Still more honors have come in for the area's best field hockey players as the state's coaches have announced their All-State teams. The list was released too late for inclusion in our All-Metro and All-City/County coverage, so here is a complete list of the players chosen by the Maryland State High School Field Hockey Coaches Association. All of these players will be honored at a luncheon Jan. 6 in Annapolis.

Lauren Crum, senior, attack, Severna Park
Erica Henderson, senior, attack, Pocomoke
Abby Lynch, senior, attack, Archbishop Spalding
Lindsey Puckett, junior, attack, Fallston
Brigitte Strother, senior, attack, Broadneck
Allison Behringer, senior, attack, Severna Park
April Cahill, senior, midfield, Bethesda-Chevy Chase
Katie DeFilippo, senior, midfield, South Carroll
Whitney Reid, senior, midfield, Rising Sun
Caitlin Walker, senior, midfield, Fallston
Hope Battista, senior, defense, South River
Jessica Crane, senior, defense, Chesapeake-AA
Leah Koznarsky, junior, defense, Middletown
Abigail Bisbee, junior, goalie, Bryn, Mawr

Second Team
Monica Baick, senior, attack, Quince Orchard
Ashlea Carl, junior, attack, North Carroll
Annie Cohen, junior, attack, Bethesda-Chevy Chase
Sarah Cole, senior, attack, Bryn Mawr
Amy Thompson, senior, attack, Glenelg
Kristin Denning, junior, midfield, Pocomoke
Celeste DiFerdinando, senior, midfield, Hereford
Peyton Hawkins, senior, midfield, Bryn Mawr
Kaylee Pohlmeyer, senior, midfield, Severna Park
Kim Schnell, senior, midfield, C. Milton Wright
Kelsey Heckler, senior, defense, Fallston
Amber Holland, junior, defense Pocomoke
Mandy Pace, senior, defense, Hereford
Stephanie Thomson, senior, goalie, Chesapeake-AA

Honorable Mention
Kerri Dress, junior, attack, South River
Maya Herm, junior, attack, Walt Whitman
Amanda Kimbers, junior, attack, McDonogh
Stacey Lamboni, junior, attack, Parkside
Caitlin Powers , junior, attack, Towson
Kelly Allaband, senior, midfield, Rising Sun
Colleen McCarrick, senior, midfield, Middletown
Libby Nichols, junior, midfield, Friends
Alissa Peterson, junior, midfield, Quince Orchard
Tara Williams, senior, midfield, Dulaney
Liz Hamilton, senior, defense, Roland Park
Shannon Hanratty , senior, defense, Broadneck
Mary Kate Oros, senior, defense, Parkside
Kate Vitali, senior, goalie, C. Milton Wright

Posted by Jack Gibbons at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Breezy Bishop doesn’t miss coaching basketball. As she sat in the stands watching girls games over the weekend at Western’s second annual Breezy Bishop Classic, she had no hankering to get back on the sideline.

You’d think she would 10 years after leaving Western with 420 victories, 15 city championships, two state titles and many Coach of the Year awards, including four All-Metro nods and the Converse/WBCA National award in 1995.

But in 1999, after a year as an assistant coach at North Carolina State, Bishop created new outlets for what has become a life’s mission to improve the lives of youngsters here in her native Baltimore City.

She started a non-profit organization, the Greater Baltimore Women’s Basketball Education Coalition, but does most of her work now with a multifaceted after-school program for freshmen and sophomores in partnership with New Era Academy.

That five-day-a-week program offers some sports, but also tutoring and homework help as well as clubs for drama, poetry, books, gospel choir and even canoeing at New Era, a public intervention school that shares a building with Southside Academy in Cherry Hill but draws from across the city.

“This is what I had a vision of as a young teacher here at Western,” said Bishop. “I saw ninth-graders coming in not prepared for high school. I said, as a young teacher, that when I retire I want to set up a place where kids can come get tutoring, get help and prepare for high school.

