Boys Basketball

Anne Arundel Who No. 12 Broadneck and South River at No. 9 Severna Park Sport, when Wrestling, Friday, 5:15 p.m. Outlook This figures to be an exciting tri-match, and the 171-pound bout between Severna Park's Lewis Spadaro and Broadneck's Jeremy Nork could be the night's highlight. Baltimore City Who No. 3 St. Frances at No. 1 Mount St. Joseph Sport, when Boys' basketball, tonight, 7 p.m. Outlook St. Frances, the defending Baltimore Catholic League Tournament champion, will face the team it upset in last season's semifinals.

Name, Prep School and/or High School, College Cedric Blossom , Montrose Christian / Hammond, MORGAN STATE Greg Brown , Archbishop Spalding, ST. FRANCIS (PA.) JJ Butler , Patterson Mill, LIPSCOMB Sam Cassell Jr. , Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) / St. Frances, MARYLAND Daquan Cook , St. Frances, UNLV Cliff Cornish , North County, HIGH POINT Josh Forney , St. Frances, LOYOLA Bryan Harris , Massanutten (Va.)

Aquille Carr Patterson, sophomore, guard After a fine freshman year in which he averaged 25.5 points and earned All-Metro first-team honors, the Clippers' explosive 5-foot-7 point guard took his game -- and his team -- to a higher level this season. Regarded as one of the finest players in his class by many national publications, Carr averaged 32 points, six assists and five rebounds with 117 steals to lead the Clippers (25-2) to Baltimore City and Class 4A North region titles, along with a trip to the state championship game.

Phil Booth, Mount St. Joseph, junior, guard Daquan Cook, St. Frances, senior, guard Cyrus Jones, Gilman, senior, guard David Nicholson, Arundel, senior, guard Keonte Potts, Centennial, senior, guard Donte Pretlow, Dunbar, senior, guard Myrek Lee-Fowlkes, Patterson, junior, forward Kayel Locke, McDonogh, senior, forward Katrell Myers, Milford Mill, senior, forward Ryan Ripken, Gilman, senior,...

In his fifth season coaching at his alma mater, Jones guided the Poets' storied program back to the top of the area rankings. Finishing 24-3, Dunbar won the Baltimore City Division I championship for the first time since 2004 and captured a third consecutive Class 1A state title. With the 60-36 victory over New Town in the final, Dunbar tied Allegany for the most state crowns with 14 and Jones earned his 100th win. After opening the season with 13 straight wins, the Poets went on a midseason skid, losing three of five games.

The repeat All-Metro Player of the Year continued to dazzle with unmatched offensive skills, averaging 24points, five assists and three steals per game in leading the No. 2 Clippers (21-7) to their first state title.  After the Clippers lost in the Class 4A state championship game last season, Carr committed himself to bringing the team back to the title game - and leaving with a happier ending. Despite playing with foul trouble, the 5-foot-7 Carr scored a game-high 28 points and added eight assists as Patterson defeated Thomas Stone, 86-75, in the 3A final.  Carr, who has committed to Seton Hall, scored 25 or more points in nine games this season, including 47 in a regular-season win over Poly and 31 against then-No.

The No. 5 boys basketball team in the Baltimore metropolitan area, John Carroll, ran into the No. 5 team in the country as ranked by USA Today, St. Benedict's Preparatory School (New Jersey) in the opening round of the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament Thursday at Frostburg State. The Patriots (28-8) hung with the Gray Bees (32-1) for a while, but got outrebounded and outscored on the foul line, losing, 69-65. St. Benedict's outrebounded John Carroll 32-16 and made five more free throws, 18 of 32 to 13 of 21. The Gray Bees used their size to force John Carroll outside in the half-court.

The South Carroll boys' basketball team had been to the Comcast Center before. But they had never been part of such an unusual strategy. On Friday night, the Cavaliers' third state semifinal appearance in four years ended with a 46-34 loss to Baltimore City power Lake Clifton. Coach Doug Goff's squad came out ready to run against the Lakers, but that wasn't Lake Clifton's idea. After taking a 14-11 lead into the second quarter, the Lakers held the ball for nearly an entire quarter, content to wait until the Cavaliers pulled out of its 2-3 zone defense.

Patterson Mill boys basketball, the last team on my coverage list left alive after everyone else got knocked out on or before Feb. 28, traveled down to the Eastern Shore on Saturday afternoon for the 2A East regional final with Easton, and though I thought the Huskies might have won with a couple of different calls and a few more shots made (obviously), they came up short, losing 47-42. With that loss, unless I'm assigned to cover one of the girls basketball state final games, I don't have a horse left in the race, and must wait until baseball and softball begin before I start receiving results again.

Terrell Stoglin picked up a red pen when he was in first grade, and out poured his vision of future basketball glory on page after page that he stapled together and proudly presented to his parents. "No one can stop him," Terrell wrote about Terrell on lined construction paper, the sort children use to practice the alphabet. "Watch out Michael [Jordan] because this boy is taking over your sport!" Fifteen years later, Maryland's 6-foot guard covets the NBA and plays with audacity — as if he were still running in pickup games through southern Arizona's desert heat, needing feverishly to prove he can outplay the bigger boys.

Playing at home on Friday night in the opening round of the Class 3A North regional tournament, the fifth-seeded C. Milton Wright Mustangs got a couple of timely free throws from Mychal Stefanides in the game's dying seconds en route to a 52-50 victory over 12th-seeded Patapsco. Fouled with 14.2 seconds left on the clock and the game knotted at 50, Stefanides calmly knocked down both of his attempts from the charity stripe to give the Mustangs a two-point cushion. On their final possession of the game, Patapsco attempted a game-winning three-pointer, but the shot rimmed out, handing CMW the win. Stefanides led the Mustangs in scoring with 17 points, dished out three assists and posted two steals.