Backcourt

The game seemed so simple for Hofstra last night in a 68-55 victory over Towson in the America East opener for both teams.Just give the ball to lightning-quick junior guard Craig Claxton and let him explode to the basket and find an open man.Claxton, last season's America East Player of the Year, blew past the Tigers time after time to open up scoring opportunities for the Flying Dutchmen (4-4) against the Tigers (1-5).Claxton was credited with just four assists, but his passes almost always led indirectly or directly to baskets.

Drew Nicholas capped a whirlwind courtship by Maryland, announcing yesterday that he would give a national letter of intent to the Terps when the early signing period begins in November.A 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Hempstead, N.Y., he hadn't been mentioned as a target of the Terps by recruiting analysts.But he performed well for the Long Island Panthers in the Charlie Weber Adidas Invitational in College Park last weekend -- and jumped at the chance to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference when Maryland staff made a visit to his home Monday night.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Next up for Maryland is the All-American backcourt of Arizona's Mike Bibby and Miles Simon, and being shortchanged in comparisons is nothing new for the Terps' Terrell Stokes and Sarunas Jasikevicius.In the first round of the NCAA tournament, Maryland beat a guard-oriented Utah State team. In the second round yesterday, the Terps were up against one of the best backcourts in the Big Ten, and Jasikevicius and Stokes outscored Illinois' Kevin Turner and Matt Heldman, 30-19.

Sherice Proctor and Megan Rollins are seemingly interchangeable in Arundel's backcourt. Both can slash, hit the three, find an open teammate (often each other), beat a press, give opposing guards fits and, most importantly, come up with their best at crunch time.Apart, both would be just fine handling all the chores of a point guard.But together?"They cause a lot of havoc," said Arundel coach Lee Rogers.Rollins, a 5-foot-5 junior, remembers playing with the older crowd one day during her middle school years.

After four years of playing basketball together, Roland Park guards Betsy Gaines and Meghan Kelly practically run on instinct.Each just knows what the other is about to do whether it's converging on an opponent for a steal or making a precisely timed pass to convert the turnover."

For a sport in which the emphasis is usually on height, boys basketball is coming up short in Carroll County this season.In what must be considered a rarity, four of the first five members of last year's All-County team return for their senior seasons, and three are guards.Desmond Esteves, 5-foot-10, and Aaron Krug, 6-1, provide Westminster with a stellar 1-2 combination and John Ely, 5-9, will be the key outside threat for South Carroll.There is, however, still some height out there with 6-foot-7 Sam McGrane at South Carroll and 6-8 Matt Wilder at Liberty, and some bulk with Francis Scott Key's Kevin DeCarlo, the other All-County holdover, at 6-4 and 230 pounds, and Westminster's Lucas Geiman at 260 and Mark Gonzalez at 230.Still, for a change, the spotlight will be on the guards.

If anybody is wondering just how Loyola College got invited to play Florida State in the first round of the preseason NIT in 10 days, he only needs to look at the Greyhounds' starting backcourt of Mike Powell and Jason Rowe.Powell, a senior, has been chosen the preseason Player of the Year in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and Rowe was selected last season by Basketball Times as one of the nation's top 40 freshmen.Rowe is a preseason MAAC first-team choice with Powell, giving first-year coach Dino Gaudio a lot to be thankful for as he prepares for the school's first appearance in the preseason NIT in the 12-year history of the tournament.

Transportation problems caused top-ranked Southwestern to arrive 45 minutes late for yesterday's Class 4A North region playoff at Douglass.The Sabers needed a little more time to get rolling once the game started, coming out sluggish and scoring only five points in a first quarter controlled by Douglass.Backcourt mates Cornelius McMurray and D'Artegnon Smith eventually took over, however.McMurray registered a triple double and Smith nearly did, as Southwestern advanced with a 72-57 victory over No. 17 Douglass.

At Western Maryland, all eyes rest on the backcourt.For the women's basketball team, an NCAA tournament bid could come with an All-American performance from point guard Erin Murphey.On the men's side, some consistency out of its guards could lift the Green Terror out of the Centennial Conference cellar.Women's teamMurphey, a senior co-captain from Francis Scott Key, single-handedly controls the offense despite standing just 5-foot-1. Last season, she averaged 15.4 points and four assists a game.

LANDOVER -- When the Washington Bullets walked into their locker room last night, there was a little less room to maneuver with all the minicams around. There was such a buzz before the game against the Miami Heat that coach Jim Lynam didn't deem it necessary to deliver a pep talk."At this stage of the season, a team like us can ill afford any losses," said Lynam, well aware of the playoff implications involved. "[The team] doesn't need me to tell them that it's important. Our survival is what we're talking about here."