Boys Basketball Team

Veteran basketball coach Mike Mongelli has been named to succeed Joe Russo as Hammond's girls basketball coach.Mongelli, 56, began Hammond's boys basketball program in the 1977-78 season. He coached the Golden Bears for eight years and won county and region titles in the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons. His 1982-83 team won the state championship, the first boys basketball team from Howard County to do so.Mongelli, a physical education teacher at Hammond, returned to coach four more seasons: the JV boys in 1988-89, the varsity boys in 1994-95 and 1995-96, and the JV boys in 1996-97.

Howard Community College's men's basketball team is seeded second for the Maryland JuCo tournament that begins tomorrow at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills.The second seeding earned the Iron Horse Express a first-round bye. Its first game is Friday against the winner of tomorrow's Frederick-Essex game.HCC was 20-5 as of Monday and expects its chief tournament competition to come from top-seeded Prince George's, which beat HCC by three points.Express coach Wheeler Brown also expects Garrett to be tough.

The year was 1970 and Wayne Fowler was in his rookie season as an offensive lineman on the same team with the man who would become an NFL legend.Fowler was on the Buffalo Bills' kickoff return team and, on occasion, so was O. J. Simpson. All of which reminds Fowler of a story.One day Simpson broke loose and was racing down the sideline. Seeing a defender closing in on Simpson, Fowler tried to spear the prospective tackler, but succeeded only in spearing O. J. on the back of the leg. Simpson was carried off the field on a stretcher.

Severn School has selected two former NFL players -- Alan Pastrana and Wayne Fowler -- to coach its basketball and football teams, athletic director Fred Hewitt announced yesterday.The pair will replace Jim Doyle who retired at the end of the season.Doyle coached Severn's boys basketball team for eight years and the football team for two.Pastrana, an 11th-round draft choice in 1969 by the Denver Broncos, for whom he played for in 1969 and 1970, will take over the football team, which won its first eight games last fall before dropping its last two to eventual conference champion St. Paul's and archrival St. Mary's.

First-year Glenelg boys basketball coach Klaude Krannebitter has shown a Midas touch so far.His team is 3-0, including an 51-44 upset of Westminster.Turnovers have proven the key to Glenelg's success. The Gladiators created 35 in a 58-43 win over Bel Air, then forced North Carroll into 33 turnovers during a 61-39 win. They also created 28 turnovers against Westminster.Gladiators guard Jeff Cline has led the way with 20 steals."We've been averaging 15 to 20 steals," Krannebitter said. "But none of those teams really had a good point guard."

Howard used a new starting lineup and a new defensive strategy to win its boys basketball league opener against Glenelg on Friday.During a holiday tournament, Glenelg beat the Lions by 13 points, and Howard had pressed defensively during that game. On Friday, the Lions beat the Gladiators, 69-65.Howard switched to a matchup zone and started a three-guard lineup of Aaron Graf, Jamaal Tyler and Jevon Michaux to go with forwards Javier Michaux and Devon Montoute. Only Tyler and Javier Michaux were starters when the season began.

Severn School has selected two former NFL players -- Alan Pastrana and Wayne Fowler -- to coach its basketball and football teams, athletic director Fred Hewitt announced yesterday.The pair will replace Jim Doyle who retired at the end of the season. Doyle coached Severn's boys basketball team for eight years and the football team for two.Pastrana, who played for the Denver Broncos in 1969 and 1970, will take over the football team, which won its first eight games last fall before dropping its last two to eventual conference champion St. Paul's and archrival St. Mary's.

Early in the season, Southwestern's boys basketball team earned the nickname "giant killer" after knocking off three ranked opponents before moving into the rankings. But the Sabers have lost five straight after starting 7-0.The area's newest giant killers are the Gaels of Mount St. Joseph, who notched their fifth victory over a ranked team Sunday, downing Loyola, 83-80.The Gaels, who have not been ranked this season, also have beaten Southwestern, Edmondson, Broadneck and St. Frances.The Gaels began the season 0-6 but have won seven of their past 11.How good are the Gaels?

Wilde Lake's boys basketball team is being touted by opposing coaches as a preseason favorite along with Centennial to win the county championship.That seems a bit strange, because Wilde Lake's only championship was in 1978.The Cats are hyped in preseason nearly every year and rarely live up that hype. Will this year be any different?They return four players, all expected to start.Taronn Evans is a 6-foot-3 senior forward who played only 15 minutes per game last season and still averaged 14.0 points.

Early in the season, Southwestern's boys basketball team earned the nickname "giant killer" after knocking off three ranked opponents before moving into the rankings. But the Sabers have lost five straight after starting 7-0.The area's newest giant killers are the Gaels of Mount St. Joseph, who notched their fifth victory over a ranked team Sunday, downing Loyola, 83-80.The Gaels, who have not been ranked this season, also have beaten Southwestern, Edmondson, Broadneck and St. Frances.The Gaels began the season 0-6 but have won seven of their past 11.How good are the Gaels?

