Some of the area's top 100 underclassmen football players have been invited to take part in a scouting combine and skills camp tomorrow at the Velocity Sports Performance center near Bonnie Ridge.

SportsWeave, a Morgantown, W.Va.-based sports marketing firm has invited 100 area freshmen, sophomores and juniors to take part in the camp, where their height, weight and wingspan will be measured as well as being tested by group and position in bench press, vertical jump and broad jump, the 40-yard dash and other drills.

Posted by Milton Kent at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The tendency in this area is to look to Baltimore City or Baltimore County teams to bring home boys basketball state titles, but if you've noticed, a pair of Howard County teams, namely Long Reach and River Hill, have captured Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association championships in the past two years.

That basketball out I-70, U.S. 29 and Routes 108 and 175 is pretty good these days doesn't surprise county players and coaches.

"They (Baltimore City and County teams) all get their due as well they should," said Marriotts Ridge coach Marcus Lewis. "My feeling is there's always going to be people that are overlooked. That's just how the county is."

Lewis previously coached boys and girls basketball at Oakland Mills, before coming to Marriotts Ridge three years ago. Both Henry Sims and Justin McCoy, two standouts at Mount St. Joseph's, would have attended Oakland Mills, a fact that Lewis says demonstrates that Howard can produce high quality basketball talent.

"I know who we were losing," said Lewis, whose Mustangs have the No. 2 seed in the 2A South region. "Even though we're losing a lot of those players to the private schools, there's still pretty good basketball out here."

With Long Reach and Atholton joining Marriotts Ridge as high seeds, there's a decent chance that a Howard team could win a third straight title.

Said Derek Coleman, the Mustangs' point guard: "Don't count us out. We might not be the most athletic, but we probably have some of the smarter teams in the area. It helps us out. Don't count us out."

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Baltimore City schools have a realistic chance of capturing three Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association state basketball titles when the tournament opens for business today on the way to the finals in College Park in two weeks.

Though Owings Mills and Pikesville occupy the top two seeds in the 1A North region, third-seeded Dunbar and fourth-seeded Digital Harbor have to be considered the favorites in the region. The Poets have won 14 straight regional titles, with 11 state titles to boot, while the Rams, ranked ninth in the area, are one of the biggest surprises of the year. New Town, the defending 1A champions, is in the mix as well, but with an unfortunate 12th seed, the Titans would have to win three straight road games just to get out of the region.

As Stefen Lovelace pointed out yesterday, the 2A North region is a veritable minefield with No.3 Randallstown, sixth-ranked Douglass and No.7 City occupying the top three seeds in the region, and a pretty solid Northwestern team getting bounced to an 11th seed by the silly MPSSAA seeding formula (or lack thereof). It's a brutal region, and while Randallstown is the favorite and has homecourt advantage throughout, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities to see Douglass or City or Northwestern make their way through to Comcast Center. In the South region, No. 2 seed Marriotts Ridge and defending 3A champion River Hill will have their hands full trying to get past a passel of talented Prince George's County teams, including Gwynn Park, ranked No.5 in the Washington Post poll. In the West region, second-seeded Winters Mill and No.3 seed Century will have to get through the top seed Walkersville.

Top-ranked Lake Clifton, on paper, should have nominal competition in its 3A North region, though No.12 Mervo, the third seed in the region looking to make its third straight trip to College Park, may give the Lakers a run. Right off the bat, and again because of the hideous seeding system of the MPSSAA, two good clubs, Annapolis and Atholton, will meet in the
first round of the 3A South region, though the ticket out of the region goes through top seed and No.15 Long Reach, the newly crowned Howard County champions.

The 4A North regional final could host an interesting rematch between top seed Parkville and No. 2 seed Woodlawn, which just beat Randallstown for the county title. Woodlawn won the regular season meeting by seven, but a playoff game between the two would be at Parkville. Meanwhile, don't sleep on Walbrook, the No. 4 seed in the region. Coach Kelvin Bridgers guided the team to a state title three years ago and has postseason experience. In the East region, No. 10 Old Mill, the top seed, could find itself meeting Arundel in a rematch of the Anne Arundel County championship game, won by the Patriots. That is, assuming, of course, the Wildcats, the region's third seed, can get past No. 2 seed Thomas Stone of Charles County.

Posted by Milton Kent at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

When play opens today for this year's Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association girls basketball tournament, there will be no shortage of compelling story lines for local teams, with unbeaten teams potentially facing off, while schools and coaches who have come close to state titles in recent seasons get another chance to get to UMBC.

In the Class 1A bracket, New Town and coach Pam Wright have advanced to the state semifinals the last three seasons, but haven't been able to break through. If the Titans, the top seed in the North region, can get past second-seeded Digital Harbor, the fourth time could be the charm. Digital beat New Town by three in the season opener. Joppatowne and South Carroll received top seeds in the South.

