The 6-foot Green scored 17 points and was an able facilitator on a night when player and coach were perfectly in sync. That hasn’t always been the case. Green wasn’t even Hammond’s point guard when she came to the school from Elizabeth Seton midway through her sophomore year.

Jones took over a year later, watched some film and handed Green the reins.

“She could take anybody at any time, so why isn’t the ball in her hands?” Jones said.

Before Green’s junior season, the coach focused Hammond’s system on getting her to the basket. But the two initially clashed. Jones recalled a game in which she asked the team to press on defense and Green questioned her coach. Green remembered practices and games in which she and Jones “bumped heads” over the effort level or the play calls.

Over winter break last season, the two had a heartfelt conversation. Jones told her player she had only Green’s interests in mind and asked the guard about her goals. Green said she wanted to be a Division I basketball player.

Jones, who played at Furman, knew how to get her there.

“Because I did that, I’m just requiring things from her that are going to get her seen by coaches out here,” Jones said. “So everything that I tell her is not to pick at her. It’s not because I just feel like saying things. It’s to really help her in the long run.”

The message resonated. Green said since the talk, they have “put our two big brains together.”

The win over the Hawks (11-2) was just the latest example. The Bears were in command throughout, and when River Hill made a late run, Green quelled it by slinging pinpoint passes to an open Sara Yarnell for three-pointers on consecutive possessions.

The win was the latest statement for Hammond, which is poised to fill the power vacuum atop the county left by Howard, which is dealing with roster attrition this season after dominating the county in recent years and winning the Maryland Class 3A title last season.

With the chemistry working between Jones and Green, Hammond is seeking similar heights.