Aberdeen

(All games at UMBC's RAC Arena) TODAY CLASS 4A No. 8 Poly (21- 5) vs. Walt Whitman (21-4) Time: 3 p.m. Outlook: For the second year in a row, the Engineers head into the state tournament boasting the stingiest defense in any of the semifinals, allowing just 26.57 points per game. Against Walt Whitman, from Montgomery County, which knocked off two-time defending state champion Gaithersburg in the West regional final, the Engineers appear to match up well.

The staff at the Aberdeen Post Office flexed a little extra muscle in December, above and beyond its regular holiday rush. Over the course of several days, a team of five employees processed shipments totaling in excess of 1,000 pounds – all postmarked to various military installations overseas. These packages contained an assortment of comfort items that had been collected and assembled by volunteers of an organization known as "Some SAY Support. We SEND Support," or S5. Members of S5 recently visited the Aberdeen post office to personally thank the postmaster and her staff, whose stellar customer service made these shipments possible.

As a senior returning from last year's state championship season, Aberdeen's Jimmia McCluskey expected to play a leadership role as the Eagles set out to defend their Class 3A girls basketball title. She just didn't know how critical her leadership would become. In January, a young Eagles team looked to McCluskey when fellow senior Brionna Jones, last season's All-Metro Player of the Year and the centerpiece of the Eagles' offense, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee and was lost for the season.

Shaped like a teardrop and carved out of the eastern bank of the Bush River, the UNDEX Test Facility at Aberdeen Proving Ground has earned the nickname "Super Pond" for its unusual properties. Viewed from above, the man-made pond looks much darker than the nearby waters of the Chesapeake Bay. That's because it drops 150 feet to a flat bottom, where, out of view of the public, the military tests missiles, torpedoes, sonar and the effects of explosions on submarines and boats - all within walls that can withstand the equivalent of 4,100 pounds of TNT. It's also where Navy divers practice salvage missions.

Defending state champion Aberdeen found itself in unfamiliar playoff territory Friday night, trailing City at halftime of the Class 3A North girls basketball final. Still, it wasn't anything a defensive tweak and small scoring spurt couldn't fix. Fortunately for the No. 2 Eagles, the defensive tweak helped spark a big scoring spurt with 24 straight points, setting them on course for a 73-45 victory and their third straight regional title. Freshman Stephanie Jones scored 11 of her 33 points and had 10 of her 21 rebounds as host Aberdeen took off in the third quarter.

Aberdeen Proving Ground's "Super Pond" has been closed indefinitely while investigations continue into the deaths of three divers in the underwater explosion test facility in the past month, the Army announced Friday. Col. Gordon A. Graham, commander of the proving ground's test center, ordered the shutdown Tuesday, the day two Navy divers died while in the man-made impoundment. Graham had ordered a "safety stand down" after a diver's death Jan. 30, but the Navy dive operation went ahead because it had already been scheduled, according to a proving ground news release.

City had brief spurts of quality offense and defense in the first half of Thursday's Class 3A North quarterfinal boys basketball game against Digital Harbor, but the Knights were unable to put everything together to shake the visiting Rams. The second half was different. With swift ball movement on offense and pressure on defense, the No. 8 Knights methodically broke down Digital Harbor for a 70-52 win to advance to the regional semifinals. City, which improved to 19-5 on the season, will return to its home court Tuesday to take on Aberdeen, which beat Hereford, 59-33, on Thursday.

Aberdeen Deanna Frankhouse, 29, of the 700 block of Maxa Road, was arrested Tuesday on a bench warrant in a case in which she is charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Michael Lawrence Demarest, 33, of the 300 block of Irish Lane, was charged Tuesday wtih second-degree assault. Joseph Malizia, 21, of the first block of Hillman Court, was charged Tuesday with violating an ex parte order. Ashley Elizabeth Lee, 23, who has address in the first block of Taft Street and the 800 block of Coconut Court, was arrested Tuesday on a bench warrant in a case in which she is charged with second-degree assault.

St. John Properties Inc. said it has completed construction on 6190 Guardian Gateway, a new three-story, 75,000-square-foot office building within the boundary of Aberdeen Proving Ground. The building is the 10th St. John has completed at its 416-acre business community called The Government and Technology Enterprise, or The GATE, the company said in a news release. The development, an enhanced use lease project on U.S. Army property, is inside APG's Route 715 gate. According to the release, the new building is 35 percent leased.

Going into Wednesday night's Class 3A North regional basketball semifinal, the Aberdeen girls figured they could run against Digital Harbor, but they still had to counter the Rams' inside game. When two of Digital's top three inside threats got into foul trouble in the second quarter and All-Metro forward A'Lexus Harrison had to sit with three fouls, No. 2 Aberdeen ran away with a 74-40 victory. "One of our main goals is to get their good people out of the game, then we can take over," Eagles senior guard Jimmia McCluskey said.