No. 4 Mount Hebron and No. 8 Winters Mill each enter the 2A tournament unbeaten, and with home court advantage throughout their regional, the stage is set for the teams to meet in the state semifinals in Catonsville. Getting there could be the hardest part. Winters Mill will have to wind its way through a West region that has tough teams at the top of the bracket, namely North Hagerstown, Middletown and Century. Mount Hebron, meanwhile, might have the toughest draw in the state, with county opponents No. 15 Oakland Mills and River Hill in the region, plus Southern of Anne Arundel, last year's 2A runner-up, and Gwynn Park in Prince George's County. The competition in the 2A North region should be fascinating with No. 7 City, Poly and dark horse Randallstown all in the mix.

Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated rematch of the tournament is waiting in the 3A North region between No. 5 Catonsville, the Baltimore County champions, and sixth-ranked Western, which won the Baltimore City title. The Comets beat the Doves 61-51 at the Basketball Academy mixer last month and the two teams have eyed each other warily since, as Western tries to reach the state finals for a third straight year. In the East region, No. 12 Atholton, last year's 2A champions, will have their hands full with Fallston in the East region.

In the 4A East region, the signs are pointed toward a rematch of the Anne Arundel county championship between No. 3 Arundel and No. 11 Old Mill, which got to the state semifinals last year. Dulaney appears to be the favorite in the North region, though C. Milton Wright, the second seed in the region, could provide a solid challenge. The winner in the East or North region would be a clear underdog to three-time defending champion Eleanor Roosevelt from the South region.

Posted by Milton Kent at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

Here are the rosters for the preliminary game in the Charm City Challenge, which pits a team of players from schools in the city against their counterparts from the suburbs. The Challenge will be held April 6, at the Towson Center.

The City All-Star Roster:

Justin Berry, Douglass; Jamar Briscoe, Gibbons; James Carmen, City; Brandon Carroll, Curley; Donte Drake, Mervo; Jermaine Edwards, Digital Harbor; Turan Greene, Lake Clifton; Daniel Horton, Lake Clifton; Paul Kouvaris, Gibbons; Justin McCoy, Mt. St. Joe; Chris Olson, Mt. St. Joe; Anthony Oquendo, St. Frances; Brandon Simms, Douglass.

Coach - Rodney Coffield, Douglass

The County All-Star Roster:

Larry Bastfield, Towson Catholic; Devon Branch, Aberdeen; Kevin Hunt, Broadneck; Karron Hunter, Owings Mills; Marcus Jeter, Randallstown; Jakub Kusmierick, John Carroll; Jordan Lee, Loch Raven; Darious Nesmith, Woodlawn; Deonte Puller, Old Mill; Kevin Seker, Marriots Ridge; Obi Ukwuoma, Long Reach; Josh Weigand, John Carroll; Dwayne Wheeler, Mt. Carmel;

Coach - Tom Rose, Mt. Carmel

Posted by Milton Kent at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

St. Frances' Sean Mosley and Henry Sims of Mount St. Joseph's headline the list of area players selected to play in the Charm City Challenge high school basketball all-star game April 6 at the Towson Center, event organizers announced this week.

Mosley, who has signed to play at Maryland next year, and Sims, who is going to Georgetown, are among 13 area players who will face a team of hoopsters banded together from around the galaxy, er, the country. The team will be coached by Randallstown's Kim Rivers.

The rest of the Baltimore roster includes: Kimmie English, who attended Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts this year, after playing at Randallstown, and who is headed for Missouri; Allan Chaney, who attended prep school at New London, Conn., after going to St. Paul's, and is bound for Florida; Mount Carmel's Troy Franklin, who has signed to play at Towson, as well as his teammate, Marc Anthony Franks; Omar Strong of Douglass; Towson Catholic's Brandon Greene; Brad Bald of Severna Park, who is going to UNC-Wilimington; Mervo's Byron Westmoreland; Gerrard Sheppard of McDonogh and Terrence Jones, who also attended Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts after playing at Lake Clifton. He will play at Texas A&M next year.

The United States team is expected to be announced later this week. The Baltimore squad won 116-113 last year and leads the all-time series 5-2.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

One of the best local college basketball stories of recent years, namely the rise of the UMBC men's team, may impact the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association girls tournament finals.

The America East conference, of which UMBC is a member, plays its tournament championship game at the site of the highest seeded remaining team. Since the Retrievers have clinched the top seed, they would host the finals should they advance that far at noon on March 15 at the RAC Arena, with the game to air on ESPN to boot.

But here's the rub: March 15 is the scheduled day for the MPSSAA girls finals, with four games slated there through the day and evening. The compromise, should it be necessary, would be that three of the finals would be played at the RAC at 5, 7 and 9 p.m. on March 15, with the fourth final taking place there that Monday night.

Of course, the MPSSAA could just play the games at the RAC on Sunday, but, silly rabbit, public school games aren't for Sundays.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

We will delve in greater detail into the draw for this year's Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association boys and girls basketball tournament beginning tomorrow and through the week. But there's one terrible situation that ought to be addressed, even if won't be corrected in time for this year's tournament.