“I think girls, boys, there’s an adjustment (to high school) and I think the way for them not to drop out of school is to give them that tutoring, coaching, whatever it takes to save them. If it is done in a good after-school program, it can save them from dropping out. I think by the time they become 11th-graders, they’re more responsible. They understand more about education.”

Bishop has the same passion for the New Era program that made her a basketball coaching legend around the city. She returns to Western sometimes to watch the Doves, but she prefers to keep a low profile, which isn't easy.

Friday night, City Council president Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a Western graduate, presented Bishop with a proclamation, citing her dedication to helping improve the lives of young minority women and for being a role model for them.

Doves coach Tiffany Silver, who played for Bishop at Western, was happy she got the chance to name a tournament for her former coach before someone else did.

“I always refer back to her talking about bringing me my flowers while I can still see them. She just meant so much to this program,” said Silver.

A year ago, Silver named the tournament for Bishop. Bishop, who said she was elated by the honor, used the same flower reference to describe her feelings.

“You always like your flowers while you can see them,” said Bishop. “My mother always used to tell me, ‘Give me my flowers while I can see them,’ and I have the same philosophy.”

Bishop has certainly handed out a lot of flowers to the youngsters of this city. She deserves every one that comes back to her.

-- Katherine Dunn

Posted by Jack Gibbons at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Seton Keough’s No. 1 girls basketball team was under more pressure than it expected to beat New York’s St. John the Baptist last night at Western’s Breezy Bishop Classic.

The Cougars, from West Islip, were ranked No. 1 on Long Island by Newsday and No. 6 in the nation by USA Today. But last night’s game grew in stature after No. 2 St. Frances struck the first blow, beating the Cougars, 56-35, on Saturday night.

Not to be outdone, the Gators pressed their way to a 10-1 lead and went on to win, 58-42.

All-Metro 6-foot-3 center Asya Bussie gave a strong performance against the Cougars’ 6-foot-4 Christine Huber. Boswell said Bussie must have grown an inch because the two were eye-to-eye. Bussie had eight points and 12 rebounds and Huber, who had 12 points, fouled out in the fourth quarter.

At that point, Boswell took Bussie out, too. The coach sat most of her starters late when the Gators' lead built to 20, because this was the first of five games the Gators play in seven days – none of them easy.

Tonight, it’s Towson Catholic at home at 5:30. Wednesday night, they head to No. 6 McDonogh and Friday night, to No. 4 Arundel before finishing the week Saturday at neighborhood rival Mount de Sales.

When asked who made up that schedule, Boswell laughed and said, “the athletic director.” Well, she is the athletic director.

Boswell said her coaching staff has been talking about how to approach this stretch, because, last week’s games were lopsided – two league wins by an average of 47.5 points. So how to get ready for this week’s grind?

“We walk a fine line our league,” said Boswell. “We don’t want to run up the score, but our starters haven’t been playing the minutes they need to play. Asya, we’re going to need her to play 30-32 minutes. We had a light practice [Saturday] but we ran some hard drills for the first half hour. That seemed to work. We started off hard [yesterday]. We went up 10-1. So we balance that the best we can.”

The starting guards – B.J. Williams, Katelyn Fischer and Arika Ullman – also face a test of stamina, because they are perpetual motion in the Gators’ constant pressure defense.

“I told the girls our schedule is what it is,” said Boswell. “We can’t get out of it. They have the experience. Now, we’ll see how tough they are.”

-- Katherine Dunn

Posted by Jack Gibbons at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

If you went to the Web site, you may have noticed from the earlier posting today about this weekend's Breezy Bishop Classic that none of the Maryland public school teams involved are playing on Sunday. That's because of a longstanding Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association rule that prohibits Sunday games unless there's an extraordinary reason, say, to get in tournament games that have been previously canceled because of weather.

