Backcourt

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Towson State's first season in the Big South Conference and Devin Boyd's college career ended with a thud last night.The Tigers came to the conference tournament with the regular-season title, No. 1 seed and nine straight victories, but they couldn't survive the first round. Towson State fell behind by 19 points in the first half and had a late rally and its hope of returning to the NCAA tournament snuffed by Winthrop, 83-79, at the North Charleston Coliseum.It was the first time in the eight-year history of the tournament that the No. 8 seed beat No. 1 and the Tigers' first loss in a conference tournament game in four years.

Lost in the shuffle of a remarkable girls basketball season in the county has been the steady play of senior Maureen Ritcey.She isn't part of the magical, 21-game run the Cavaliers are enjoying in Winfield. And she doesn't play on the talented Westminster team that has maintained a ranking in the metro poll for the entire season.Ritcey can be found in the northwest part of the county, scoring, grabbing rebounds and racking up steals and assists for a young Francis Scott Key program. That's only the start of what she provides on the hardwood at Key."

With the season reaching its one-month mark on Friday, scoring is down, play has been sloppy and the most surprising story is the Philadelphia 76ers' start.Before Friday's 89-78 loss to the Miami Heat, Philadelphia was on a six-game winning streak (the team's best since 1991), had a 10-5 record and was third in the Atlantic Division.Credit the maturation of guard Allen Iverson for the team's strong start. Since he entered the league launching shots at every opportunity -- a byproduct of his two years at Georgetown when he always had the green light -- Iverson has developed into a team player.

Back in the undisturbed air of October -- when North Carolina looked ripe, Virginia looked small and Wake Forest looked thin in the backcourt -- Maryland was the writers' choice to win the Atlantic Coast Conference.Then the Terps lost a tough opener to then-No. 1 Kentucky, threw away a 13-point second-half lead against No. 5 UMass and shot 25 percent in an ugly loss to UCLA.They dropped, posthaste, out of the AP Top 25 poll, and almost out of sight. The Terps are learning to play a new game without Joe Smith -- a recurring theme in the ACC this season.

The expectations on Jeff Ruland going into his first season as Iona's head coach were not unlike the ones he faced nearly 20 years ago as the team's star player.In other words, they were as enormous as 6-foot-11 Ruland himself."It's a little tougher [as a coach], because no matter how well we practice or how focused we are, it's out of your hands when the team's on the court," Ruland said last week.It's been a difficult start for Ruland, the former All-American and NBA All-Star who took over after three seasons as an assistant when Tim Welsh left last spring for Providence.

They are college stars now, but neither of the Boyd brothers was the headliner at Walbrook High in 1985-86. The top player for the Warriors then was another guard, Kevin McDaniels, who's the top player at South Alabama and a possible Sun Belt Conference all-star.A first-team All-Metro selection, McDaniels played two junior college seasons, one at Allegany and another at Faulkner State in Alabama, not far from Mobile, where he plays now.He averaged 11.4 points at South Alabama last season, when coach Ronnie Arrow brought in another former Baltimore schoolboy star, Dunbar grad Karl "Boobie" James.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Xavier was in the midst of putting together a great comeback when Maryland coach Gary Williams re-inserted shooting guard Drew Nicholas with about 10 minutes left in the game and the Terps ahead by eight points. Nicholas walked onto the court, stretched one arm and then the other. He bent over to touch his toes, and then looked to the mob of Maryland fans sitting behind the bench. He calmly nodded to them, and then he smiled. And then Nicholas, along with his best friend and backcourt mate Steve Blake, put together one exciting stretch in which Maryland scored on its next five possessions during a nearly three-minute run that eliminated Xavier from the NCAA tournament.

One lives in the Liberty Road area of Baltimore County and the other miles away in Ellicott City. One is totally dedicated to basketball and the other is a track star competing on the national level. Yet, though both are just 16-year-old juniors, they've played basketball together since the seventh grade.Consequently, Glenda Major and Erin Graham give No. 7-ranked Woodlawn (5-0) one of the area's most formidable backcourts -- experienced, quick and skilled."We know how each other plays," said point guard Major.

No one ever would mistake Mia Dammen and Stefanie Magro for twins, but on the basketball court the Oakland Mills High School backcourt could be called twin nightmares.Sure, they differ in certain areas.Magro is the better ballhandler, hence her point guard position. Sheis also the better shooter -- as her team-leading 49 percent field goal percentage reveals. From the 12- to 14-foot range, she can be deadly.Dammen brings other dimensions to her game. She's the most improved free-throw shooter on the team, having added about 20 points to her foul-shooting percentage, now at 67. She's also added an improved outside shot and has become a threat from the three-point range.

Phil Booth gets the basketball at the top of the key and, in a flash, practice at Mount St. Joseph comes to a halt. The reason? Kameron Williams is poised in front of him, inches away. The floor is spread, and the Gaels' two star guards are set to go one-on-one. Gripping the ball with both hands, Booth swings it slowly, left to right, right to left, a human pendulum set to burst. A second later, he drives to the right with an explosive first step that shakes Williams, giving Booth a clear path to the basket for an easy layup.