When she drove base-line with about 18 seconds left, Shernise Disney's Walkersville team needed a basket, and fast. The Lions were trailing by one point to Urbana , which hadn't lost to a public school team during the regular season in nearly two years.

Disney seemed like the logical choice to shoot in this crucial situation. Like the go-to player she is, she had already nailed two high-arching 3-pointers and snuck in for a layup down the stretch. But Disney dished off an alert pass to teammate Britton Muir, who was open near the basket after Disney drew defensive attention. Muir calmly banked in the go-ahead layup with 12 seconds left to help the Lions pull out a 41-38 win over the Hawks.

After Muir's big bucket and an Urbana turnover (walking), Disney hit a pair of free throws with 3.7 seconds left. Urbana 's Mari Kordell had to rush a jumper that bounced off the back of the rim at the buzzer. Walkersville 's final point total of 41 was fitting -- the Lions had just snapped Urbana 's 41-game winning streak against public school teams during the regular season.

"It's a big win for us," Lions coach MIke Mathis said. "I have a great deal of respect for (Urbana coach) Chris (Krivos) and the Urbana program. So any time you beat them, you've done something special."

Muir, a junior, couldn't remember ever beating the Hawks, not even on the freshman team, and there are many players in the area who know that feeling.

The last public school team to top the Hawks in the regular season was North Hagerstown on Feb. 11, 2008, and the last Frederick County team to do it was Walkersville on Jan. 22, 2008.

Like many others during Urbana 's impressive streak, the Lions came close to knocking off the Hawks. In fact, they held a halftime lead against Urbana earlier this season before falling, 65-50.

The Lions (12-3, 7-2 MVAL Piedmont) entered the fourth quarter with a 27-21 lead. But naturally, the Hawks (15-3, 8-1) came storming back, taking a 38-37 lead after Peyton Carper hit a short, running jumper with 32 seconds left.

"I felt like if we kept our composure and fought, we'd be really good," Disney said. "We made a lot of big shots at the end, and the free throws were key."

Disney hit all six of her free throws for a team that shot 10 of 13 from the line. And refusing to get discouraged after most of her early jump shots rimmed out, she also hit two huge 3s in the fourth quarter and finished with a game-high 16 points.

Disney's pass to Muir loomed as large as any of her shots.

"I just drove the ball base-line, and I came back up," Disney said. "And they were yelling, 'Brit,' so I threw it over the tall girl and Brit just made the bank shot."

Did Muir feel pressure?

"Oh, my gosh, yes," she said. "I actually thought it was going to bounce out, but it stayed in."

Mathis praised Disney's 3s and that pass, but this defensive minded coach also liked what she did on the other side of the court.

"(She) played real good 'D' on Mari, who's one of the best players around," Kordell said. "I'm just really pleased with the way she played 'D' on her all night."

After starting in man-to-man, the Lions switched to a matchup zone, which proved to be effective. Most of the night, both teams had trouble getting good looks and hitting shots when they did. Tight defense and physical play made points a rarity -- Walkersville led 18-17 at halftime.

"They had a couple rim out, except for the ones Shernise shot through the moon," Urbana coach Chris Krivos said. "They just didn't hit anything. They just went right down through the middle."

Jocelyn Martin had 10 rebounds for the Lions, while Syd Sichert and Krysten Grossnickle each grabbed seven. Danni Medovich had nine points, nice production from a freshman in such a big game.

"It's nerve wracking, I'm so nervous before the games," she said. "I'm not very confident, well, I haven't been, and I think this game brought my confidence up."

Cara Mason led the Hawks with 10 points, and Kordell scored nine.

Krivos liked the way his team gave itself a chance to win at the end.

"I told them don't feel for yourself, we just lost to a very good basketball team. It wouldn't surprise me if they're at UMBC playing for a state 2A championship. They're very well coached. What we're not going to do is feel sorry for ourselves. We're going to talk about what we need to do better."