Dana Johnson

For the past decade, the Baltimore City Public Schools Girls Tournament title game has matched Western and Walbrook, but last night in a semifinal at Western, Lake Clifton almost changed that.The Lakers scared the No. 1 Doves for three quarters before tiring and falling, 53-32, before a sellout crowd of 300.Western (23-1) will meet Walbrook in the finals Sunday at 2 p.m. at Morgan State's Hill Field House. Western defeated the Warriors, 68-49, in the City-Wide finals Friday. Walbrook advanced with a 69-45 victory over Poly in the other semifinal.

A 28-9 run to start the final period led the Suburban All-Stars to a 117-104 victory over the City Stars in yesterday's preliminary game of the Charm City Challenge at Towson University. Bassirou Dieng (Riverdale Baptist) and Barry Cornish (Lansdowne) led the Suburban squad, coached by Randallstown's Kim Rivers. Camontae Griffin (Dunbar) and Brett Foelber (Gibbons) led the City stars, coached by Dunbar's Smiley Lee and Dana Johnson of Southside. The 6-foot-8 Dieng, who was named Most Valuable Player and to the all-tournament team, had game highs in points (24)

Melissa Cuneo, Set. Keough, Sr., G-F On a team that lost its starting frontcourt from last season to graduation, Cuneo emerged as the Gators' most complete player. A guard-forward, Cuneo averaged 14.2 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Catholic League champions. She also led the Gators with 35 blocked shots. "If someone stopped her from scoring, she picked up her game and contributed more in other areas," coach Trish Cook said. Cuneo is being recruited by Towson State and Mount St. Mary's.Mia Dammen, Oakland Mills, Sr., G Stealing the ball and taking it in for a layup was Dammen's forte.

University of Maryland basketball recruit James Gist, a 6-foot-7 senior from Good Counsel High School in Wheaton, will lead a U.S. All-Star team against a squad of Baltimore all-stars in the fourth annual Marines Charm City Challenge on April 4 at the Towson Center. Among Gist's teammates will be Joakim Noah, a senior from Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and the son of former tennis pro Yannick Noah; and Greg Manning Jr., who is from Chattahoochee High in Alpharetta, Ga., and is the son of the former Maryland guard of the same name.

Senior guard Terrance Alexander had 24 points and nine rebounds, as top-ranked Dunbar (10-1) defeated Wehrle Memorial (Columbus, Ohio), 87-62, in a War Memorial Tournament semifinal in Johnstown, Pa., last night.Dunbar advances to tonight's 8:30 championship against Dunbar of Washington, which defeated Hempfield (Pa.), 87-48, in the other semifinal. Dunbar of Baltimore has beaten Washington Dunbar twice this season.Dunbar led at the half, 36-31, then outscored Wehrle, 26-11, in the third quarter to build a 62-42 lead.

COLLEGE PARK -- Southside's Tamara Trusty was thinking about just one thing after last night's state Class 1A volleyball semifinal at Ritchie Coliseum: "I want to come back here again." In their first trip to the state semifinals, the Jaguars were overmatched by Poolesville, which pounded out a 25-10, 25-11, 25-18 victory behind power-hitting Inge Rasmussen (14 kills) and Jessica Chittenden (seven kills). The Jaguars (10-7) struggled through the first 2 1/2 games before putting up a fight late in the third.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Greg Manning Jr. can shoot the basketball. He had a good teacher. Manning is one of the guards on the U.S. team that will play the Baltimore All-Stars in the fourth annual Marines Charm City Challenge on Sunday at Towson Center. "My dad taught me how to play and shoot, coached me in middle school and is someone to look up to," Manning Jr. said. Greg Manning Sr. is a familiar name in this area, having played four seasons (1977-81) at the University of Maryland.

No. 1-ranked Western rolled to the Metro Classic girls championship last night with a touch of deja vu.Doves senior Dana Johnson earned the Most Valuable Player award for the second straight year. For the 6-foot-3 senior, it was a final chance to be remembered.Johnson scored 23 points and pulled down 22 rebounds in leading Western over Seton Keough, 72-37. She got 10 points in the first quarter and helped trigger the press and fastbreak in the second quarter when the Doves went on a 16-3 run to forge an insurmountable lead.

STANFORD, Calif. -- This week's polls will show that third-ranked Stanford is the No. 1 team in the nation after its 96-95 overtime victory over Tennessee on Saturday night. But coach Tara VanDerveer isn't so sure.But coach Tara VanDerveer isn't so sure."When the clock ran out, we just happened to be ahead," said VanDerveer, whose Cardinal improved to 5-0.It was that kind of game -- draining and with numerous shifts of momentum, but thoroughly entertaining for the crowd of 5,522, the largest ever to see a regular-season women's game at Stanford.

BaseballBlue Jays: Recalled P Robert Person from Triple-A Syracuse. Recalled C Benito Santiago from rehabilitation assignment at Syracuse.Cubs: Assigned OF Bo Porter to Triple-A Iowa.Expos: Recalled P Rick Dehart, C Mike Hubbard, OF-IF Fernando Seguignol and IF Jose Vidro from Triple-A Ottawa. Purchased contract of P Tim Young from Ottawa and C-IF Michael Barrett from Double-A Harrisburg.Mets: Received cash considerations in lieu of player to be named from Diamondbacks to complete July 31 trade that sent OF Bernard Gilkey and P Nelson Figueroa to Arizona for P Willie Blair.