In the race for the 4A South Region girls’ basketball championship, Henry A. Wise and Bowie high schools appear locked in a dead heat with neither side backing down.

Friday night, Wise slipped past Bowie, 61-59, and improved to 16-1 overall and 14-0 in the County 4A League. The Pumas now clearly have the inside track to the top seed for the 4A South Region playoffs. But Friday’s win was their second two-point triumph of the season against Bowie (13-4, 11-3). Wise beat the Bulldogs 72-70 in overtime last month, and Pumas’ coach Walter Clark said very little separates the two squads.

“I think it’s luck,” Clark said. “Bowie is a really good team. To survive another game over them ... we’re fortunate.”

Perhaps a more tangible difference between the teams is the play of the Pumas’ senior guard duo of Eliqua Brooks and Khadijah Gibson.

When Wise needs momentum, the team doesn’t have to look any further than Brooks and Gibson, who were again spectacular Friday night. Brooks, who averages 19.3 points per game, led the way with a game-high 25 points while Gibson (16.3 ppg) added another 19.

Midway through the second quarter, the Pumas trailed, 27-19 and looked out of sync. But Gibson scored the first six points of a 9-0 run that helped Wise take the lead and seize the momentum.

“Toughness is definitely a part of our demeanor,” Gibson said. “As a captain, it’s my job to keep everyone’s heads level, and [Bowie] went up by eight but the game wasn’t over and we had three quarters left and have to fight until the end. We’re definitely confident, but we never underestimate anybody.”

“I think the difference is, as a team, working together and wanting it more,” Brooks said. “I think we build our confidence each and every time on the floor.”

The next challenge awaiting Wise may well be the dreaded task of beating an opponent three times in the same season. Wise and Bowie could be headed for a rematch in the 4A South Region final. Last year, Bowie won both regular season contests against Wise, but the Pumas returned the favor by beating the Bulldogs in the region title game. Brooks acknowledged that beating an opponent three times in a season is “very difficult.”

The Bulldogs are clamoring for another shot at the Pumas.

“I think they have a little more confidence because they won the first game,” said Bowie forward Tyra Durrett. “We know we can beat them. We know that it’s a game that weighs on both sides, it’s either or. We know that we’re better than them. We just have to mentally stay in the game.”

Bowie coach Michael Hines said his team will need to better execute some of the basics if it gets another shot at Wise.

“We had a lot of turnovers and a lot of them were unforced,” Hines said. “We can’t have that. We’ve got some things we did a little bit better today, but there’s still things that we’re lacking on. I have to get them confident, so they can be ready to go.”

Bowie senior forward Nia Clark had a team-high 13 points and said her team is close to getting over the hump against the Pumas.

“I think the energy they come out with in the beginning [helps them],” Clark said. “We’re kind of a young team and we have to maintain the energy we start with and keep it in the middle of the game. We have to have it throughout the whole game from everybody.”

thampton@gazette.net

Wise 61, Bowie 59

Bowie 17 17 12 13 — 59

Wise 15 15 15 16 — 61

Bowie (13-4, 11-3): Nia Clark 13, McKenzi Bess 9, Tyra Durrett 9, Ryan Maynard 8, Nicole Derrickson 6, Amara Jackson 6, Sabriena Shubert 4, Destiny Dupree 2, Jordan Maynard 2

Wise (16-1, 14-0): Eliqua Brooks 25, Khadijah Gibson 19, Ciaira Lee 10, Candace Ross 4, Carolyn Cosey 3.