The last time Arundel played a boys varsity basketball game was at Cole Field House on March 9 in the Class 4A state semifinals.
The opponent was top-ranked Lake Clifton, the eventual state champion with Baltimore Sun Player of the Year Shawnta Rogers, All-Metro Ronald Byrd and second-team All-Metro players, Guy Butler and Reggie Frazier. Lake Clifton spoiled the Wildcats' first visit to Cole in 20 years, 87-70.
Tonight the defending 4A East Region champion Wildcats, who graduated All-Metro guard Bakari Ward and All-County point guard Kevin Higgins, travel to Towson to play a team comparable to Lake Clifton in third-ranked Calvert Hall (3-0).
The Cardinals are a Baltimore Catholic League contender with 6-foot-7 center Patrick Ngongba and a superb all-around player in Juan Dixon. Ngongba was a second-team All-Metro last year at Mount Hebron.
Ngongba, who came from the Central African Republic nearly three years ago, averaged 17 points and 12 boards as a junior last year and transferred to Calvert Hall after the basketball season.
Former Anne Arundel Community College coach Mark Amatucci, who made Calvert Hall a national power during the '80s before moving on to Loyola College and AACC, returned to the Hall three years ago and has re-established the Cardinals as a powerhouse.
"I coach a program, not a team and this year's team has to write its own story," said coach Gerald Moore of 16th-ranked Arundel.
"We've got four guys [Erik Lipton, Darnerian McCants, Joe Parker and Bill Clyburn] who were All-County in football and hopefully the positive experience [10-1 season] will carry over to basketball.
"We like playing the top teams, like Calvert Hall. It can only help us in the county."
Moore said playing football for the first time really helped the 6-foot-4 McCants. "He's a horse who looks even stronger because of football and we're expecting big things from him," Moore said.
McCants also is expected to run track this spring to make the Wildcat senior a rare three-sport athlete.
Free throws
Old Mill's Joe Barnes, a pro and Division I prospect in baseball, excels on the basketball court, too, and his athleticism was evident Wednesday in the Patriots' opener.
No. 15 Severn (2-1) left No. 18 Old Mill with a 64-62 victory on Greg Cooper's put-back with time running out. Barnes had fouled out with about 3 1/2 minutes left.
The Patriot senior scored 13 points with a trio of three-pointers and had seven rebounds and three steals, and started one of the most exciting plays of the night late in the third period.
Barnes recovered a loose ball and while sprawled on his back just inside mid-court, shuffled the ball out to Demar Thompson, who fed Anthony Graves. The 6-foot-6 Graves dunked it.
* The loss of 30 pounds by Severn's 6-9 Andrew Watts has made the 265-pound senior a more mobile player, more than just an inside force. Watts displayed an agile, soft touch from the perimeter in the win over Old Mill.
"Andrew played at over 290 last year, but has worked hard to lose 30 pounds and you can see the difference in his play," said Severn coach Charles Duckett. "Andrew wants to be the man out there."
* Chesapeake's boys basketball team won only two games last season and has one already this year, a season-opening 52-31 romp over Annapolis Area Christian School.
* Germaine "Boo" Diggs might have set some kind of record Tuesday with five slam dunks in a 91-74 No. 12 Annapolis victory over Patterson. The 6-7 junior finished with 27 points.
* Renardo Walker, a 6-3 senior forward and one of two returning starters, may not be ready when No. 10 Broadneck opens its season at home Dec. 16 against No. 3 Calvert Hall. Walker is recovering from a serious football injury to a knee.
* New assistants: Jack Jordan, a longtime South River assistant to Ken Dunn, is now an assistant to Moore at Arundel. Dunn's staff now includes Stanton Rec Center coach Brendan McCarthy and former All-County Annapolis guard Kevin Thompson.