The New Town boys team, the defending Class 1A state champions, is seeded at the bottom of the North region through no fault of its own, which means the Titans will have to win three road games despite having a 12-7 record.

What's even more bizarre is that when the draw was originally announced Sunday at Long Reach, the Titans received a top-four seed. But, later, when it was pointed out that Dunbar's record had been incorrectly reported, the draw was reconfigured and the Poets, who were originally a 10 seed, moved up to a three seed, while the Titans were dropped to a 12 seed, the last one in the region.

The reason for all this is because the MPSSAA stubbornly refuses to seed the entire field, granting true seeds to only the top four teams in a region and placing the rest in a blind, computer draw. The current system is a better way to decide a champion than the previous system when every school's name was put in a hat and drawn, but just barely.

Teams with better records deserve to enjoy the fruits of their labors, especially when a state championship is at stake. Each region should be seeded according to winning percentage with appeals in the case of records affected by incomplete schedules to heard by a panel of athletic directors from the region, with the basketball committees serving as the final arbiter.

It's the fair thing to do for New Town and every team in the field.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The genie of YouTube and MySpace and FaceBook is so far out of the bottle that it will be impossible going forward to put it back, so that just about every kid who knows someone with a decent video camera and access to editing software can become an Internet legend, like Sam McGuffie, the Texas running back whose leap over an opponent is quite the rage.

But it doesn't necessarily make one an old fogy to wonder what effect all of this has on the college recruiting process, and by extension on high school sports, if every kid's highlight reel goes on the Web without any context about who these supposed miracles are being performed against. Even worse, what happens to the kids who don't have access to a Spielberg wanna-be with plenty of time on their hands and no shred of conscience?

By the way, one of the videos in the story linked here contains language that some may find inappropriate for themselves or for younger readers/viewers.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

Cammeron Woodyard has been dominating Carroll County boys basketball competition all year, averaging a little over 20 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists a game for Winters Mill. Playing outside the hotbed of Baltimore keeps most kids' names out of the national spotlight.

Woodyard’s play has garnered the attention from one Big Ten school though. The 6-5 senior verbally committed to a basketball scholarship with Penn State last weekend.

"He loves the school," Winters Mill coach Dave Herman said. "It’s close enough to home where his parents can see him play." It’s a great academic school and he really likes the college."
Westminster is a bit of a trek for most elite college programs, but Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis and his staff made the hike to see Woodyard’s talent.

"They’ve probably seen him play in five games," Herman said. "They’ve been to practice once. They’ve seen him a lot. I think (information) got to them [that] there was a pretty good player down this way."

Once the coaches saw Woodyard’s skill set, they knew that he’d fit in well as a Nittany Lion.

"He shoots it well and for a kid 6-5, he’s very athletic," Herman said. "For a kid 6-5, he’s able to handle and shoot and pass; you just don’t see a lot of kids that can do that."

Woodyard also drew interest from Holy Cross, Youngstown State, Jacksonville and Loyola.

This season Penn State is 12-13 and 4-9 in the Big Ten. They have struggled mightily since losing leading scorer, Geary Claxton, to a knee-ligament injury that will force him to miss the rest of the season.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The Baltimore County boys and girls basketball championships, as well as the county championship wrestling meets, all scheduled for tonight, have been postponed because of today's storms.

Ron Belinko, Baltimore County's athletics coordinator, said the county wrestling meet has been rescheduled to tomorrow morning at 10 at Parkville, while the boys basketball game between Woodlawn and homestanding Randallstown has been moved to Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The girls title game, which pits Randallstown against Catonsville, the home team, will also be played at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Posted by Milton Kent at 3:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Katherine Dunn:

The Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland has named the following players as the best on the court this season:

A Conference All-Stars

Janay Brinkley, Archbishop Spalding; Asya Bussie, Arika Ullman and B.J. Williams, Seton Keough; Tyler Hale, Towson Catholic; Shatyra Hawkes and Briana Hutchen, St. Frances; Destiny Jacobs, McDonogh; Khadija Mitchell, Mercy; and Bailey Webster, St. Paul’s.

B Conference All-Stars

Anne Brockmeyer, John Carroll; Jackie Buckley and Kaitlin O’Hara, St. Vincent Pallotti; Leah Cranmer, Leanne Hug and Taylor Wieczorek, Severn; Cara Facchina and Amy Stryjewski, Mount de Sales; Stephanie Glavaris, Maryvale; and Julie Groves, Chapelgate.

C Conference All-Stars

Natalie Brown, Garrison Forest; Kourtney Conyers, Glenelg Country; Claire Ellwanger and Dawn Lee, Park; Rachael Keshishian and Meghan Lepley, Lutheran; Danni Mink, Annapolis Area Christian; Katherine Rosenberg, Friends; Arielle Vogelstein, Beth Tfiloh and Adrianne Williams, Catholic.

Posted by Milton Kent at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

The Baltimore City title will be decided Tuesday, Feb. 26, when Division II winner Douglass and Division I winner Lake Clifton play at Morgan State at 7.

