Class 2a State

Sophomore Ali Femi went 1-for-3 with a triple and four RBIs to pace Easton to a 9-2 thumping of Lackey in the Class 2A state softball championship game at Randazzo Park in Severn last night. Pitcher Nicole Foster finished her freshman season with a perfect 18-0 mark as the Warriors (22-1) claimed their second state title in three years. The Chargers, who were seeking their first state crown, finished at 9-15.

Edmondson guard Darius Walker learned from something that happened earlier this season, and that lesson helped the Red Storm win its first state title Saturday night. Walker snaked through traffic and made a driving left-handed bank shot as time expired to give No. 5 Edmondson a 56-54 victory over Wicomico in the Class 2A state title game at the University of Maryland's Comcast Center, the school's first championship in basketball. Fresh in Walker's mind was his choice at the end of regulation in the Baltimore City title game against No. 1 Dunbar last month.

1 Century's margin of victory over Liberty in last year's Class 2A state meet. The Knights edged the Lions, 52-51. 12 Events the McDonogh girls won en route to the title at the IAAM championship meet. 103 McDonogh's margin of victory over Spalding at that meet. The Eagles routed Spalding, 182-79.

When he's not on the basketball court, Edmondson senior guard Darius Walker is more laid back than loud. But there was one exception recently when he simply couldn't help himself. It came last Thursday at Randallstown, when he helped lead the No. 5 Red Storm past the host Rams, 73-63, to capture the Class 2A North regional championship. After falling in the regional title game in the past four years, the Red Storm had just advanced to the state semifinals at Comcast Center and it was something to yell about.

Amy Kuehnl scored 16 points to lead host Catonsville (21-3) to a 49-44 victory over Bel Air (17-6) in the Class 3A, Region III final yesterday.The Comets will play in the state semifinals at Catonsville Community College Thursday at either 7 or 9 p.m.Catonsville's man-to-man press forced 30 turnovers. "We figured could press them," said Catonsville coach Dennis Quinby. "We knew they wanted to go inside to their big girl (6-0 center Dawn St. Clair), but we thought their guards would have trouble with the pressure, and they did."

COLLEGE PARK -- The Wheaton Knights didn't rely on the "big play" in yesterday afternoon's Class 2A state football final. Nor did the Montgomery County power opt for trickery or deception.Their game plan against Cumberland's Fort Hill was simple, explained senior running back Theron Johnson. "We just wanted to pound them, and pound them, and pound them until they gave up."Johnson ran 25 times for 100 yards, and teammate Hector Velazquez ran 16 times for another 112 yards and two touchdowns to lead Wheaton to a 21-0 win over Fort Hill in the Class 2A state title game at the University of Maryland's Byrd Stadium.

6-2 6-1 Scores of the straight-sets victory by the Atholton mixed doubles team of John Healey and Julia Southerland against Eleanor Roosevelt's Masha Sitnova and Subodh Arora in the state championship at the University of Maryland on Saturday. The Atholton pair swept the county, regional and state tournaments, and they were the only metro-area players to reach the state finals over the weekend. 10 Fourth-quarter saves made by Glenelg junior goalie Jon Selfridge in the Class 3A-2A boys lacrosse state title game last Wednesday, as the Gladiators defeated Fallston, 6-3, to bring home the program's first championship.

Erin Brooks Seton Keough The versatile performer won Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland titles in the 55 meters and triple jump last winter, and also helped the Gators win the team title. Kristen Brown McDonogh Brown moves from basketball to indoor track and should give the already strong Eagles a boost with her athleticism. The sophomore was a strong hurdler last spring and co-coach Jeff Sanborn said she did 11 feet 3 in the pole vault this summer. Kellie Christian Catonsville The junior is looking to follow up on a strong outdoor season that concluded with winning the Class 3A state title in the 300. Katie Harman River Hill The junior isdeveloping into one of the area's top distance runners, coming off a strong cross country season that included an impressive win in the Class 2A state title race last month.

Making their first state tournament appearance and facing an undefeated team didn't faze Southern-AA, which got a goal from senior forward Shiloh McKenzie in the 10th minute and protected the lead for the duration to defeat Parkside 1-0 Friday and advance to next week's Class 2A state final. Southern (12-5-1) will meet the winner of Saturday's Glenelg-Middletown semifinal next week at UMBC. The state finals will take place Nov. 17-19, with specific dates and times to be determined.

Host Century lost two first-half goals to offside calls in last night's Class 2A West region boys soccer final. The No. 12 Knights, however, didn't lose their heads, regrouping to score two second-half goals, including Cory Chapman's go-ahead goal from Josh Meyer with 28:55 left in a 2-1 win over defending Class 2A state champion Liberty. "It just shows you how resilient this team is," Century coach Scott Smith said. "It's tough to overcome those kinds of obstacles when you're working so hard and have a goal called back.