While Sunday blue laws were relevant at a particular time in our nation's history, they seem anachronistic and irrelevant now, especially given the way we live, with, in some households, multiple kids playing games at the same times on the desired Friday and Saturday slots.

Perhaps a solution would be to allow each school in the state to schedule one football game and up to two games in other sports per season on Sundays with no game on Sunday starting after 4 p.m. Hey, the French are shopping on Sundays now. Why can't Maryland kids play games on Sundays?

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Four of the Baltimore area's top seven ranked girls basketball teams, including the top three, as well as three other state schools that reached the state semifinals last year, will take part in the season's first (and probably biggest) basketball festival this weekend at the Poly/Western complex.

The Breezy Bishop Classic, named for the former longtime Western coach, will take place with 19 games spread out over three days. In all, 22 teams from four states and the District of Columbia will participate.

Top-ranked Seton Keough will face St. John the Baptist of New York in the weekend's final game Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Poly gym. Second-ranked St. Frances will take on Notre Dame Prep of Massachusetts tonight at 7 p.m., and the aforementioned St. John the Baptist at 7 p.m. tomorrow evening, with both games in the Western gym.

Western, ranked third, will play the National Christian Academy tonight at 9, then face Abraham Lincoln of New York tomorrow night at 9, with both games in their gym. Poly, which reached the state 2A semifinals last year, will host New Town at 6 tonight and Surrattsville of Prince George's County tomorrow afternoon at 2.

If you plan to go, be advised that starting times, especially for the later games of each day's slate, are tentative. For more information, visit the Western girls basketball website.

Posted by Milton Kent at 7:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Lost in the hail of state championship game results from M&T Bank Stadium last weekend was the news that Arundel's players, coaches and fans received an important commendation for their sportsmanship.

The school was awarded the first John H. Cox "Respect The Game" Award for exemplary behavior during last Friday's 4A state championship game by the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association. The award is named for the former chair of the football committee who died last October.

The MPSSAA also awarded sportsmanship trophies to Wootton, of Montgomery County, for volleyball, as well as Urbana, of Frederick County, for girls soccer and to Poolesville, of Montgomery County, for boys soccer.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

Some of the best wrestling teams in the area will see how they stack up against some of the best teams in surrounding states this weekend.

No. 1 McDonogh, No. 2 Mount St. Joseph, No. 3 Archbishop Curley and wrestlers from No. 12 Calvert Hall will participate in the Beast of the East wrestling tournament at the University of Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center, a two-day tournament starting on Saturday at 8:30 a.m.

"The tournament showcases some of the top teams in the country and is touted as the best tournament in the country," Curley coach Gregg Kessler said.

Among the participants will be Blair Academy from New Jersey, which is considered one of the best wrestling programs in the country.

Jackson High School, of New Jersey, Northampton, Connellsville and Great Bridge, of Pennsylvania, and Colonial Forge, of Virginia, also will be in attendance.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

Dunbar coach Lawrence Smith has already proven just how great a year he's had, leading the Poets to another championship after the passing of former head coach Ben Eaton. Last Sunday, he just got a reaffirmation about how good a job he did.

Smith won the 2007 Ravens High School Coach of the Year, which honors "Baltimore-area high school coaches who have made a significant impact on their athletes." Smith was named the winner at halftime of the Ravens Sunday night game against the Indianapolis Colts.

"I was delighted," Smith said. "It was a great honor for the program."

For winning the award, Smith received a $4,000 donation to Dunbar's football program.
Smith was chosen for the award by a "panel of area high school experts" and beat out some of the area's best coaches in Doug DuVall (Wilde Lake), Brian Abbott (Loyola), Steve Turnbaugh (Hereford), Jeff Oerning (North Carroll), Skip Hartley (Digital Harbor), Chip Armstrong (Mount St. Joseph), Marc Mesaros (Eastern Tech), Roger Wrenn (Poly) and Brian Van Deusen (River Hill). All the coaches in contention were named Coaches of the Week during the regular football season.

