Wilde Lake boys basketball breaks away from Howard in third quarter, cruises to 83-68 victory

Feb. 7—At halftime, Wilde Lake boys basketball coach Jay McMillan emphasized the importance of having high hands when closing out to shooters, forcing them to penetrate.

His team put that on display down the stretch of the third when Howard needed a basket. Wilde Lake wouldn't allow that, sprinting out to contest and forcing a turnover. Off the mistake, Kain Corkeron pushed the pace in transition and found Nathan Hiteshew in the corner.

Hiteshew drained a 3-pointer just before the third-quarter buzzer, capping off a 9-0 run to close the period. Wilde Lake carried that momentum home for an 83-68 win, its ninth in a row.

"Our defensive effort and defensive intensity increased," McMillan said. "We started making the right drops, slides and rotations. Also, rebounding the ball and finally identifying the shooters that they have because they have been shooting very well recently."

Both teams were prolific from behind the arc in the first half, each converting on eight 3-pointers. Corkeron spearheaded Wilde Lake's offense with 24 of his game-high 30 points in the opening 16 minutes. He knocked down seven triples, consistently finding space curling around high screens.

"It feels amazing," Corkeron said. "Not every night is like that of course, so you've got to see the good in it. Also, you can't expect that every night. Tonight, I was on, so just those hours in the gym and it's all about repetition."

Swinging the ball from side-to-side, Howard also found success behind the arc. The Lions got 3-pointers from multiple players including Pete Hagen, Griffin Garner and Ronald Alford. Neither team could slow down the opposing offense and Wilde Lake held a narrow three-point advantage at the break.

Despite being undersized, Howard secured more 50-50 balls and contested rebounds early in the third. Isaiah Omole played an integral part of that success on the glass, giving the Lions a 47-45 lead midway through the third. Then Wilde Lake (16-3, 12-2 Howard County) began to impose its will inside , spearheaded by Xavier Gilliam and Dylan Gooden with Gilliam scoring six of his 20 points in the period.

"Xavier has been our rock," McMillan said. "He's our leader. We have a great group of guys, but he's our leader. He works his tail off. I'm very excited and so thankful to have him on our team. He does all the dirty work, keeps the guys locked in and has attention to detail, knowing everyone's responsibilities and where they're supposed to be. This is what we expect, but it's always beautiful to see him do what he does. Hats off to him."

Their efforts built a 52-47 lead. Howard (7-9, 5-9) ended the spurt with a Hagen 3, but the momentum was brief. Over the ensuing five minutes stretching into the fourth quarter, Wilde Lake executed a 15-0 run playing stifling defense, also imposing their will inside. Gooden and Gilliam scored the opening six points of the fourth, pushing the Wildecats' lead to 17, as Howard's interior defense suffered without Omole, who got injured in the third quarter.

"On the glass they make it very difficult," Howard coach Michael Twardowicz said. "Without Isaiah, we're a little bit undersized with just Pete down there. My guys have played hard all year. Trying to teach them to play well for 32 minutes. We play well for 24-26 minutes. We're a young team, but to be able to compete with a team like Wilde Lake, we need to be able to find a way to make it 30-32 minutes. I felt we played a good 24-25 minutes tonight."

Howard broke the near-five-minute scoring drought on a jumper from Garner midway through the fourth. However, the deficit proved too large and the Wildecats finished with a season-high 83 points.

"Winning is fun, getting hype in the locker room after a big win with the guys, nothing beats that," Gilliam said. "Nobody wants to lose. Something that our coach always says is pain and discipline or pain and disappointment. You've got to sacrifice in the moment to receive the outcome that you want."