15 Increase in points-per-game average for Marriotts Ridge boys basketball team from last season to this. The Mustangs (7-2) are averaging 65 points per game, compared with 50 last season. 30 Consecutive games won at home by Long Reach boys basketball team, dating to its 2005-06 state championship season. The Lightning is 9-0, this season, with three of the wins at home.

3 Rebounds needed by Broadneck's Kevin Hunt when the week started to become the Bruins' all-time leader. The record is 666. 6 Three-pointers by South River junior Amanda Lawrence in the Seahawks' 75-66 victory over Annapolis on Friday. 18 Consecutive losses in the Anne Arundel County league by the Southern boys basketball team before the Bulldogs defeated North County, 57-54, on Dec. 11.

When the Fallston girls basketball team takes the floor, freshman Jess Harlee and senior Kristen Steiner can be counted on to handle most of the scoring. The rest of the offense is "by committee," said Cougars coach Vernon Brown, referring to Kim McDaniel, Jess Steiner, Lexy Fitzkee and Lindsay Howard. Harlee, 5 feet 11, averages a team-high 18 points and is the most versatile player on the squad, playing every position but point guard this season. Harlee went on a two-game spree last week, scoring 48 points in two nights.

With its 64-51 victory at Arundel last Friday, the No. 6 Broadneck boys basketball team pushed its record to 11-0, the third-fastest start in school history. And the Bruins, 5-0 in county league play, can tie the school-record 13-0 start by their 1988-89 team this week. Broadneck hosted Chesapeake (0-10) last night and visits Southern (1-9) on Friday. Barring a major upset, the Bruins could set a school record at 14-0 in their showdown at No. 7 Glen Burnie (9-1, 6-0) on Tuesday. Clyde Gross, JJ Hicks and Kevin Hunt lead the Bruins.

Harford Christian boys basketball coach Justin Cross does not try to hide his enthusiasm for this season's team. "I've been coaching four years now, and this has been a year of anticipation for me," he said. "We have a little bit of everything on this team, and I believe we're good enough to win our conference title." Harford Christian was 21-11 last season and finished third in the Maryland Association of Christian Schools conference. "We're a pretty deep team, we're very fast and athletic, and we have talent in all positions," Cross said.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR LOUIS BIRDSONG Mount St. Joseph Birdsong epitomized the team concept that led the Gaels to a state record for wins in a season by a boys basketball team. The 6-foot-6, 240-pound senior forward's constant hustle and all-around play helped lead the Gaels to a 38-1 season and a No. 5 national ranking by USA Today. Birdsong's strengths were in evidence in Frostburg this past weekend at the 46th Alhambra tournament, where he led the Gaels to their first final in that event in 35 years, which they lost to DeMatha, 70-55.

5 Combined points of the John Carroll wrestling team's victories over Gilman and Annapolis Area Christian School last week. The Patriots defeated Gilman, 35-33, and AACS, 32-29. 12 Field goals the Havre de Grace boys basketball team was held to by North Harford in the Hawks' 60-33 victory. 18 Free throws the C. Milton Wright boys basketball team made against Bel Air in 21 attempts. The Mustangs, however, made only 14 field goals and lost, 56-48.

3 Late foul shots made by Allie Drechsler to seal Winters Mill's 48-44 win over Middletown Friday night in girls basketball. The Falcons stayed undefeated in the Piedmont Conference. 6 Years since Liberty's wrestling team had defeated county power North Carroll prior to Friday's 34-30 win. 9-0 Start for Winters Mill's boys basketball team following Friday's 59-43 win over Middletown. The Falcons were scheduled to face Liberty last night. 20 Deficit overcome by North Carroll's boys basketball team in Friday's 64-60 win over Thomas Johnson.

KELVIN BRIDGERS' office at Walbrook has no windows, so unless he took a stroll through the quiet school corridors and into the courtyard yesterday, he had no idea how brightly the late winter sun shone on the school. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, since, two days from guiding the school's boys basketball team to its first state title, Bridgers was, nose to the ledger, starting work on next year's championship. "Honestly, I'm getting ready for next season. We never stop going," said Bridgers, as a stream of teachers and students knocked on his door.

THERE WERE NO balloons dropping from the ceiling and no streamers or confetti being tossed about from the Randallstown gym when the boys basketball team won the Class 3A North regional title Friday night. One can read that a few ways. Either the sixth-ranked Rams, emotionally exhausted from a bruising 64-63 win over No. 8 Douglass, were too spent to celebrate. Or with two state titles in school history already in the bank, they elected to act like they expected to be playing Thursday night against Crossland at Comcast Center in College Park, and that winning was just one more step in the journey.