The No. 6 Ducks (17-4) have been one of the hottest area teams in the second half of the season, reeling off 10 straight victories, including then-upsets of ranked city teams, Northwestern, Digital Harbor and City.

The team is led by senior point guard Omar Strong, who has seemed to make back-breaking three-point shots at will during the streak. Douglass is a senior-laden group, with senior guards Brandon Simms and Justin Berry proficient at shooting from long range, too.

The Ducks may be hot but No. 2 Lake Clifton (22-1) has been consistently dominant all season. Their 19 straight victories and counting have proven that they’re the best team in the city, and they have yet to lose against an area team.

Coach Herman Harried may have the best starting-five in the area. Derrious Gilmore is an electrifying point guard that gets his teammates involved, Antoine Allen and Jason Sharp are capable of scoring in bunches, while forwards Daniel Horton and Cleveland Melvin do the dirty work inside, grabbing rebounds and swatting shots.

With all the success both teams have had, they have yet to face each other this season, making the game even more of a must-see.

Tickets to the event are $5. Tickets will only be sold at the door and not at the participating schools, so spectators are encouraged to come early.

To attend the event, all spectators must purchase a ticket, including non-participating coaches and players.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

One of the best kept secrets in the area is the annual Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association draw for the boys and girls basketball tournament, where the seedings for each of the four regions within each of the four classes is revealed.

While we would prefer to see the entire field seeded from top to bottom, the process of placing the team into brackets is interesting and open to the public. The draw will take place Sunday at 10 a.m. in the atrium of Long Reach High in Columbia.

Speaking of basketball playoffs, CN8 will air a tape of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association 'A' Conference semifinal between Towson Catholic and St. Frances tomorrow at 4 p.m.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

We regret to report that another high school athlete has fallen due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart muscle that generally goes undetected in the standard preseason medical physical.

Shannon Veal, a junior point guard from Baton Rouge, La., who was being recruited by LSU, collasped on the court Monday night after making two free throws just before halftime during a Louisiana state playoff game. Veal was treated at the scene and later pronounced dead. The game was suspended when Veal collapsed and her Glen Oaks teammates returned the next night and won the resumed contest.

We've said this before and we'll say it again: If the congressmen who grandstand so vociferously about the potential impact of steroids are serious about doing something to make high school athletics safer, they would move to make heart tests more affordable so they can become standard parts of physicals. If that were the case, real threats like HCM could be detected in time and lives like Shannon Veal's could be saved.

Posted by Milton Kent at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

So, what are we to make of the notion that no Baltimore-area players were named to the rosters of either the McDonald's boys All-America game or the girls game, each to be played March 26 in Milwaukee?

Indeed, if you add the fact that no local girls were named to play in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's All-Star Game in Tampa during the Final Four, you could get the idea that Baltimore-area basketball isn't as good as it's cracked up to be, which, of course, is silly. And, to be sure, so much of getting invited to these games is about the colleges that the kids choose rather than the high school they play for, or is it a shock that three boys chosen in the McDonald's game are going to North Carolina, while four girls in the McDonalds and WBCA games are going to Tennessee?

That said, it is strange that a boy from Virginia and a girl from Virginia and a girl from Delaware get chosen to play in the highest profile games, and no one from Maryland does.

It's an outrage!

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

At the 37th Annual Baltimore Catholic League (BCL) luncheon yesterday, the all-league teams were announced.

Players selected to the BCL first team were: Jamar Briscoe, Cardinal Gibbons; Jonathan Graham, Calvert Hall; Eric Atkins, Mount St. Joseph; Brandon Greene, Towson Catholic; Matt Rum, Loyola.

Players selected to the BCL second team were: Larry Bastfield, Towson Catholic; Kevin Breslin, St. Maria Goretti; Anthony Oquendo, St. Frances; James Davenport, Loyola; Paul Kouvaris, Cardinal Gibbons.

Players selected as honorable mentions were: Justin McCoy, Mount St. Joseph; Steele Stanwick, Loyola; Delmore Howard, Archbishop Spalding; Andre Moore, Archbishop Spalding; Sal Schittino, Loyola; Ronald Willams, St. Frances.

There was also an award given out named the "Never, Never Quit Award," which was given to recognize a player on each team that the coach believed was a inspiration to the team even if not being the most gifted player. The winners were: John Graziano, Archbishop Spalding; Eddie Healy, Calvert Hall; Ryan Zepp, Gibbons; Sal Schittino, Loyola; Chris Olsen, Mount St. Joseph; Donald Washington, St. Francis; Will Lorensen, St. Maria Goretti; Dominique Davis, Towson Catholic.

Posted by Milton Kent at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Charm City Challenge organizers have announced that Randallstown boys basketball coach Kim Rivers will lead the Baltimore All-Stars team in the April 6 game that will pit a squad of local hoopsters against a team of players from around the country. The coach of the national team is still to be determined.

