Boys' Basketball: Reservoir Holds Off Wilde Lake At Home

The Reservoir High School Gators outlasted the visiting Wilde Lake High School WIldecats in a tough fourth quarter, winning by a final score of 62-58.

Wilde Lake High traveled to Reservoir High School on Friday night, two teams jockeying for position in the standings, the Gators trying to pull even with Wilde Lake in county play. The Gators would do just that, prevailing late and picking up the 62-58 win. “It’s huge,” Reservoir Coach Troy Diehl said of the win. “We’ve been on a slide lately, so to get something like this at home [through] a total team effort, it really raises the spirits a little bit.” Reservoir took the lead early and forced Wilde Lake to spend all night fighting back. The Wildecats eventually came back, taking the lead for themselves at the 3:30 mark of the third quarter, rallying behind nine points from senior Khalil Vierra. But it wouldn't last too long. Reservoir …

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Boys' Basketball: Mt. Hebron Holds Off Wilde Lake To Get The Win

The Mt. Hebron High School Vikings defeated the Wilde Lake High School Wildecats 58-55, overcoming a late fourth quarter run by Wilde Lake.

The Mt. Hebron Vikings had held the lead over the Wilde Lake Wildecats all night until the fourth quarter. Then the momentum changed. Wilde Lake made made a charge, but Mt. Hebron found a way to pull it out in the end behind excellent guard play and good defense, with the Vikings defeating the Wildecats, 58-55. Up by four heading into the fourth, Mt. Hebron seemed to have this game under control. With less than two minutes left, however, Wilde Lake's Dante Garner gave the Wildecats their first lead since the opening minutes of the game. Still, Mt. Hebron would not stay down. At the 1:19 mark, junior Deonte Moses of the Vikings tied the game on free throws. And with 30 seconds left, Malik Gilmore gave Mt. Hebron the lead for good on a layup…

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Boys' Basketball: Wilde Lake Wildecats Stun Centennial Eagles in Game’s Final Seconds

The game came down to a final second shot by the unlikeliest of heroes, Wilde Lake senior Matt Holdefer, as the Wildecats won a thriller, 55-53.

The Wilde Lake Wildecats entered the 2010-11 basketball season at a disadvantage because of the success of their Class 3A state championship football team. Many of the Wildecats players play both football and basketball. And Wilde Lake's state championship run did not end until Dec. 2—giving head basketball coach Dave Appleby just four days to get his team ready for their first game of the season. "We have had four practices with these kids," Appleby said. "I got them on Friday." So it is understandable that the Wildecats will struggle at times. They are a team still trying to find themselves. They have the talent. All Wilde Lake needs is the time to learn how to play as a team. So the expectations for the Wildecats are not high—at least…

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Wilde-est Dreams! Wilde Lake Wins 3A Football State Championship (With Photos)

The Wildecats win their sixth football state championship, Mike Harrison’s first as a head coach, defeating Franklin High, 21-14.

The Wilde Lake Wildecats had battled their way into the state football championship game, defying all the odds from the opening round of the playoffs and through every subsequent challenge, each time proving all of their critics wrong. Many believed Wilde Lake's offense was too boring and predictable. Many thought the Wildecats did not deserve to be in the Class 3A championship game. And many more believed Wilde Lake (10-3) did not stand a chance against a team like the Franklin Indians (11-2). Yet when the final seconds ticked off the clock at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, the Wildecats stood as champions, stunning the Indians, 21-14. "I'm just overjoyed," said Wilde Lake Head Coach Mike Harrison. "I'm ecstatic at the way they rose to …

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Football: Wilde Lake Beats Top-Ranked Damascus, Advances to State Championship

The Wildecat defense dominated this game, creating five turnovers to help Wilde Lake push past the Damascus Swarmin’ Hornets – the State’s No. 1 ranked team.

The stadium was packed with unruly fans anxiously awaiting the state 3A semifinal matchup between the top-seeded Damascus Swarmin' Hornets (12-0) and the fourth-seeded Wilde Lake Wildecats (9-3). The Hornets entered the game as the clear favorites. They were playing at home. They were undefeated on the season. And they were the No. 1 football team in the state. But when the game ended, the Swarmin' Hornets were only one thing – stunned. The visiting Wildecats forced five turnovers, as they upset the tournament's top-seed, 21-14. "I thought we played just a tremendous defensive football game," said Wilde Lake head coach Mike Harrison. "That's a great, great football team, Damascus. They have a great quarterback. They have four great …

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Derrick Jordan

4:30 am on Saturday, November 27, 2010

I will be the first to say congrats to Coach Harrison and his squad on making a return trip to the state finals. This is where Wilde Lake belongs and the folks that forgot about the Lake had better recognize now. Regular season is regular season, but this school and its teams have always been tough in the playoffs. Our championship run in 1997 was fueled by a stingy defensive unit that had a …   more ›

Friday Night Football: Still Running Wilde (Lake)

Despite change at the top of the program two years ago, Wilde Lake continues its football tradition Friday night at Damascus.

As the clock ticked down in the Wildecats 13-0 loss to Westlake in the 2008 Class 3A state championship, Wilde Lake coach Doug Duvall turned to assistant Mike Harrison with a culminating thought. "Well, that was it," Duvall said. And so was the end of a 36-year run as the head football coach at Wilde Lake. That was then. This Friday, when the Wildecats take the field at Damascus in the state semifinals, they'll be playing for an opportunity to return to M&T Bank Stadium and make up for what would have been a storybook ending in Duvall's final season as coach. "We had some kids that were on that team," Harrison, now Wilde Lake's head coach, said of his current roster. Quarterback Joe Kelly was the punter. Running back/linebacker E.J. …

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Football: Wilde Lake Stuns River Hill at Home, Wins Regional Title

The Wildecats continued their impressive run in the playoffs, shocking the Howard County community while knocking off the top two seeds en route to the state semifinals.

Their fans sat, silently stunned. The players walked away with their heads down. River Hill had expected to beat Wilde Lake. They had expected to beat the Wildecats as they had so many other county teams for so long. They had expected to beat Wilde Lake as they had done for year after year, for more than half a decade. They didn't. The visiting Wilde Lake fans rushed the field. The players jumped around. The 8-3 Wildecats had taken the 10-1 Hawks into overtime, took the lead and took the victory by a score of 13-7, the third-seeded Wilde Lake upsetting top-seeded River Hill to win the class 3A east region football title. "Anytime you beat a River Hill football team, which we haven't done, I think, since 2004 – that's a big win," said …

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Derrick Jordan

2:47 am on Saturday, November 20, 2010

It was cold and my toes were frozen solid. I can say as a former Wilde Lake football player that I'm am very proud of what this team has accomplished and how they have managed to get revenge for the regular season losses by beating Atholton and River Hill in hostile territory in back to back playoff games. I'm also gonna brag because this means Wilde Lake is still the only school in Howard County…   more ›