Class 4a

The Arundel Wildcats could be called many things in the Class 4A state championship at UMBC's RAC Arena on Saturday, and all of them would be true. Frustrated, angry, opportunistic and fiery all come to mind. In the end though, just call them champions. The fifth-ranked Wildcats (23-4) staged a fierce rally midway through the third quarter to rebound from a nine-point deficit and defeat Gaithersburg, 53-40, to win the championship in a game that was much closer than the score indicated.

Back in April, the Glen Burnie softball team managed to bust out of its early-season funk to forge a path that would lead all the way to Saturday's Class 4A state final in College Park. Once there, however, the Gophers simply couldn't pull off another turnaround. Sherwood from Montgomery County scored three runs against Glen Burnie starting pitcher Ali Moos in the first inning, and the Gophers never recovered in a 5-0 loss at the University of Maryland. First baseman Megan McDonough had a double, triple and three RBIs for the Warriors, who extended their winning streak to 42 straight games in capturing their second straight state title.

Old Mill's chances to win its first state title might have appeared to go down in the first quarter Friday night when star running back Josh Furman suffered a knee injury, leaving Jason Clements to take over the workhorse role. Clements, who had been overshadowed by Furman despite rushing for more than 1,100 yards this season, eagerly shouldered the bulk of the rushing load. The senior carried the ball 40 times for 164 yards and one touchdown to lead the Patriots to their first state championship, 17-16, over Wise in the Class 4A final before an announced 8,534 at M&T Bank Stadium.

South River coach Ken Dunn announced he would retire after coaching his last game this season, so his players gave him the perfect parting gift. - the school's first baseball state championship. The No. 3 Seahawks defeated No. 8 Catonsville, 6-0, in the Class 4A final Friday at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen. "This was a great ride," Dunn said. "The kids did a great job. "It's not about me. It's about those kids. ... This win was about everybody that has been in the program. " South River (20-5)

SILVER SPRING - Marlon Evans returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, and visiting Wootton High (12-0) went on to a 20-7 upset of top-seeded Springbrook (11-1) in a state Class 4A semifinal matchup of two Montgomery County teams yesterday.Wootton will make its first-state title game appearance Saturday, when it meets Randallstown at Westminster High at 2 p.m.Springbrook tied the game on a 9-yard touchdown run by Leonard Green, and the game was tied at the half.But in the third period, Messay Hailemariam scooped up a fumble and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown to give Wootton the lead at 14-7, and Geoff Pearce added a 31-yard field goal to make it 17-7.

Suitland emerged from yesterday's Class 4A championship as the only team to weather the girls state basketball tournament unbeaten. The Rams (22-0) ran up a 12-point lead in the middle of the third quarter and held on to beat Churchill, 61-57, at UMBC. Churchill, which had beaten No. 1 and defending champ Arundel in Thursday's semifinals, rallied behind two Louisa Feve three-pointers, the second a 24-footer that cut the lead to 60-57 with 22 seconds left. But the Rams moved the ball so quickly that Churchill (26-1)

Thunderstorms washed out the Class 4A state softball semifinals last night at Randazzo Park in Severn. Both games - No. 2 Chesapeake of Anne Arundel County vs. Eleanor Roosevelt and No. 4 Westminster vs. Watkins Mills - will be made up at 4 p.m. today at Randazzo.

Walt Whitman dominated from start to finish to come away with a 4-1 victory over Bowie in the boys Class 4A final, capturing its seventh state championship at UMBC. The Vikings, from Montgomery County, got a goal and an assist from senior midfielder Chris Gormley, with Seth Schreiber, Augustine Medugu and David Glaudemanns also scoring. Jay Sasiadek scored the lone goal for Bowie, the South Region champ from Prince George's County.

COLLEGE PARK - Eleanor Roosevelt of Prince George's County, which entered the Class 4A boys basketball state tournament as No. 10 regional seed, upset Thomas Johnson of Frederick, 50-45, in the championship game at Cole Field House last night. Victor Akinyanju, Edward Young and Jeremy Bruce each scored 14 points for the Raiders (16-12), who routed Mervo, 74-41, in Thursday's semifinal round. Jermaine Thomas had nine points for Thomas Johnson (25-2), which had its 19-game winning streak snapped.

Perry Hall outlasted Dulaney, 5-3, in 10 innings yesterday to earn a berth into the Class 4A state semifinals.Robin Scrivani walked with the bases loaded, scoring teammate Jen Garger for the go-ahead run, and Mandy Fisher hit a sacrifice fly to score Courney Outen in the visiting Gators two-run 10th.Senior Jen Wolfe went the distance for Perry Hall, striking out 10 and going 2-3 at the plate with a homerun and three RBIs. The first team All City/County pick improved her record to 16-3 with 140 strikeouts.

