Catonsville

Four different Catonsville players scored a basket during a two-minute span of the third quarter, enabling the Comets to break away from homestanding North Harford en route to a 41-31 Class 2A North victory last night.Fifth seed Catonsville (16-5) moves on to play at No. 1 seed Fallston (18-0) tomorrow night. The Cougars won a December game at Catonsville, 66-62.The four Comets baskets -- by Christina Tanner, Krista Bayne, Elissa Rellihan and Shannon Rexrode -- pushed them to a 26-18 lead.

It didn't take long last night for No. 5 Woodlawn to prove its supremacy in Baltimore County basketball.Fifteen seconds, to be exact.That's how long it took for the Warriors to win the opening tip, Boys basketballdrive through the paint and get four straight shots at the basket, towering over an outsized Catonsville team for rebound after rebound.Woodlawn proved to be too much for the 14th-ranked Comets, scoring the game's first seven points and rolling to an 82-70 win before a standing-room crowd at Catonsville High.

Sophomore Cachet Hall scored 22 points but host Catonsville (1-1) still fell to No. 13 Fallston (3-0), 66-62, in girls basketball yesterday.Catonsville came within two during the fourth but failed to score the go-ahead points.* Mt. Carmel 31, S. Keough 16: Larissa Paulino scored 13 points as visiting Mount Carmel (4-5) upset No. 15 Seton Keough (0-2) in an Association of Independent Schools game.* Wilde Lake 68, Catholic 28: Senior guard Kim Driessen scored 14 points to lead the No. 14 Wildecats (3-2)

It had been weeks since Catonsville's Shannon Rexrode had felt at the top of her game. The Comets' leading hitter couldn't find her timing, and instead of piling up kills hit many balls either long or into the net.Last night against Loch Raven, it all came back.Rexrode dominated, controlling play at the net and finishing with 23 kills to lead the host and 10th-ranked Comets to a 17-15, 15-3, 15-12 sweep over the No. 6 Raiders in the Class 2A, North regional finals.With the win, Catonsville advances to Tuesday's Class 2A state semifinals, where it will play host to a team to be determined at 7 p.m. The Comets -- winners of seven state championships since 1979 -- will be shooting for their first appearance in the state finals since 1987.

Archbishop Curley High School student Matthew Avara, of Catonsville, was named a Commended Student in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program. Nine students at Mount de Sales Academy were also named Commended Students in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program. Catonsville residents Colleen Finley and Ashley Santana-Trebes, as well as Meghan Brown, Marina Congedo, Mary Connolly, Claire Halligan, Veronica Rittie, Helen Rogers and Grace Woo were the students at the all-girls Catholic high school recognized.

Towson's Generals looked like two different teams last night. The one with Katie Walker, and the one without.Towson's senior center scored 19 points and made her presence felt throughout the game, to lead No. 12 Towson (12-0, 12-0) to a 55-43 win over host Catonsville (10-4, 9-3) in a Baltimore County 1A-2A game.With the Generals leading 37-25 late in the third quarter, Walker picked up her fourth foul and retreated to the bench.The Comets, led by Shannon Rexrode's 10 points, whittled away at the deficit, eventually cutting the lead to 37-35 on two Christina Tanner free-throws.

Centennial running back Robbie Hauff knows better than anyone how well the Eagles' offensive line played in last night's season-opening game against Catonsville.Darting through gaping holes all night, the 6-foot senior amassed a career-high 172 yards on 32 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead his team to a 40-12 win over the Comets at Catonsville Community College.For Hauff, there's only one proper way to say thank you."I guess I have to go out now and buy them Big Gulps," said Hauff.

First-year Catonsville coach Rick Pizarro said he implemented the only strategy that made sense yesterday against powerful Loch Raven, putting as many bodies as possible at the defensive end of the field."

Nick Badalian scored at 25:08 of the first half and Joe Vogel, a first-year goalkeeper, made it stand up, as visiting Anne Arundel Community College defeated Harford CC, 1-0, in a quarterfinal match of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region XX men's soccer tournament yesterday.The result sends No. 5 seed Anne Arundel (10-10-1) against top-seeded Catonsville CC (13-2-1), which rolled to a 7-0 victory over Cecil CC at home last night. The other semifinal will pair Charles County and Montgomery-Rockville.