Douglass' Rodney Coffield will coach a team of city players against a team of players from around the area, to be coached by Tom Rose of Mount Carmel, in a preliminary Beltway battle before the Challenge. Invited players have until next Monday to decide whether to play in the Challenge, to be held at the Towson Center.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun’s Katherine Dunn:

Looking for the reasons behind the continuation of No. 2 St. Frances’ run of six straight girls basketball championships, you can find plenty: dedication, athleticism, veteran center Kandice Green, overcoming obstacles, team chemistry, season-long growth in all aspects of the game.

But another reason has emerged in the last couple of years -- one individual completes a breakout season with superb play in the title game.

Sophomore guard Shatyra Hawkes was that player in Sunday’s 43-39 overtime upset of No. 1 Seton Keough for yet another Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship.

The 5-foot-3 thundercloud stormed through the fourth quarter almost unstoppable. Hawkes scored 10 of her 15 points in the quarter. Her free throw with 8.5 seconds left in regulation forced the game to overtime. Another free throw to open the extra session gave the Panthers the lead for good.

A year ago, the Panthers got a similar performance from LaKisha Walker, also a guard who now plays at Bowie State.

An already stellar defender, Walker became a consistent offensive threat as a senior and put a finishing touch on the conference crown, similar to Hawkes’ effort. She scored 18 points in the 68-63 overtime win against No. 2 McDonogh, but is best remembered for stealing a pass with 7.9 seconds to go in overtime and converting both free throws after McDonogh’s desperation foul.

If the Panthers keep finding girls with nerves of steel who can make plays like these, there might not be enough room in their gym for all the banners.

Posted by Milton Kent at 7:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun’s Katherine Dunn:

At the start of this girls basketball season, everyone I spoke with picked Seton Keough and St. Frances as the top two teams in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland. No minds changed along the way.

A long and winding season for most teams in the A Conference has been nothing but straight and narrow for the No. 1 Gators and No. 2 Panthers. Seton Keough swept every conference foe and St. Frances lost only to the Gators. They’ve been No. 1 and No. 2 all along.

Friday, they finished off their semifinals convincingly -- Seton Keough over No. 15 McDonogh, 61-53, and St. Frances over Spalding, 56-44. Now it all comes down to Sunday’s finale at Villa Julie College at 5 p.m.

Both teams have been pretty tournament savvy in recent years. Defending champ St. Frances has been the big winner of late, taking five titles in a row and six of the last seven. The Gators, even though they haven’t won since 2000, have not been far off the mark.

This is the 11th straight time the title game has included one of the two teams, or both. (See below for more about those finals.)

On Jan. 8, the Gators tasted a small dose of revenge against the Panthers for knocking them out in last season’s tournament semifinal when they romped, 62-40, at St. Frances in their only regular-season meeting.

It’s anybody’s guess whether the Panthers’ desire to avenge that loss combined with their desire to extend their title streak will trump the Gators’ desire to stay on top and their desire to snap St. Frances’ title streak.

In January, neither team was at full power. Gators guard Katelyn Fischer was out with the flu and Panthers All-Metro center Kandice Green was struggling to come back from a sprained ankle.

Both teams should be at full strength on Sunday. Nonetheless, the Gators should still have an edge and not because they moved into the No. 25 national spot in the ESPN HIGH Elite 25 girls basketball rankings this week.

The Gators have more upperclassmen and are deeper, especially on the perimeter with Fischer, B.J. Williams and three-point ace Arika Ullman, who scored her 1,000th career point this week. They also have gotten some fabulous minutes from their bench in critical situations. Meanwhile, the inside combination of All-Metro center Asya Bussie and forward Ayana Lee is tough to handle.

Still no one, especially the Gators, underestimates a young St. Frances team that has struggled in stretches but grown by leaps and bounds. The Panthers can run with anyone and have shot exceptionally well at times. Sophomore guard Shatyra Hawkes has been their breakout player while center Sophy Ngobeni, an exchange student from Africa, and forward Briana Hutchen have gained lots of experience filling in for Green.

Williams summed it all up pretty well: “We’re all looking forward to it. We played them in January, but, I think, we’re two different teams now. Us winning by 22 means nothing now. It’s a different game. They’re going to come out really pumped and so are we, so we’ll just see how it goes.”

Girls Basketball Championship Finals
Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference
2007 St. Frances def. McDonogh, 68-63 OT
2006 St. Frances def. Seton Keough, 42-31
2005 St. Frances def. IND, 68-52
2004 St. Frances def. Roland Park, 45-32
2003 St. Frances def. IND, 48-32
2002 Spalding def. Seton Keough, 45-42
2001 St. Frances def. Seton Keough, 52-37
2000 Seton Keough def. Roland Park, 45-29

Catholic League*
1999 Seton Keough def. St. Mary’s, 48-36
1998 Seton Keough def. Mercy, 51-45

*The Catholic League, to which Seton Keough and St. Frances belonged, merged with the Association of Independent Schools to form the IAAM in 2000.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Just when you thought the Kevin Hart debacle couldn't get any sillier, there's word from Nevada that Mark Hodges, Hart's coach, is suing the local school district and school board members in conjunction with the scandal where Hart, an offensive lineman, concocted a story that he was being recruited by California and other schools, only to discover that he wasn't.

