Milford Mill girls basketball hosted Towson on Wednesday night with an 11-game winning streak on the line.

With the way the Millers played for most of the first quarter, it looked like they would extend it.

The hosts built a 14-point lead, only to see the Generals answer with a monster run en route to a 54-49 Towson victory.

Milford Mill led 18-4 before Towson responded with a 23-2 run.

The Millers rallied in the second half and cut the lead to 48-47 with 2:39 left in the fourth quarter, but Sophie Pleszkoch made two free throws and added a basket to push the lead to five.

Haylee Clark answered, cutting the margin to three with just over a minute left.

The Millers got the ball back with seven seconds left and a chance to tie, but Madden SySantos intercepted the inbounds pass and fed Leila Franklin for the final points.

Pleszkoch, who scored a game-high 22 points, had confidence when she was at the line late.

“I wasn’t that nervous because I can rely on my teammates,” she said. “Obviously there was some nerves, but I knew it would be OK. Even if I missed they would still have my back.”

Towson, which had its own nine-game winning streak end Monday in a loss to North Harford, improved to 10-2, while Milford dropped to 11-2.

The Millers used a frenetic press to force 10 turnovers in the first quarter when they built the big lead.

They were also playing a Towson team that was without two point guards and another player because of the flu. Towson coach Tim Gavin had to call two timeouts in the first five minutes of the game.

“Honestly, the strategy was to spread our timeouts and just see what happens,” Gavin said. “I told our coaches, ‘Let’s kind of use this first quarter like the beginning of a boxing match.’”

If it was a boxing match, it was close to being stopped as Tatyana Fields had four steals and scored seven points and Tristan Savage and Kiaya Smith each had four points each in the quarter for the Millers.

Towson closed the opening quarter with a 3-pointer by SySantos and basket by Sophia Williams to cut the lead to 11 at the break.

Williams, who also missed the North Harford loss along with the three key players, scored eight points and added nine rebounds. Pleszkoch also had nine rebounds as the Generals outrebounded the Millers, 38-21.

Milford’s downfall came in the second quarter when it didn’t make any field goals and scored only two free throws.

“I think we got a little bit comfortable. We’ve got to keep our foot on the gas,” Milford coach Candyce Jeter said.

Other girls basketball scores:

Randallstown 42, Woodlawn 35

Eastern Tech 46, Perry Hall 28

St. John’s Catholic Prep 53, Severn 46

Havre de Grace 36, North Harford 35

Boys basketball

Mount Carmel 59, Gilman 49

Kenwood 55, Hereford 48

Dulaney 80, Patapsco 56

Milford Mill 60, Towson 49

St. Mary’s 51, Friends 44

Loyola Blakefield 76, Archbishop Spalding 70

Severn 55, Concordia Prep 47

Annapolis Area Christian 58, St. Paul’s 56

John Carroll 60, St. Frances 54, OT

Wrestling

No. 3 South Carroll 50, No. 6 Manchester Valley 18: Knowing he was entering a top-10 dual against Manchester Valley with a roster at less than 100%, South Carroll coach Bryan Hamper saw the best of both worlds from his lineup Wednesday night.

Not only did his veteran leaders step up and pick up some quick, dominant wins, but some younger wrestlers stepped up in a big way, showing their growth and carving out their role within his championship program.

With the wins came loads of momentum and by the end of the night, the Cavaliers chalked up a dominant victory over the Mavericks.

“It was an unconventional lineup for us but guys stepped up.” Hamper said. “We had guys sick, others banged up and we still put up 50 points against an excellent Man Valley team, you can’t be upset at that at all.”

One of Hamper’s newcomers was 138-pound freshman Alex Little, who not only replaced state runner-up Evan Owen in the lineup, but faced off against a returning county runner-up in Ryan Hydorn. After trailing 1-0 headed into the third period, the young Cavalier rallied, scoring nine unanswered points to take the match and establish himself as one to watch.

“We’re really excited about him and what he can bring,” Hamper said. “It was his first chance to be in the lineup and he really came out and put on a great performance.”

Little was one of several athletes countywide dealing with an illness, but he fought through and ultimately came up big for his squad. The biggest compliment the freshman got came from the man who followed him on the mat, two-time state champion JoJo Gigliotti.

“His win kind of flipped the tide,” he said. “It got me ready and got me going for my match. That kid is special.”

Seconds after Little’s win, Gigliotti picked up one of his own, pinning an ambitious Brayden VanDerVoort quickly in their 144-pound match.

“I take it personal when someone actually comes out and wants to wrestle me,” Giglotti said. “I’m one of the best in the state and that just makes me more hungry to prove it.”

Giglotti was joined by “the regulars,” former South Carroll youngsters who have now evolved into veterans with championship pedigrees and a laundry list of big wins. The group did what was expected, taking care of business and picking up wins across the board.

State champion Grayson Barnhill had another one of his signature blink-and-you-missed-it matches at 113, as he pinned Grayson Michdoor in less than a minute.

Eli Gabrielson made quick work of Kyle Reid for another South Carroll pin, while Davy Snyder, Landon Hamper and Manny Rodrigues all did the same, taking care of business with pins.

Brody Henry added his contribution, a 17-2 technical fall over Chase Ries.

— Timothy Dashiell

South River 74, Southern 6

Old Mill 49, Broadneck 26

Baltimore Sun Media staff contributed to this article.