The defense of No. 11 Edmondson was never in question heading into Friday's Class 2A state semifinal. On this night, however, the Red Storm had no answer for freshman quarterback Devin Butler of Prince George's County's Frederick Douglass. Butler threw for four touchdowns — including strikes of 12, 56 and 64 yards to 6-foot-4 senior Paul Harris III — and ran for another as the Eagles scored the game's first 26 points on their way to a 34-20 win over Edmondson at Poly. "I told our guys we wanted to start fast, keep the pressure on them and try to make them one-dimensional," Douglass coach J.C. Pinkney said.

Loch Raven's visit to the Class 2A state semifinals didn't last long. Forty-six minutes after opening introductions, the Raiders had to fight back tears as they walked off the court. They were ushered out quickly by Williamsport, 25-4, 25-5, 25-7, yesterday at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum. "We were really overmatched," said second-year coach Matt Smith, whose program was making its second straight appearance after a four-year absence. "Williamsport was faster, taller.

It was one of the most improbable endings in the history of the state softball tournament. Liberty let several crucial scoring opportunities slip away in the first six innings of Friday's Class 2A state championship against McDonough at Maryland's Robert E. Taylor Stadium. The Lions, however, refused to quit and loaded the bases in the seventh with no outs and trailing by two runs. Rebecca Oneto tied the game with a single up the middle. Sammy Bost then stole third, but slid past the bag. The third baseman missed the tag, allowing Bost to get to her feet, and instead of trying to get back to the bag, she just took off for home, sliding safely for the walk-off 3-2 victory as three McDonough players scrambled around her. The Lions, who were appearing in their first championship game in 29 years, clinched their first-ever softball title.

CATONSVILLE - The Century girls' basketball team frustrated opponents with pressure defense all season long. But the Knights met their match on Saturday afternoon, when a talented and athletic Calvert High squad utilized a full-court defense and impressive teamwork at the offensive end to post a 57-22 victory over Century in the Class 2A state championship game at UMBC's Retriever Athletic Center. Century, the first Carroll County girls' basketball team to reach a state championship game in 15 years, finished the best season in school history with a 24-3 record.

Owings Mills coach Donchez Graham will likely remember reaching the Class 2A state semifinals for the sure difficulty of it and not the score of the game his team played against Century, of Carroll County, Friday night at UMBC. The Eagles reached the final four for the first time since 1984, but the final result wasn't anything close to Graham had wanted. The Knights used a fast start and tenacious defense to overwhelm the Eagles, 47-20. "The last time Owings Mills was here I was a junior in high school," Graham explained.

1 Century's margin of victory over Liberty in last year's Class 2A state meet. The Knights edged the Lions, 52-51. 12 Events the McDonogh girls won en route to the title at the IAAM championship meet. 103 McDonogh's margin of victory over Spalding at that meet. The Eagles routed Spalding, 182-79.

Visiting Douglass of Prince George's County kept No. 11 Eastern Tech waiting an extra 45 minutes for the start of Friday night's Class 2A state semifinal at CCBC-Essex - a combination of a miscommunication and then getting lost on the way. Once the Mavericks got rolling, however, they were difficult to stop, rushing for 294 yards and taking command with three touchdowns in the final eight minutes of the first half in a 27-12 win. The Mavericks...

Zach Welch ran for three touchdowns and kicked a field goal to lead Middletown to its first state football championship in a 43-6 romp over Douglass, of Prince George's County, for the Class 2A title Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium. The Knights (13-1) had been to the state tournament 18 times without winning a title, including last year's 21-14 loss to McDonogh in the final, but Saturday, they jumped on the Eagles for the first 16 points. The Eagles (10-3) pulled within 16-6 on Taitor Reynolds' 29-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Smith with 28 seconds left in the first half, but the Knights scored just over a minute into the second half on Ben Lewis' 53-yard run. Welch ran for 172 yards on 24 carries as the Knights rushed for 335 yards.

CHESTERTOWN - After seeing her team ranked No. 1, Ginger Kincaid worried all season that the only place Glenelg could go was down. It turned out Kincaid didn't need to worry much. Her Gladiators returned to Washington College Saturday and repeated as Class 2A state champions with a 3-0 win over Poolesville. "The first time was really new to us. We'd never won before," said Glenelg's Meagan Guthrie, who scored the team's Gladiators' first and last goals. "To come back this time, the odds were against us, but we were able to pull it off," said fellow senior Alyssa Parker, who beat five defenders to score on a length-of-the-field run and also assisted on Guthrie's second goal.