Smith also followed the footsteps of his coaching mentor. Eaton won the award in 2004.

Posted by Milton Kent at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

So, the final football poll of the year has been released, and it's River Hill that stays at the top over Dunbar. How does that sit with you?

As my colleague Pat O'Malley's story in Monday's paper lays out, there were compelling reasons to favor either the Hawks, who completed an unbeaten season with a 14-7 win over Eastern Tech in Saturday's state 2A championship game, or the Poets, who likewise capped their undefeated year with a 58-34 victory over Allegany in the 1A match.

River Hill players, coaches and fans will certainly point to the team's remarkable collection of shutouts, 11, which tied a state record to make their case. Dunbar supporters, meanwhile, will identify the state record-tying 58 points they hung on Allegany in the title game, part of the record 186 points the Poets scored in the playoffs as proof they are the best.

And while the Hawks were selected No.1, there's no way to definitively prove which is the better team, save for a game, which can't happen under state rules.

Nor should it happen, frankly. While big-time college football looks asinine for the way it conducts its postseason, Maryland's four classifications and champions makes sense. More importantly, the process doesn't pervert the educational process.

That's not to say that it wouldn't be fun to see Dunbar and River Hill play each other, say in a season-opening doubleheader next year, with, say, Arundel and Hereford, the 4A and 3A runners-up, playing in the other game, at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson.

Yes, each school would have to give up a game from its league schedule to make it happen, and the county and city school systems would have to maneuver to make it work, but that's a small sacrifice to make for the amount of attention the games would get.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

You might be surprised to read this, but after his players and coaches and their families, three of the people that Dunbar football coach Lawrence Smith thanked for the Poets' 14-0 season, which culminated Saturday with a 58-34 win over Allegany in the state 1A championship game, were the coaches of his chief rivals.

"When you play against (Poly coach) Roger Wrenn and (City coach) George Petrides, they prepare you for games like this," said Smith after the Allegany game. "These folks from out of town talk about their line play, but when City and now Poly, who run the same offense (as Allegany), but with an athlete in the backfield, it's going to prepare you for this."

Smith continued: "That's why our kids never put their heads down, because when you play against Edmondson (coached by Dante Jones), City and Poly and schools like that, with the running back that Edmondson and Poly have and the quarterback that Poly and Edmondson and City have, when you get to this level, it's like slow motion for our kids.

"That's just the way it is. You can say what you want about Baltimore City football, but one thing we have is athletes. And we have some hell of a good group of coaches."

After Saturday, it's safe to say you can add one more to that list.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The family of the late Dunbar football coach Ben Eaton has established a memorial scholarship fund in his honor.

Tax-deductible contributions may be made to the Coach Benjamin Eaton, Sr. Scholarship Fund, c/o Huber Memorial Church 5701 York Road, Baltimore, MD 21212, with additional details available at the church's website. Contributions of $20 or more will entitle the donor to a copy of a DVD of a tribute to Eaton.

Eaton, who died of a heart attack in August, would have been 59 yesterday.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

There will be plenty in this space about the Saturday state football championship games and the ramifications later. But we shouldn't let the season close on the splendid efforts of the local teams who played for state 3A and 4A titles late last week.

Arundel coach Chuck Markiewicz did a superb job in getting the fourth-ranked Wildcats back to the state title game for the first time in 28 years, aided in no small part by the fabulous arm of quarterback Nick Elko. Meanwhile, Steve Turnbaugh guided No.5 Hereford to its fifth championship game appearance in the last 10 years, behind the running of Lonnie Liggins.

But what the Bulls and Wildcats discovered in their losses to Damascus and Quince Orchard in their respective finals last week is a common lament for many suburban Baltimore area schools, namely that they usually cannot match the speed and athleticism of the Washington area schools that they frequently meet in the state playoffs. Holes that were opened easily during the regular season close faster in late November and December, which forces teams to press and play the game more quickly than they might normally.

