Wilde Lake boys basketball has had the same mantra all season: Take it one day and one game at a time.

The Wildecats split their first four county games, including a one-point loss to River Hill in the opener. However, they didn’t allow that early-season adversity to derail their mindset.

Integrating newer pieces with last year’s returnees, Wilde Lake began to hit its stride, closing with 12 consecutive victories. The second win of that streak was an overtime victory over Long Reach that served as a springboard.

The Wildecats culminated the regular season with a 65-55 win over Glenelg on Thursday, clinching the program’s second-ever county title and first since 1978.

“I’m a graduate from here; I played basketball here, [assistant] coach Deon Wingfield played basketball here,” Wilde Lake coach Jay McMillan said. “What we accomplished today is for everyone who coached basketball here and who played basketball here because 45 years is a long time.

“This is a school championship. This is for every coach or player that’s ever played JV or varsity; this is for all of them. So I can’t be prouder of all of the guys, all of us coaches, to get to this point and be able to accomplish this.”

On senior night the Wildecats (19-3, 15-2 Howard County) came out energized. Employing their patented full-court press, they forced the Gladiators into several early turnovers that became easy baskets and a 9-2 lead. Using its size and athleticism, Wilde Lake dominated the glass, holding its seven-point lead after the opening quarter.

“It’s impossible to duplicate their pressure in practice,” Glenelg coach Alex Blazek said. “You try to do the best you can and run six guys against your five, but it’s just impossible to duplicate that in practice.

“We repped it a bunch, and we knew coming in was going to happen. Digging out of the hole hurts. It seemed like we never could cut it two possessions.”

The Gladiators (8-12, 7-11) solved the press early in the second quarter as Matt Dalton made consecutive buckets to bring them within three. However, Wilde Lake immediately responded with a three-point play from Nathan Hiteshew and a perimeter jumper from Miles Faulkner. Glenelg continued to battle, but the lead remained seven at the break as Xavier Gilliam and D’Andre Hoskins punished the Gladiators with second-chance baskets.

Will Piwowarski brought the Gladiators within six midway through the third, connecting on a 3-pointer. However, Wilde Lake responded behind Gilliam and Hiteshew.

First, Hiteshew knocked down a 3, promptly followed by a three-point play from Gilliam, extending Wilde Lake’s lead back to double digits. Hiteshew scored nine of his 18 points in the quarter.

“The first half my contact fell out, so once I got all that figured out [I was] just trying to come out and not let anything slip away or have any regrets,” Hiteshew said.

Glenelg’s Ty Jenkins knocked down a 3-pointer just before the third-quarter buzzer, bringing the Gladiators within nine. Jenkins brought Glenelg back within seven on a trio of free throws with 3 minutes, 44 seconds remaining, but that was the closest they’d come. Down the stretch Gilliam and Hoskins once again imposed their will on the glass, creating second-chance opportunities as Hoskins finished with 10 points and Gilliam added a team-high 19.

The celebration ensued shortly after. The Wildecats faithful dressed in black exclaimed in excitement as the team held up its county championship banner.

But there are loftier goals ahead.

“I want to see how we perform in the playoffs,” Gilliam said. “I have a lot of trust in my guys and I’m excited to see how far we can make it. I was a part of three sports last year and we all lost in the first round, so I feel like this is our first chance of making a legitimate postseason run.

“I’m excited because I’ve never played in the playoffs past the first round.”

“They really want to get better every day,” McMillian said. “The mindset we’re trying to have is, ‘Let’s continue to stack these days. Let’s not think about what we have going on.’

“It’s a true testament — they walk around just trying to win one game that day. Two wins per week, or whatever’s on the schedule We stress it, but they live it, so we couldn’t be more proud of them as coaches.”

Other boys basketball scores

Reservoir 69, Oakland Mills 64: The visiting Gators went on a 22-9 run in the third quarter and held off the Scorpions for the win.

Kamal Francis scored a game-high 35 points for Oakland Mills. Reservoir was led by Zach Chin (28 points).

Howard 72, Atholton 60: Griffin Garner erupted for a season-high 34 points in the win, knocking down five 3-pointers. Aiden Adamitis scored 13 points for the Lions (9-11). For Atholton (9-12), Christian Jackson scored 20 points and Amir Shaheed chipped in 16.

