Brick

Cinder block walls may have their place in the urban landscape, but it's not necessarily in Baltimore's historic districts. When a rowhouse collapses or gets torn down in an older neighborhood, it's jarring to see a cinder block wall go up on the side of the adjacent property, especially if the rest of the building is faced with brick or stone. In recent months, Baltimore's Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation has been working to make sure any replacement walls built by city crews in historic districts comply with the same design guidelines the commission asks private property owners to follow.

For two years, Vicki Brick, Mary Urban and Shani Moore have guided McDonogh unbeaten through the AIS.Last night, the trio led the No. 4 Eagles to their second straight AIS A Division title in what would be their final game together.The Eagles' 58-43 victory over No. 20 Roland Park at Loyola College's Reitz Arena was overshadowed by the news that it would be the last game for Brick, a sophomore All-Metro point guard.Brick bowed out with 13 assists and nine points as she, Urban (18 points) and Moore (11 points, 19 rebounds)

A Big Sleep with underage bozos, a Maltese Falcon where the stuff that dreams are made of rests in the lockers of a well-worn high school, Brick is a remarkable oddity, audacious and engaging. This film noir for the young and the feckless spills over with suburban bravado and unrelenting wit. Our antihero, Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), tries to get to the bottom of a narcotics underworld that has swallowed up his ex-girlfriend Emily (Emilie de Ravin). He never stopped loving this druggie even after she left him cold.

Annapolis officials, seeking to extend the historic feel of Main Street to nearby West Street, are considering the use of brick instead of concrete on a popular stretch they're about to upgrade. But the change could extend construction into the winter, and that would keep the busy section of restaurants and shops closed to cars into the Christmas shopping season. The project is scheduled to be finished around October, in time for the annual boat shows. The change would add about $200,000 to the $1.7 million cost of the project.

Before last night's game at McDonogh, Roland Park coach Scott Buckley said that even though his team had won its first five games handily, the Reds might not be ready for the No. 6-ranked Eagles.Buckley was right.Although the Reds took a couple of early leads and stayed close well into the second quarter, McDonogh's blistering defense and a double-edged offense eventually took its toll. The host Eagles ran away with the second half en route to a 64-37 victory in an Assocation of Independent Schools A Division non-league game.

Shooting 51 percent in a girls basketball game virtually assures victory -- unless the opponent is No. 1 McDonogh.The Eagles shot a phenomenal 63 percent from the field to beat No. 2 Roland Park, 72-57, for their third straight Association of Independent Schools A Division championship yesterday at Loyola College's Reitz Arena.Two-time All-Metro point guard Vicki Brick led the Eagles' shooting clinic, hitting 13 of 16 shots en route to a 32-point afternoon. With a blistering first step, she burst past Reds defenders for one layup after another early and hit her first six shots.

McDonogh, the defending Association of Independent Schools A Division regular-season and tournament champion, used speed and quickness to establish early supremacy and breezed past visiting C. Milton Wright, 59-31, in both teams' opener yesterday.The No. 6 Eagles, with seven holdovers from a 17-5 team, including All-Metro Vicki Brick among three returning starters, simply overwhelmed their Harford County opponents.McDonough had 35 steals and dominated the backboards, pTC despite the presence of three 6-footers who rotated in and out of the lineup for No. 16 Wright.

Maryland point guard Vicki Brick (McDonogh) will be sidelined indefinitely after suffering a tear to her anterior cruciate ligament last Friday. Brick, The Sun's 1997-98 and 1998-99 Player of the Year, underwent successful surgery in Baltimore on Monday and will miss at least half of the Terrapins' upcoming season. Brick, a sophomore who started at point guard last season, was injured during a pickup game at Cole Field House on Friday afternoon. During surgery, doctors confirmed the only damage to the knee was the ACL. No other cartilage damage was found, and coach Chris Weller said the surgery was a success.

COLLEGE PARK -- Vicki Brick was in the mood for a little celebrating last night and had plans to go out to dinner with her parents and friends.Brick, a 5-foot-7 point guard, had just scored 19 points and had nine rebounds, seven steals, two assists and one block to lead Maryland to an 82-65 victory over Coppin State in the first round of the Terrapin Classic women's basketball tournament at Cole Field House.It was quite a performance for the freshman Brick in just her third collegiate game, even though she did have six turnovers.

It took eight months and more than 100 bricklayers, but the last of 1.2 million burgundy-colored bricks has been cemented into place at the Ravens stadium, giving the project its most distinctive visual signature.Designers of the $220 million stadium hope the brick will both integrate the structure with nearby Oriole Park and give it a flourish that will be copied in other cities.But at least for the time being, it will stand alone. Despite baseball's enthusiastic embrace of brick facades, the Ravens' is the first football stadium in decades to use the graceful, but pricey siding.