All of that is said with this very important proviso: The Arundel and Hereford players and coaches don't have a single thing to feel sorry about. They reached a stage in the season that every kid and coach dreams about, and no one can take away their accomplishments.

Posted by Milton Kent at 7:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Hope you caught last night's first telecast of the high school boys basketball season on ESPNU, between Campbell Hall of California and St. Edward of Ohio.

Truth be told, I hope you didn't watch that game or any of the other 14 games on the ESPNU schedule between now and February. I would be perfectly happy if the whole distasteful concept of nationally televised high school games went away.

Simply put, the notion of bringing kids from three time zones away during the middle of the week for two hours of television programming is entirely antithetical to the educational process. The Campbell kids almost certainly missed three full days of class time so that Jrue Holiday, a Campbell player voted ESPN's No.5-ranked player this season could get introduced to a national audience now before he goes to college next year.

What coach, athletic director, principal, or area superintendent could have thought this was a good idea for the team?

Look, it's not ESPN or Fox Sports Net or any national channel's responsibility to put the interest of the kids first. Their job is to provide compelling programming, no matter the cost. If it means pulling kids out of class from a time zone or two or three to play games, when there would almost certainly be good contests in their area or state, so be it.

And in this day and age when otherwise well-meaning parents seek every chance to get their kids exposure for college scholarships and to put them on the radar of professional observers down the road, they can't be counted on any more to be vigilant.

No, it has to be up to educators to place limits on how far athletics are allowed to intrude into academics. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

Posted by Milton Kent at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Three cheers to Sports Illustrated and writer David Epstein for a detailed piece in the current issue with Sportsman of the Year Brett Favre on the cover that details a growing concern among parents and coaches about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

The congenital cardiovascular abnormality causes the walls of the left ventricle of the heart to enlarge, inhibiting the flow of blood to the heart. According to the SI piece, HCM affects an estimated 600,000 Americans, and causes more than 6,000 deaths per year. Young, seemingly healthy athletes who have HCM are at particular risk, because the ailment does not present itself in a normal pre-sport physical, but can be detected usually only with an electrocardiogram and a follow-up echocardiogram.

For me, the story brought back reminders of Megan Finn, an Overlea field hockey player, who collapsed during a practice in September, 2004, and was subsequently diagnosed with HCM. She was saved when her coach, Jenna Zava, performed CPR on the field.

Posted by Milton Kent at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

Early-season basketball tournaments are a great way for teams to get a barometer of how they compare to schools outside their conference. There are some good ones this weekend.

Baltimore will welcome teams from Washington in the "Baltimore vs. Washington, D.C. Boys and Girls Basketball Challenge." The boys games will take place Saturday, Dec. 8 at Lake Clifton. Anacostia will play No. 6 Northwestern at 1, Ballou plays No. 10 Mervo at 3, Dunbar (D.C.) plays No. 11 Lake Clifton at 5, and Cardozo plays No. 12 Dunbar (Baltimore) at 7.

The girls games will take place on Friday, Dec. 7. Roosevelt will play at Poly at 6 p.m., while H.D. Woodson travels to No. 3 Western, also at 6. Admission to the games is $5.

The Randallstown Tip-Off Tournament will take place at Randallstown, with Eastern Tech playing Aberdeen at 5, and Carver playing No. 4 Randallstown at 7.

Posted by Milton Kent at 8:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

For many, the height of the high school sports season is football in the crisp Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons of the fall, culminating with this week's state championships. For others, especially in the Baltimore area, the height of the year is the lacrosse season in the spring.

That's all well and good, but for this observer, there's no better time than basketball season, boys and girls, which thankfully opens around the area this week.

This season starts with a number of interesting questions. On the girls side, can Poly build off its surprising run to the state semifinals last year? How good will defending state 2A champion Atholton be without Julie Taylor, who graduated? And can St. Frances win the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland's A Conference again without Mi-Khida Hankins?