Hodges is reportedly seeking $20,000 in his suit, claiming that the school board is seeking to make him the scapegoat for a prank that Hart played.

I'm sure I speak for millions of Americans when I plead for Hart, Hodges and the whole bunch of them to just go away and leave us alone.

Posted by Milton Kent at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

If you were planning to spend part of your day next Tuesday at the Class 3A state indoor track championships, then make other plans, because the meet has been postponed to Feb. 25 at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex in Landover at 4 p.m.

The change is necessitated by this week's inclement weather, which forced the 3A West regional meet to be postponed from Wednesday to next Thursday at the PG Sportsplex. As a result, the 3A meet, which was scheduled to be bundled with the 4A meet Tuesday, will be moved.

Monday's scheduled 1A and 2A meets will go off as scheduled, weather permitting, at the Sportsplex at 11 a.m., with the 4A meet scheduled for Tuesday at 4 p.m., also at the Sportsplex, also weather permitting.

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

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

Loch Raven's Jordan Lee proved last year that he's one of the most dominant scorers in the area when he averaged 26.1 points per game as a junior. Last year, most of Lee's points came from the behind the three-point line.

Lee proved on Monday night that his scoring prowess has matured, with Hereford's defense being the unlucky case study. The senior guard exploded for a career-high 49 points in a 81-63 Loch Raven win.

"This year it's been more of a variety of things," Loch Raven coach David Kreller said of Lee's scoring. "We have moved him into the four-spot, posting him up a lot more than last year.

"He drives well. When he’s at the perimeter, he gets fouled and he's our best foul shooter. He can step back and make that long-range jump shot as well. In addition, he gets transition buckets because he runs the floor very well."

This season, Lee is averaging 27.3 points per game, grabs 11 rebounds per game and still plays stifling defense. The Raiders are 13-5.

Posted by Milton Kent at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

We frankly wondered how long it would take before CN8, which has done an admirable job of airing local football and boys basketball games from around the area and the state, would get around to showing a city basketball game.

Well, we have our answer. Tomorrow's City-Digital Harbor boys game will be aired on tape delay Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. on CN8. In addition, the channel will carry next weekend's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference doubleheader on delay at 4 p.m. on Feb. 23.

That's a great first step, which should be followed up by CN8 moving to get some girls city or county championship games on as well.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Katherine Dunn:

During basketball season, snow and ice are sure to interfere with the best laid plans of tournament officials once in a while and this is one of those times.

This week’s Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland girls basketball tournament has been shuffled a bit, but it’s in good shape if the freezing precipitation stays away at least until Monday.

Any unplayed quarterfinals will be completed tomorrow and the semifinals (with one exception) on Friday. The finals are still set for Sunday.

In the A Conference, defending champion St. Frances is the only team to make it through the quarterfinals so far, beating Roland Park, 67-17 yesterday, while most schools outside the city canceled classes. Now, the No. 2 Panthers have to wait for everyone else to catch up.

That should happen tomorrow when the rest of the games are scheduled to be made up: St. Paul’s at No. 1 Seton Keough, Spalding at No. 12 Mercy, and No. 11 Towson Catholic at No. 15 McDonogh. Tip off for each is 5:30 p.m.

In the B Conference, top-seeded Severn had a bye through to the semifinals and the No. 13 Admirals will have to wait until Friday to get back in action. Bryn Mawr and Pallotti are set to play today, but John Carroll-Maryvale and Chapelgate-Mount de Sales have to wait until tomorrow.

In the C Conference, Park and Beth Tfiloh are right on schedule, getting their quarterfinal games in on Tuesday. Because Beth Tfiloh cannot play on Friday night, the game will go tomorrow at Park at 5:30. Garrison Forest and Annapolis Area Christian School will play today with Lutheran and Friends going tomorrow and their semifinal on Friday.

The finals are still set for Sunday at Villa Julie – B Conference at 3 p.m., A Conference at 5 p.m. and C Conference at 7 p.m. Tournament officials are working on a contingency plan just in case Mother Nature interferes again on Sunday.

Posted by Milton Kent at 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The folks behind the Got Milk? advertising campaign are offering college scholarships to 25 high school athletes.

Winners of the Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year awards, the SAMMYs, will receive $7,500, as well as a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Fla., and a chance to appear in an ad wearing the trademark milk mustache.

The deadline for applications is March 7.

Posted by Milton Kent at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

Bubby Graham has proven that he's one of the area's best on the wrestling mat. The Annapolis 171-pound senior is already decorated with two straight titles in the Class 4A-3A state and Anne Arundel tournaments.

But who knew that Graham's talents were also of the acrobatic variety? In Annapolis' 40-19 defeat of Broadneck last week, Graham turned a backflip into a pin against Broadneck's Matt Rindos.

Words don't even do the move justice, so just check out the video.

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

SI.com's Andy Staples, who is rapidly becoming one of our favorite national high school sports writers -- if such an appellation isn't a misnomer -- has a collection of signs for parents and coaches to look out for to avoid having the Kevin Hart debacle land in their own laps.

