Dammen

Senior Mia Dammen (Oakland Mills) finished her soccer career at Brown with a flourish.Dammen was named Ivy League Player of the Week after scoring the game-tying goal on a penalty kick and assisting on two others in a 3-3 tie against Harvard that clinched Brown's 12th league championship. She led the Ivy League with nine goals, 13 assists and 31 points. Brown was eliminated by Connecticut, 1-0, Saturday in the NCAA regionals.* Women's soccer at East Carolina had a distinct Baltimore flavor.

Senior Mia Dammen (Oakland Mills) finished her soccer career at Brown with a flourish.Dammen was named Ivy League Player of the Week after scoring the game-tying goal on a penalty kick and assisting on two others in a 3-3 tie against Harvard that clinched Brown's 12th league championship. She led the Ivy League with nine goals, 13 assists and 31 points. Brown was eliminated by Connecticut, 1-0, Saturday in the NCAA regionals.* Women's soccer at East Carolina had a distinct Baltimore flavor.

Mia Dammen of Oakland Mills is a soccer fanatic, but she also knows basketball, and it is not just a hobby.Dammen, a first-team All-Metro soccer player the past two seasons, said she has been playing the sport since first grade, and plays it eight months of the year.Through hard work and perseverance, Dammen also has become one of the area's top basketball players.The 5-foot-8 senior guard leads fourth-ranked Oakland Mills (13-1) in scoring average (17.5) and assists (6.7 per game) and is averaging 13.5 steals.

It has been a frustrating and painful soccer season at Rutgers for Kori Hunter (Atholton) and Hamisi Amani-Dove (Wilde Lake).Hunter, an Academic All-America and the first-team Mid-Atlantic Region goalie last year, hasn't played this season because of fractured legs. That's plural -- legs.He played all last season with stress fractures in both legs and didn't tell anyone, thinking it was shin splints. Then, in an off-season pickup basketball game, Hunter broke his right leg. A redshirt junior, he hopes to rejoin the team before the season ends.

On paper, Thursday's regular-season finale at Howard High School didn't mean much to Oakland Mills' girls basketball team. Win or lose, the Scorpions would end up no worse than tied for second place in the county standings. Win or lose, they would remain top-seeded in this week's Class 3A Region I playoffs.Didn't mean much? Try telling that to Oakland Mills guard Mia Dammen.Dammen showed why she is the Scorpions' main spark. Her season-high 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists, four steals, and 12-for-14foul shooting pushed Oakland Mills to a 66-54 victory.

No one ever would mistake Mia Dammen and Stefanie Magro for twins, but on the basketball court the Oakland Mills High School backcourt could be called twin nightmares.Sure, they differ in certain areas.Magro is the better ballhandler, hence her point guard position. Sheis also the better shooter -- as her team-leading 49 percent field goal percentage reveals. From the 12- to 14-foot range, she can be deadly.Dammen brings other dimensions to her game. She's the most improved free-throw shooter on the team, having added about 20 points to her foul-shooting percentage, now at 67. She's also added an improved outside shot and has become a threat from the three-point range.

She had just put forth an all-out, 32-minute effort to lead her basketball team to arguably its biggest victory in school history, and yet Oakland Mills senior guard Mia Dammen looked ready to play another game.Then again, the adrenalin the Scorpions were feeling after Friday night's 43-42 victory over defending county and Class 2A statechampion Mount Hebron probably had them all feeling somewhat refreshed.Dammen had help, particularly from teammate Andrea Romich and a Hebron offense that shot a paltry 29 percent from the floor.

The Oakland Mills season has come almost full circle, but the Scorpions are hoping the ending is different than the beginning.The Scorpion girls soccer team began the season losing to Severna Park, 2-1. And this Saturday they will play Severna Park for the state Class 3A/4A championship.Oakland Mills earned the finals Monday by beating Old Mill, 4-2, at Chesapeake High in Anne Arundel County.It was their 13th straight win after opening the year with two losses.Mia Dammen (11 goals) scored twice and Stefanie Magro (14 goals)

Playing point guard for just the second time this season, senior Mia Dammen helped Oakland Mills to a fast start en route to a 64-39 victory over Catonsville in a Class 3A state semifinal at Catonsville Community College last night.The third-ranked and fourth-seeded Scorpions (23-2) will meet third-seeded DuVal (22-3), a 71-52 winner over second-seeded Northern-Calvert (20-5), in the Class 3A championship game tomorrow night at 8.Dammen, who had 15 points, 11 steals and seven assists, moved from shooting guard to point guard after Stefanie Magro had to undergo appendectomy surgery hours before Saturday's region final against Howard.

At Oakland Mills, sports fans are enjoying a busy homecoming week.On Saturday, the school's No. 6-ranked football team (7-0) clashes with Howard at 1:30, followed by the homecoming dance that night. But leading up to that, Scorpions followers have plenty to keep them occupied. The girls soccer team (9-2) clinched its fourth straight Howard County title yesterday, and the undefeated boys cross country team runs for its seventh straight county championship today at Howard Community College.

