Centennial

Trisha Mockapetris Centennial, hitter, senior After Centennial lost the first set, 25-20, to North Hagerstown in the Class 3A state championship Nov. 16 at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum, the team was quickly pulled to one side of the court for a hastily organized meeting. In the center of it all, doing the talking, was Mockapetris. "She is a leader, and she was telling them what we were doing wrong, and what we had to do better," Eagles coach Larry Schofield said.

Daivon Tapscott scored 13 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:41 left in the fourth quarter, to help lead Oakland Mills on Thursday to a season-opening victory over visiting Centennial, 53-48. Dajuan Dent added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Scorpions, who outscored Centennial 16-8 over the final eight minutes. Omari Ringgold led the way with a game-high 18 points for the Eagles. "It was the first game, and it was definitely sloppy, but I was proud of the kids for not panicking when [the Eagles]

Many area volleyball fans thought Friday's match between Centennial and North Hagerstown would be a dream to watch. It turned out to be a nightmare for the No. 2 Eagles. North Hagerstown (18-1) outscored, played better defense and hustled more than Centennial (18-1) to win its second consecutive Class 3A title, 25-20, 25-22, 25-12, at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum tonight. Peyton Wallech led the Hubs with 21 kills, while Trisha Mockapetris led Centennial with 15 kills.

For Trisha Mockapetris, a trip back to the state championship was a must. On Wednesday night, Mockapetris and her Centennial teammates made sure that happened. The No. 2 Eagles played an aggressive but smart style to defeat La Plata of Charles County, 25-13, 25-14, 25-10, in the Class 3A state volleyball semifinals at Ritchie Coliseum. Centennial (18-0) will face defending Class 3A champion North Hagerstown in the title game Friday at 8 p.m. at Ritchie Coliseum. The Hubs defeated No. 4 Bel Air, 3-0, in the other semifinal.

Colleges Johns Hopkins football piles up Centennial honors Johns Hopkins nearly pulled off a clean sweep of the Centennial Conference's major football awards, landing the league's Offensive Player, Defensive Player and Coach of the Year honors. Senior running back Jonathan Rigaud was named Offensive Player of the Year, while senior linebacker Taylor Maciow was named Defensive Player of the Year and Jim Margraff nabbed Coach of the Year honors for the second straight season.

Undefeated No. 2 Centennial (17-0) swept visiting Howard on Friday to win the Class 3A East regional girls volleyball championship, 25-21, 25-13, 25-17. Senior Trisha Mockapetris recorded her 200th kill of the season in the win, and sophomore Meghan Kelley also helped lead the offense. Mockapetris had 17 kills and nine digs, and Kelley added 15 kills and 12 digs. The Eagles will attempt to win their 15th state title, starting with the state semifinals at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum on Wednesday.

The Marriotts Ridge boys soccer team traveled to Centennial on Thursday with the Howard County championship in the balance. With both teams priding themselves on organized play in the back, it was apparent that a special play would be needed to make the difference. In the 26th minute, Marriotts Ridge senior midfielder Amir Najib softly chipped a ball ahead to junior forward Jeff Kammerer, who settled and then neatly placed a shot from 15 yards in the lower left corner for the game's only score.

When Centennial boys soccer coach Jim Zehe first arrived at the Ellicott City school as a student teacher in 1995, the program under then-coach Bill Stara was one of the tops in the state. That year, the Eagles won their seventh state crown and fourth in five years. Now, in Zehe's ninth year as coach, he has the kind of team that resembles those powerhouse squads of the past. The No. 8 Eagles are 10-0 so far this season with a deep and experienced roster that has shown incredible chemistry.

After Ernestine Martin Wyatt helped stage a walkout decades ago over a lack of African-American history lessons at her high school, a teacher pulled her aside to ask about Wyatt's family ties to Harriet Tubman. The Maryland-born slave and famed conductor of the Underground Railroad left a personal legacy in her family, Wyatt, a distant niece of the abolitionist, said Saturday: a succession of strong women. And it's that more personal side of Tubman that Wyatt hopes America comes to know during the forthcoming centennial of her death.

Coaches sometimes can be hard to please. But Centennial coach Kevin McCoy smiles a lot when talking about the early season success of his young team. Centennial won the Barnhart Invitational last weekend at Dulaney, and the girls turned in another strong performance en route to the Large School division title in Saturday's Bull Run Invitational at Hereford. The Eagles defeated a number of strong teams in the Bull Run, an event that's always popular due to its tough competition.