36-28 lead at 19:51.
Philadelphia would battle back to put itself within two on three different occasions over the course of the first eight and a half minutes, but, after a three by Mears made it 50-45 at the 11:02 mark, would come no closer than three points, 50-47 with 10:39 to go.
The Owls would build that lead to seven points thanks to made free throw by Reeves and layup by Spalt and after some seesaw scoring would see themselves up eight.
Philadelphia answered with what would be its last threatening run as the Colonials trimmed the lead to four, 58-54 with 7:45 left.
Harford dominated the next 5:15, outscoring Philadelphia, 19-4, over that span to take a 77-58 lead with 2:30 left. Spalt accounted for 12 of those 19 points with five layups, four of them on the fast break and two free throws, one of them an and-one to complete a three-point play.
The Colonials would score just once more on a layup by Justine Pearson to make the score 77-60 before freshman Sarah Miller (White Hall, Md./Red Lion Christian) tacked on the final free throws to give Harford the 79-60 win.
The Fighting Owls return to action in 2009 as they travel to Cecil on Jan. 3 for a 4:30 p.m. game and to Frederick on Jan. 6 for a 7:00 p.m. contest before returning home on Jan. 8 as they host Cumberland in a 6:00 p.m. matchup.
Newspaper Box Score
Philadelphia vs Harford
12/20/08 1:00 p.m. at Bel Air, Md.
At Bel Air, Md.
HARFORD 79, PHILADELPHIA 60
PHILADELPHIA (7-4)
Wilson, Alicia 9-17 8-9 26; Pearson, Justine 6-13 2-5 14; Mills, Tiffany
6-15 2-3 14; Washington, Tanisha 3-5 0-1 6; Kitchen, Tyleesia 0-3 0-0 0;
Williams, Christina 0-5 0-1 0; McCorkle, Rahdia 0-3 0-2 0. Totals 24-61
12-21 60.
HARFORD (2-7)
Spalt, Sarah 11-13 5-7 28; Reeves, Kiara 7-12 5-6 19; Mears, Brittany 5-9
2-3 14; Fox, Marie 3-4 4-4 10; Werren, Jasmine 1-3 1-1 3; Miller, Sarah 0-0
2-2 2; Parsons, Jasmine 1-6 0-2 2; Bond, Natasha 0-5 1-2 1; Lehnert,
Kathleen 0-0 0-0 0; Jones, Kelsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-52 20-27 79.
Philadelphia 28 32 60
Harford 34 45 79
3-point goals–Philadelphia 0-9 (; Pearson, Justine 0-1; Kitchen, Tyleesia
0-3; Williams, Christina 0-5), Harford 3-5 (Mears, Brittany 2-4; Spalt,
Sarah 1-1). Fouled out–Philadelphia-None, Harford-None.
Rebounds–Philadelphia 28 (Washington, Tanisha 11), Harford 45 (Spalt, Sarah
12). Assists–Philadelphia 7 (Wilson, Alicia 4), Harford 17 (Spalt, Sarah
11). Total fouls–Philadelphia 18, Harford 18. Technical
fouls–Philadelphia-TEAM, Harford-None. A-65
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