On the boys side, we look forward to the battles between Towson Catholic and Mount St. Joseph, while wondering if former Owls coach Mike Daniel is ready to establish City as a power and if River Hill can parlay their 3A state success to a 2A title?

Let the games begin!

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Give Howard County officials credit for progressive thinking in enacting a ban on bringing outside food and beverages to high school sporting events. The opportunities to smuggle in alcohol are too present and the consequences that could flow from having booze snuck into games are too dire not to make the change that has been enacted system-wide and just in time for the start of the winter season.

However, one aspect of the ban, the prohibition on allowing drinks and foods that are purchased at the schools into the gyms should be reconsidered and modified. While it's appropriate to restrict outside food and beverages into a facility, it seems unreasonable not to let people who have bought a hot dog or a soda at the gym into the gym to consume it while they're watching the game.

A well-intentioned rule likely will have the effect either of long lines during intermissions of games or of keeping people away from concession stands entirely. And since many of the proceeds from those stands help fund school booster clubs or activities, the policy may actually have an unintended consequence of hurting those clubs.

Posted by Milton Kent at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

When top-ranked River Hill takes the field this weekend at M&T Bank Stadium for the 2A state title against No. 6 Eastern Tech, it’s uncertain whether one of the Hawks' best players will be on the field.

Linebacker Zach Martin, the anchor of the Hawks' defense, was hurt in the team’s semifinal against Elkton, when a defensive lineman rolled on his leg while he was blocking, hurting his ankle and taking him out of the game.

Martin saw a doctor Monday. The good news? The ankle isn't broken. The bad? It’s severely sprained, and it’s looking as if Martin will be a game-time decision.

"It’s a severely sprained ankle and sometimes people can come back," River Hill coach Brian Van Deusen said. "We’ll see how the swelling goes and how much weight he can put on it. We’re just going to have him take it easy the whole week, but it’s still up in the air if he’ll be able to fully go for Saturday."

Eastern Tech comes into Saturday’s game with a three-headed monster at tailback, with Thomas Edwards, Derryck Davis and Darian Conners all getting touches, meaning the absence of the run-stopping Martin could prove detrimental to the Hawks' chances of a championship.
If Martin is unable to go, junior backup linebacker Patrick McCleaf will take his place. McCleaf played in place of Martin against Elkton.

For Martin, a senior, this is his last chance to get a state championship.

"Zach’s an extreme rely tough kid. If he can walk on it, he’ll try to play," Van Deusen said. "We’ll give you more updates on Martin’s condition later in the week."

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Just when you think you've heard it all, here comes a story about chicanery and subterfuge, albeit unintentional, in the world of...high school chess?

It seems that the Bowman Academy in Bowman, S.C., was forced to forfeit its second-place trophy in the recent South Carolina Independent School Association's state chess tournament because it used an ineligible player. The school has been barred from playing competitive chess for a year.

A story that was already great gets better because of two facts: The team was declared ineligible because its coach, Ryan Davis, substituted his son for another player who did not show up for the match, explaining in the Times and Democrat that he didn't think his son "was good enough to win a trophy."

The other pertinent fact is that Davis is a pastor at the First Baptist Church of Bowman.

We couldn't make that up.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Add two more reality-based shows, Nimrod Nation and Varsity, Inc., to the fairly recent and continuing explosion of airing high school athletics on television, though neither appear to be of the style of Two-A-Days, the former MTV show that kicked off this whole trend.

Nimrod Nation, which appears Mondays at 9 p.m. on the Sundance Channel, is an eight-part series that looks into the life and times of a boys basketball team at a school in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with the nickname "Nimrods." Oddly enough, the school and its fans were the subject of an ESPN commercial campaign.

That dovetails nicely into Varsity, Inc., a six-part series that looks at the goings-on surrounding a Louisiana high school football team. We'll try to get a look at the two this week and report back next week, but generally speaking, we really do have to reach a point where we stop using high school athletics as programming sources.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)