Among the nuggets within his short treatise is the ditty that Jerry Glanville, the former Atlanta Falcons coach turned huckster, has apparently asked for tapes of Hart. Hart, as you may have heard, made up a story that he was being recruited by California, Oregon and other schools.

Glanville, who used to leave tickets for Elvis and now coaches at Portland State, a Football Championship Subdivision school, reportedly wants to see game film of Hart. Glanville could possibly offer Hart a scholarship, but more likely, as Staples surmises, will generate some publicity. You get the feeling that Hart and Glanville would get along famously together.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

The Maryland football coaching staff will hold a free coaches clinic on Monday, Feb. 18 from 6-9 p.m. at the Holiday Inn at 301 W. Lombard St. in Baltimore. Head coach Ralph Friedgen will be in attendance as well as nine other assistants on the Maryland staff.

"We wanted to bring the clinics out to the community," said Jemal Griffin, an assistant recruiting coordinator for the Terps. "We wanted to make it more convenient to coaches -- for high school coaches as well as rec coaches."

Coaches can RSVP for the event by calling Griffin at 301-314-9930.

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

From the Philadelphia Inquirer comes a terrific story of perseverance and achievement:

Senior Brad Hennefer has played in 15 of Cherry Hill (N.J.) High's first 20 boys basketball games, scoring in seven of them. Those numbers aren't overwhelming, until you consider that Hennefer may be the nation's only boys varsity basketball player with Down syndrome.

The 5-foot-10 Hennefer, 19, is a good three-point shooter, according to his coaches. He's also a member of the school's golf team and a New Jersey Special Olympics golf champion. Hennefer will probably never get a college scholarship, but his experiences are just as valuable to high school athletics as an All-State quarterback.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The saga of Kevin Hart, the Nevada offensive lineman who admitted fabricating scholarship offers from California, Oregon, Washington State and others, took another turn over the weekend, with a story that Hart's coach, Mark Hodges, may lose his job.

A local television station reported Friday that the Lyon County School Trustees would recommend that Hodges' contract not be renewed because of unprofessional conduct and fiscal irresponsibility.

Hodges' case might not be helped by the Hart debacle but, unless there are other factors in play, is it really fair to hang a coach with the actions of one rogue kid? On the surface, Hart's deception appears much more a reflection of his character and upbringing than a reflection on Hodges.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The John Carroll boys basketball team will face one of the best teams in the country tonight, traveling to Rutgers University to play St. Anthony of Jersey City, N.J.

St. Anthony (18-0) is ranked No. 1 in USA Today's Super 25 and on prepnation.com, and No. 2 on ESPN's elite 25. The Patriots, fresh off a victory over Gibbons last night, have done well in their first year in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference, boasting a 18-8 record and a 10-5 record in the conference. They currently sit in fourth place.

The game is part of the PrimeTime Shootout and will be played at 5:30. The tournament has featured some of the nation's best high school players, including Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James and Dwight Howard.

The game will be taped and broadcast at noon tomorrow on CN8 in Baltimore and will be available for the rest of the week on Comcast On Demand.

-- Stefen Lovelace

Posted by Jack Gibbons at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Starting today and running through Feb. 17, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, in conjunction with the V Foundation, is launching a "Think Pink" initiative, designed to raise awareness of breast cancer in honor of North Carolina State coach Kay Yow, who is in the midst of her third bout with the disease.

Some women's basketball officials will be using pink whistles during the next 10 days, while teams will be wearing pink ribbons and shoelaces, while others will wear pink uniforms to show their support for the campaign to raise funds for the WBCA/Kay Yow Fund for breast cancer research.

Though Yow is a college coach and the WBCA membership is overwhelmingly made up of college coaches, high school players and coaches will take part in the initiative, since virtually everyone knows someone who has been affected by breast cancer. Here's hoping local teams, coaches and officials, in both the girls and boys games, will get involved as well, in whatever way possible.

Posted by Milton Kent at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

As longtime readers of this blog and of my column know, I have occasionally had my issues with the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, the governing body for the state's public high school sports, and the way it administers the rules.

But I have always appreciated MPSSAA Executive Director Ned Sparks' cooperation with the press. I can never recall a time when I have called him on a story, even when it was going to be critical, when he hasn't answered immediately or quickly returned the call, and he has always been unfailingly gracious.

This is relevant because of the battle raging between the Illinois High School Association and press organizations in that state over the IHSA's ability to regulate the use of news photos and videos.

The IHSA attempted to require Carlos Miranda, a photographer from the Bloomington Pantagraph to sign an agreement barring him from selling reprints of pictures taken during the state's cheerleading championships. When Miranda wouldn't sign the form, the IHSA, which had hired its own photographer to take pictures to be sold, denied him access to press areas, so he bought a ticket and took his pictures from the stands.

Look, I'm not so self-absorbed as to believe that readers are overly worried about press access. My feeling is that most people feel about how the media does its work the same way it does about how sausage is made: You don't care how the product is made. You just want the product.

