The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Twin towers Twigg, Mandell torch Tornado 'D' for 29 points, 25 boards
* Twin towers combine for 25 rebounds as Fort Hill snaps 9-game losing streak
* Keyser pulls within two points with 66 seconds to play

CUMBERLAND, Feb. 7 -- The Fort Hill girls basketball team became, quite simply, tired of losing.

On Monday night, the team did something about it. As a unit, the eighth-ranked Sentinels redoubled their rebounding efforts on both ends of the court in a 62-54 AMAC win over No. 4 Keyser.

Alyssia Twigg had 19 points and 15 rebounds for Fort Hill, which notched just its fourth victory in 16 tries this season. Molly Mandell, who combined with Twigg to comprise the red-and-white version of the twin towers, finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Twigg said the Sentinels knew the Golden Tornado had sharp shooters from the perimeter. They're weakness was on the inside, she said, and Fort Hill took advantage of it. Both winning and working as a unit have been rare feats this season for Fort Hill, which snapped a nine-game losing streak.

"I think we came out with a fire and intensity that we usually don't have," Twigg said. "As the season progressed, we came together as a team."

Before now, the Sentinels squad was simply a roster of 11 individuals.

"We didn't have any chemistry," Twigg said. Now, "we love each other. Before, I don't think we wanted to win as much. We weren't together."

They sure were together on Monday. Against a porous Keyser defense, the Sentinels' passes found their destinations almost with ease. Anytime a Fort Hill field goal attempt didn't go in, a teammate usually had a second chance.

"I saw no rebounding," said Keyser coach Joshua Blowe.

Blowe said the team's locker room as a sign written in large letters and "two stars beside it." The word? Rebound.

"You do that and you win the game," Blowe said, recalling his pre-game message to the Golden Tornado. Fort Hill "probably had 30 second-chance points tonight. We're pretty hard to beat when we rebound the basketball."

But on Monday, the Golden Tornado almost made beating them look easy. Keyser led 11-10 at the end of the first quarter but Fort Hill already had gotten a sense of the improbable. The Sentinels held leads of 3-0 and 10-8 during the first period of play. Twigg scored six of her team's 10 points.

In the second period, the Golden Tornado were limited to just six points - and only two field goals. Fort Hill, meanwhile, shot less frequently but shot well. The Sentinels made two 3-pointers - one each by Mariah Jones and reserve Kayla Hutson - to take an 18-15 lead. Fort Hill never trailed again. Hutson hit her second bucket of the game after grabbing the offensive rebound, scoring the layup with two minutes and 34 seconds left in the half.

Sam Frankenberry closed out Fort Hill's scoring with a free throw for a 21-17 halftime lead.

Both teams upped the offensive ante in the second half. Jones hit her only 3-pointer of the game for a 24-17 lead just 58 seconds into the third quarter. The teams traded baskets until Brooke Mangold hit two free throws to pull Keyser within 28-25. The scoring went back and forth for the second of the period, capped by Kassi Smith's 3-pointer for a 38-30 lead after 24 minutes of play.

Still, Keyser refused to lie down. The Golden Tornado opened the fourth quarter with an aggressive defense. Hannah Biser took advantage of a team steal for an easy two points and Lexi Carr made a steal and layup 13 seconds later. Suddenly, it was a four-point game and only 23 seconds of the period had expired.

Twigg struck again, though, with another put-back basket with 7:13 to go and Ashley O'Neal hit a mid-range jumper with 6:42 left for a 42-34 lead. Carr seemed to get on track with a 3-pointer 78 seconds later to pull Keyser within 43-38. But Twigg drew the foul and made both free throws with 4:34 to play, then grabbed another offensive rebound for a layup only 17 seconds later to make it a nine-point game.

Jones hit two free throws for Fort Hill but Mangold hit a 3-pointer with 3:46 to go to bring the Golden Tornado within 49-44. It was still a game with nearly half a quarter to play.

Over the next 2:40, Keyser outscored Fort Hill 6-3 to cut the deficit to two with 1:06 left on the clock.

Then Mandell took over. She completed a three-point play after drawing the foul with a free throw for a 55-50 lead with 60 seconds to go. Just 10.3 seconds later, Mandell hit the second of two more attempts from the foul line before Jones made both her shots to give the Sentinels a 58-50 lead with 39 seconds left.