The numbers told the story for Oakland Mills.The Scorpions committed 37 turnovers, and grabbed just five offensive rebounds -- one through the first three quarters -- as third-seeded DuVal (23-3) rolled to a 60-42 victory in the Class 3A state championship game at Catonsville Community College last night.The championship was DuVal's first since 1982, and its fourth overall. Oakland Mills was making its first appearance in the state finals since 1977.DuVal coach Walter Clark attributed the victory to mathematics.

Take away a starting senior guard and it obviously will make a difference in how a team plays.It did for the Oakland Mills girls, but the Scorpions still advanced to tomorrow's finals (8 p.m.) of the state Class 3A basketball tournament, knocking off Catonsville, 64-39, at Catonsville Community College last night.Oakland Mills (23-2) was missing Stefanie Magro, who only Wednesday was released from the hospital after having an appendectomy last Saturday."There was a difference [without Magro]

Playing point guard for just the second time this season, senior Mia Dammen helped Oakland Mills to a fast start en route to a 64-39 victory over Catonsville in a Class 3A state semifinal at Catonsville Community College last night.The third-ranked and fourth-seeded Scorpions (23-2) will meet third-seeded DuVal (22-3), a 71-52 winner over second-seeded Northern-Calvert (20-5), in the Class 3A championship game tomorrow night at 8.Dammen, who had 15 points, 11 steals and seven assists, moved from shooting guard to point guard after Stefanie Magro had to undergo appendectomy surgery hours before Saturday's region final against Howard.

No one ever would mistake Mia Dammen and Stefanie Magro for twins, but on the basketball court the Oakland Mills High School backcourt could be called twin nightmares.Sure, they differ in certain areas.Magro is the better ballhandler, hence her point guard position. Sheis also the better shooter -- as her team-leading 49 percent field goal percentage reveals. From the 12- to 14-foot range, she can be deadly.Dammen brings other dimensions to her game. She's the most improved free-throw shooter on the team, having added about 20 points to her foul-shooting percentage, now at 67. She's also added an improved outside shot and has become a threat from the three-point range.

On paper, Thursday's regular-season finale at Howard High School didn't mean much to Oakland Mills' girls basketball team. Win or lose, the Scorpions would end up no worse than tied for second place in the county standings. Win or lose, they would remain top-seeded in this week's Class 3A Region I playoffs.Didn't mean much? Try telling that to Oakland Mills guard Mia Dammen.Dammen showed why she is the Scorpions' main spark. Her season-high 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists, four steals, and 12-for-14foul shooting pushed Oakland Mills to a 66-54 victory.

Mia Dammen of Oakland Mills is a soccer fanatic, but she also knows basketball, and it is not just a hobby.Dammen, a first-team All-Metro soccer player the past two seasons, said she has been playing the sport since first grade, and plays it eight months of the year.Through hard work and perseverance, Dammen also has become one of the area's top basketball players.The 5-foot-8 senior guard leads fourth-ranked Oakland Mills (13-1) in scoring average (17.5) and assists (6.7 per game) and is averaging 13.5 steals.

Mia Dammen's goal in the 78th minute produced a 1-0 Oakland Mills victory Friday over archrival Centennial, putting the Scorpions (8-2 overall, 5-0 league) in a solid position to win their fifth straight county title.They have two games remaining, against Mount Hebron and Glenelg this week.The game also kept alive Oakland Mills' chances of making the Class 3A/4A Region IV playoffs. That region includes Centennial and Howard.Oakland Mills has made a habit of winning the close ones. The Scorpions beat all three of their top county competitors by one goal -- Howard 4-3, Hammond 1-0, and Centennial, 1-0. They also won by one goal over Wilde Lake, 2-1.The winning goal Friday developed off a direct kick by Kim Gove that Danette Lemerise headed to Dammen, who was about six yards from the net.Dammen kicked it into the lower corner past diving Centennial goalie Jenny Kling's right side.

Take away a starting senior guard and it obviously will make a difference in how a team plays.It did for the Oakland Mills girls, but the Scorpions still advanced to tomorrow's finals (8 p.m.) of the state Class 3A basketball tournament, knocking off Catonsville, 64-39, at Catonsville Community College last night.Oakland Mills (23-2) was missing Stefanie Magro, who only Wednesday was released from the hospital after having an appendectomy last Saturday."There was a difference [without Magro]

Friday night's clash between Oakland Mills and Mount Hebron provideda perfect snapshot of what makes the county girls basketball scene so inviting.First, Hebron and Oakland Mills are two of the top five teams in the state. Each has an excellent chance of showing up at Catonsville Community College in March for the state tournament -- Oakland Mills in the 3A division, Hebron in the 2A. In a county packed with competition, especially playoff contenders like Glenelg and Howard, Oakland Mills and Hebron are the class of the league.

She had just put forth an all-out, 32-minute effort to lead her basketball team to arguably its biggest victory in school history, and yet Oakland Mills senior guard Mia Dammen looked ready to play another game.Then again, the adrenalin the Scorpions were feeling after Friday night's 43-42 victory over defending county and Class 2A statechampion Mount Hebron probably had them all feeling somewhat refreshed.Dammen had help, particularly from teammate Andrea Romich and a Hebron offense that shot a paltry 29 percent from the floor.