Bench

WASHINGTON - The Washington Wizards have developed a nice little habit of ending one year with a big win over a good team on New Year's Eve. It started two years ago with a blowout over Detroit, followed by last year's pasting of eventual Eastern Conference champion New Jersey that was punctuated by Michael Jordan's 45 points. Nothing quite that spectacular happened last night at MCI Center, but the Wizards ushered out 2002 with a 105-103 win over the San Antonio Spurs. The victory itself - Washington's second in the past three games while continuing the New Year's Eve pattern - was different in that it came with a solid contribution from their bench and it came against an opponent with a winning record.

For a guy who has always been such a proficient hitter, Carlos Mendez has a lot of strikes against him. He plays a variety of positions, but none particularly well. He has bounced around four organizations in the past five years, giving the impression that he's not worth keeping. And with his soft build - the only ripples on his stomach are from the potato chips he munches - he looks like he should be directing traffic into the ballpark or making last call at the beer concession. So what is this guy doing on the Orioles' bench?

J. Harold Grady, who spent three years in office as Baltimore's 40th mayor before resigning to become a judge, died of cancer yesterday at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. He was 84 and had lived in Homeland. The former Goodale Road resident, who had lived at the Mercy Ridge retirement community in Timonium since July, spent 22 years on the bench - including four as chief judge of what became the Baltimore Circuit Court - until retiring in 1984. "He felt very comfortable with the law and very uncomfortable as mayor," said former Mayor Thomas J. D'Alesandro III, whose father, Thomas J. D'Alesandro Jr., was defeated by Judge Grady in the 1959 mayoral election.

Three days after the sudden withdrawal of a newly appointed judge nominee, the governor yesterday named Michael M. Galloway, a veteran Westminster attorney, to fill the same seat on the Carroll Circuit Court bench.On Monday, Damian L. Halstad, Galloway's law partner in the firm of Hoffman, Comfort, Galloway & Offutt, turned down the post he had accepted Oct. 13 from Gov. Parris N. Glendening."It's a bittersweet feeling, receiving the appointment after my partner withdrew," said Galloway. "My immediate reaction is one of feeling very humbled, overwhelmed, hoping I am up to the job."

The River Hill girls basketball team received an infusion from an unlikely source last night: its bench. The Hawks' reserves resuscitated the sometimes struggling starters with a combined 19 points, nine rebounds and seven steals to lead No. 9 River Hill to a 52-43 victory over No. 12 Centennial. The victory vaulted River Hill past the Eagles into sole possession of second place in the Howard County league. The Hawks (13-6, 12-3) trail first-place Mount Hebron (16-3, 13-2) by one game.

COLLEGE PARK - The Maryland Terrapins do not have a sixth man, a designated weapon coming off the bench to add a spark to the team. The Terps are blessed with five of them. In 23 years of coaching at four different schools, Maryland's Gary Williams cannot recall having this many capable bodies lying in wait behind his starting lineup. As the 11th-ranked Terps begin their chase of a first-ever berth in the Final Four tomorrow with a first-round NCAA tournament matchup against George Mason in Boise, Idaho, Maryland clearly has enough legs to confront the grind it is anticipating.

Within a few months when its three vacancies are filled, the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court bench - of all the large circuit courts in Maryland - will become the most heavily dominated by appointees by Gov. Parris N. Glendening. And, after a nearly complete turnover in seven years, it will also be unlikely to see further changes soon. That, say court observers, raises the profile of the three judges' selection for a 10-judge bench that is now all white, with its sole black judge recently appointed to the Court of Special Appeals.

SAN ANTONIO - Maryland missed 11 of its first 12 three-point tries last night against Michigan State, but the key to its loss in the South Regional semifinals could be found on the bench as much as on the perimeter. The Spartans' reserves outscored the Terps' 31-11, and that whopping margin included the biggest basket of the night, the baseline drive by Paul Davis that won it with 4.7 seconds left. The 6-foot-11 freshman began the game on the bench and finished it with 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting and five rebounds.

They go unannounced and mostly unnoticed during pre-game introductions, standing and applauding as the starters run by. Some see their roles change during the course of a season, eventually becoming starters themselves. They are vital to a team's preparation, often an overlooked part of its success.They are the ones on the bench, often young players looking to make a breakthrough on the Division I level. At Loyola this season, second-year coach Dino Gaudio has gone to his bench for answers that, more often than not, have been slow in coming.

SAN ANTONIO - A little over six minutes into their NCAA tournament semifinal confrontation with Oklahoma State, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets showed their other face, the one that has helped them wear down opponent after opponent during this magical postseason run. Onto the Alamodome floor came junior guard Will Bynum, junior forward Isma'il Muhammad, fifth-year senior Clarence Moore and sophomore forward Theodis Tarver. They are the gang of four that has added invaluable bulk to Georgia Tech's foundation.