Ahmaad Wilson was huffing, puffing and had already ditched his brown and gold jersey, but the Owings Mills junior also wore a wide grin.

Wilson and his boy’s basketball teammates had just beaten Franklin High School, 59-39. Just beating a close rival would normally give Wilson plenty to smile about.

But Wednesday also marked the first time that the game was played in Owings Mills Gymnasium at Stevenson University. Both the boys' and girls' varsity basketball teams at Owings Mills and Franklin high schools took the hardwood Wednesday night.

And though the 10 additional feet of an NCAA basketball court had Wilson breathing a bit heavier than usual, the junior was thrilled for the experience.

“You definitely got to have the conditioning,” Wilson said. “It’s a very long court compared to a high school court. But it’s a rivalry game. I couldn’t even sleep last night.” 

Thanks in part to Baltimore County Councilwoman Vicki Almond and scheduling snafu, Wilson got to play the game in front of raucous crowd in a college gymnasium.

Franklin athletics director Richard Reed contacted Almond, she said, after he had a scheduling conflict with the gym at Franklin, where the game was to be played. 

Reed suggested Stevenson University, Almond said, so she asked university president Kevin J. Manning what he thought of allowing two local high schools to play basketball in the gymnasium.

Manning jumped on board, and the rest is history.

“What a great experience to be at their local college and playing ball,” said Almond, who sat on the Franklin side of the stands alongside top aide Jonathan Schwartz.

Briana Forbes, a sophomore on the Owings Mills girls' basketball team, was certainly soaking up the atmosphere.

“I think it’s a good experience for everyone who wants to go on to play in college, to see how it feels,” she said.

Despite a 57-40 loss to Franklin, Forbes said the game’s venue made the night memorable.

“It was just a lot of energy,” she said. “You can feel it.”