The Class 4A-3A boys lacrosse championship between defending champion South River and Westminster was suspended Wednesday due to lightning at UMBC. The game will resume at 6 p.m. Thursday with the Seahawks leading, 8-7, and 1 minute, 11 seconds left in the first half. The first sight of lightning came at 8:55 p.m. to prompt an automatic 30-minute delay. Just as the players returned to the field and play was expected to continue at 9:25 p.m., lightning was seen in the area, forcing the suspension.

The Class 4A-3A boys lacrosse championship between defending champion South River and Westminster was suspended Wednesday night due to lightning at UMBC. The game was slated to pick up where it left off on Thursday, with the South River leading, 8-7, and just over a minute remaining in the first half. The first sight of lightning prompted an automatic 30-minute delay. Just as the players returned to the field and play was expected to continue, lightning was again seen in the area, forcing the suspension.

Broadneck's Ellen McNulty had seven goals and an assist and Aislinn Probst scored four goals and added two assists to lead the No. 12 Bruins (17-3) to a 15-5 win over No. 15 Catonsville (16-3) in the Class 4A-3A state semifinals at Franklin on Saturday afternoon. Probst scored 10 seconds after winning the opening draw, and the Bruins had nine of the first 10 goals in the game on the way to a 10-3 lead at halftime. "We just were trying to stay patient and play our game and score early so we didn't have to fight back at the end," McNulty said.

After surrendering a seven-goal lead in a loss to South River in last year's state championship, the Westminster boys lacrosse team vowed to return to the final game this season. The No. 8 Owls will do that with a chance to finish with a perfect record. A dominating offensive performance in Saturday's Class 4A-3A state semifinal against Winston Churchill assured the return trip for the Owls, who scored the first 11 goals in the second half against the Bulldogs, from Montgomery County, to pull away for a 23-9 win at Franklin.

There wasn't any defining moment or quick string of goals in Wednesday's Class 4A East boys lacrosse region title game featuring defending state champion South River and its Anne Arundel County rival Chesapeake. It was more just South River doing what it does best this time of year. The No. 10 Seahawks controlled play most of the way, methodically finished off scoring chances and clamped down on defense when called upon to earn a thorough 10-3 home win over the No. 13 Cougars and return to the Class 4A-3A state semifinals.

The Poly boys basketball team needed some time to get comfortable in the Class 4A state semifinal at the University of Maryland's Comcast Center on Thursday night. Going against defending state champion Magruder, it was time the No. 10 Engineers simply couldn't afford. Falling behind early, the Engineers did all they could to climb back, but the Colonels had more than enough answers to come away with a 62-50 win. The Engineers' offensive struggles led to the loss as they only shot 24 percent from the field and made only two of 16 from behind the 3-point line.

Point guard Alis Freeman scored a game-high 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting to lead Churchill of Montgomery County to a 68-49 victory over Oxon Hill of Prince George's County in yesterday's Class 4A title game at UMBC. Catherine Adams added 14 points for Churchill (24-3), which won its first state title and 18th straight game. Oxon Hill (19-7) fell to 0-4 in state championship games. Churchill took control from the start, racing to a 23-3 lead 9:28 into the game. Oxon Hill cut the lead to 32-20 early in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs shot 13-for-17 in the third quarter and led by as many as 29 in the fourth quarter.

COLLEGE PARK - After No. 3 Broadneck fell behind in the third game of last night's match against Eleanor Roosevelt, Bruins coach Scott Graf called his only timeout. With his team up two games to none, he calmly reminded his players to stay positive and keep communicating with one another. The Bruins continued doing both, and after rallying to tie the score, they took the lead for good and finished off their sweep, defeating the Raiders, 24-9, 25-8, 25-16, in the Class 4A state semifinals at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum.

Poly's girls basketball team came a long way back against undefeated North Point in Saturday's Class 4A state championship. The Engineers just couldn't make it all the way. No. 8 Poly rallied from 20 points down in the third quarter, cutting North Point's lead to three before the Eagles regrouped to finish off a 62-56 victory for their first girls basketball title at UMBC's RAC Arena. The Eagles (27-0), from Waldorf in Southern Maryland, were the only undefeated state champions in this year's tournament field, but Poly certainly made them earn their perfect ending.

Whenever the Poly girls basketball players or coach Kendall Peace-Able talk about the heart of their program, the conversation always centers on defense. Thursday, the No. 8 Engineers relied on that stinginess in the final 25 seconds of the Class 4A state semifinal at UMBC's RAC Arena to hold on for a 33-32 victory over Walt Whitman and secure a berth in Saturday's state championship game. The Engineers had a 33-30 lead when their Aneah Young missed the front end of a one-and-one and the ball caromed out of bounds, giving Whitman 24.6 seconds to try to tie the game.