Fair enough, and the media's often salacious conduct in recent stories (see Britney Spears) isn't the kind of thing that will engender goodwill toward us.

That said, putting up an artificial barrier between the press and events is not a good idea for agencies, especially quasi-governmental ones like the IHSA. The media's general function is to disseminate information to the public, and policies like these keep the public from knowing what it wants to know.

And, in terms that are completely relevant to the way high school sports are conducted today, keeping the press from taking pictures or fully reporting on games means that parents have one less piece of material to send to colleges to get their kids scholarships.

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

If you'll recall, on Tuesday I discussed the story of Kevin Hart, an offensive lineman from Nevada who called a news conference the other day to announce that he had chosen to accept a scholarship offer from California, as well as the subsequent report that neither Cal nor Oregon, the other school that reportedly offered a scholarship, ever recruited him, much less offered him a scholarship.

Well, it was revealed yesterday that Hart, in his zeal to get a scholarship, made the whole thing up, admitting that neither Cal nor Oregon nor Washington State, another school rumored to have recruited him, ever did. The local school district and law enforcement authorities are investigating the matter.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Apparently, our friends at CSTV and ESPNU, who are planning day-long telethons today to mark the first day of the national signing period, will have to take to the airwaves without televising the news conference of the supposed biggest prize of the day, Pittsburgh-area quarterback Terrelle Pryor. He has decided not to choose a school immediately, but instead take another official visit to Penn State.

Good for him, I say. This is only the first day of the signing period, not the last. For a choice that will impact him for the rest of his life, Pryor should take his time and weigh every pro and con before signing the most binding contract he'll ever affix his name to.

Besides, it's not as if Ohio State, Penn State or Michigan, the three schools on his final list, will be giving out all of their available scholarships before Pryor makes up his mind. He's apparently that good that they'll wait.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The walk-up to the signing period, which launches tomorrow with football as the marquee sport, is filled with bizarre recruiting tales with coaches promising the moon to kids and their parents or dishing dirt on competitors. It's the silly season magnified.

But few stories apparently will top that of Kevin Hart, an offensive lineman from Fernley, Nev., who called the now requisite press conference last Friday to announce that he would attend California next fall, as opposed to Oregon. Hart was primed to become the first player from his school to receive an athletic scholarship. Cameras recorded the moment for posterity, while newspaper reporters diligently wrote about the event. Smiles, hugs and tears were exchanged. It was a beautiful, Norman Rockwell moment.

Trouble is, there is apparently no record that Cal or Oregon or any other Division I school ever recruited Hart. The local sheriff's office, as well as the Nevada state high school athletic association and the NCAA are investigating the matter.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

If you're a high school athlete, or the parent of one, you take as a given that no matter what happens on the field or the court, whether the clock is at the beginning of the quarter or half or reads three zeroes, that your coach will stay there with you to the bitter end. After all, the captain should always go down with the ship, right?

Look, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick admittedly has a lot more on his plate during and after a game to be concerned about than how his actions are viewed in a broader context and the example he sets. He should want to be a role model, but, at that level, he isn't paid to be one.

That said, if your kid's coach pulls the stunt that Belichick did at the end of Sunday's Super Bowl, by walking off the field with a second left, even after he and the opposing coach have shaken hands, feel free to march into the athletic director's office directly after the game and demand the coach's dismissal. You'd be completely justified.

A coach shouldn't be held accountable for everything that kids do before and after the game, but he or she certainly should have to answer for what happens during the game and they ought to be there through all of it.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

It didn't take long for disgraced former Hoover (Ala.) football coach Rush Propst to land on his feet after he was forced to resign following grade changing and ineligibility scandals, not to mention his inexplicable behavior during MTV's Two-a-Days reality series.

Propst was hired last week at Colquitt County High in Moultrie, Ga., to turn around a team that finished 2-8 last season. Propst won five championships in Alabama, so he can clearly coach 'em up, as they say down South. But it's obvious from his pattern of conduct at Hoover, which is documented for all to see on DVDs, that the people in Moultrie are far less interested in Hoover's ability to mold men of character than in his talent for hanging banners.

And after all, isn't that what high school athletics is about these days?

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

Ever wondered what happens on those football recruiting visits? Or perhaps what should happen? Or even what shouldn't happen?

If you're a parent of a player who has aspirations to play college football, you'd do well to take a look at Sports Illustrated.com's Andy Staples' fascinating look at what's happening these days when your sons head to campus to be dined, and apparently in some cases, wined or worse.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

For many high school athletes, this weekend is the last before they make the most important decision of their young lives, namely where to attend college.

Sports Illustrated.com's Ross Tucker, a football player currently on injured reserve with the Washington Redskins, has compiled a list of things to ponder before next Wednesday's national signing day.

One can take issue with some things on Tucker's list, especially comparisons between the reputations of Penn State and Miami, but he has assembled some items worthy of consideration.

Posted by Milton Kent at 8:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)