River Hill 80, Centennial 68, OT: The Hawks (14-6) battled back after trailing by seven with 30 seconds left to force overtime as Demetre Koutras knocked down a game-tying 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left.

Aiden Igwebe dominated in overtime with 14 of his game-high 23 points during the period. Justin Bishop had a season-high 17 for River Hill. For Centennial (10-11), Josh Frazier had a season-high 25 points.

Hammond 59, Marriotts Ridge 35: The Golden Bears (7-15) were led by Brando Campos and Justin Christian, who each scored 12 points. For Marriotts Ridge (4-16), Aidan Elliott had 13 points.

Long Reach 68, Mt. Hebron 43: The Lightning (19-2) extended their winning streak to nine as RJ Barnes Jr. led the way with 16 points. Cameron Valentine scored 12.

For Mt. Hebron (5-17), Kenny Akinlosotu had nine points.

Manchester Valley 60, Owings Mills 30: The Mavericks led by two at halftime but broke the game open with a 19-8 third-quarter run.

Brendan Luddy led all scorers with 16 points. Xavier Bowman had five of the Mavericks’ 17 assists.

Girls basketball

River Hill 49, Centennial 7: When Teresa Waters began her basketball coaching career at Oakland Mills, she was fresh out of college. After her first year, she did something unprecedented.

“After my first year, I didn’t come back for two years,” said Waters, who played in college at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. “I wasn’t accustomed to the lack of interest in girls basketball. I didn’t know if I wanted to do this.”

Waters figured out she did want to do this.

Thursday night, as the coach of River Hill, she picked up her 600th coaching win in a rout of host Centennial (4-15, 3-12).

“I really don’t think about me and wins; that’s not really my focus,” Waters said. “My athletic director asked me where was I in my career last week, and I told him I knew we’d lost four games [this season]. [My statistics are] really secondary to me and what we’re trying to do.”

The Hawks (17-5, 10-4) made sure Waters didn’t have to sweat during the game. River Hill ran out to a 26-0 start and coasted to the win with a running clock in the second half.

She seemed happier about the victory than winning No. 600.

Waters picked up her first 159 wins at Oakland Mills, where she led the Scorpions to the Class 1A state championship in 1998. Thursday was her 441st at River Hill, where she has won two state titles (2006 and 2019).

As the game ended Thursday, the players mobbed her with hugs in front of the River Hill bench. After the huddle subsided, they unveiled a banner celebrating the accomplishment, as well as paper signs with “600” emblazoned on them. They even made Waters join them on the court for a picture.

— Mike Frainie, For The Baltimore Sun

Fallston 53, Elkton 30: The visiting Cougars got their third win in a row. Fallston was led by Ayla Galloway, who had her 20th straight double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Havre de Grace 60, Aberdeen 31: The host Warriors (18-4) had nine players score in a victory over the Eagles. Carla Dunson and Azareya Whiting each had 12 points.

Winters Mill 40, South Carroll 37: The visiting Falcons took their first lead of the game on a 3-point buzzer-beater by Jenae Prior. Sophia Vallandingham led with 10 points for Winters Mill.

Liberty 53, Severna Park 30: Jenna Liska was all over the floor, finishing 20 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Haleigh Hodges also posted a double-double for Liberty with 10 points and 10 steals to go with four rebounds.

Howard 76, Atholton 21: The Lions (21-1) completed a 17-0 regular season in county play behind Samiyah Nasir’s 22 points. Meghan Yarnevich chipped in 20 points.

For Atholton (13-8), Samara Mims had seven points.

Glenelg 67, Wilde Lake 42: The Gladiators (12-10) had three double-digit scorers led by Lauren LaPointe’s 19 points. Emmy Dello Russo chipped in 15 points, while Nia Stewart added 12. For Wilde Lake (1-18), Sophia Julian had 18 points.

Hammond 49, Marriotts Ridge 25: The Golden Bears (17-5) concluded the season on a four-game winning streak as Sara Yarnell had a team-high 16 points and added four blocks. Nia Green had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

For Marriotts Ridge (9-13), Zainab Idowu and Kerri Lee each had eight points.

Indian Creek 47, Annapolis Area Christian 21: Host Indian Creek built a 40-6 lead through three quarters and beat AACS in an Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland C Conference semifinal.

Haley Selmer scored 21 points and Norah Young had 12 points for Indian Creek, which will face Park in Monday’s final at 2 p.m.

Baltimore Sun Media staff contributed to this article.