Dunbar

In March of 1982, upstart Calvert Hall College High School, with a young team and a young coach, beat Hyattsville's DeMatha High School, under legendary coach Morgan Wootten, to win the prestigious Alhambra Tournament and complete an undefeated season. Ranked No. 1 in the country at the beginning of that season by Street & Smith and Basketball Weekly - admittedly, a nebulous thing - the Calvert Hall Cardinals of Towson went from Las Vegas to Philadelphia and back to beat all comers and finish 34-0, proving that ranking as best as it could be proved.

Reed Parkinson and Jordan Love each scored two touchdowns as visiting Gilman defeated No. 11 Archbishop Spalding, 55-19, last night at Spalding's homecoming. The Greyhounds (3-3), of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference, returned the opening kickoff 50 yards, then scored on Love's 9-yard touchdown run. Gilman led 14-0 after eight minutes and 28-0 before the Cavaliers (4-2), of the MIAA B Conference, scored. Gilman's Derrick Burnett threw two touchdown passes, and Mimmo Cricchio went five-for-six on extra points.

Dunbar junior running back Tavon Austin continued his march toward the state career touchdowns record during the Poets' rout of Forestville in the Class 1A South semifinals Saturday. Austin, who rushed for 249 yards and four touchdowns in No. 2 Dunbar's 66-29 win over the Prince George's County school, has 33 touchdowns this season and 86 for his career, one shy of the state record held by Old Mill's Ryan Callahan (2003-05). "His performance ... was remarkable," Dunbar coach Lawrence Smith said of Austin's play against Forestville.

Eric Lee confirmed last night that he has been fired as Dunbar's boys basketball coach by principal Roger Shaw, ending a six-year run at his alma mater that included a record of 143-23, five of the Poets' 11 state titles since 1993 and appearances in the state championship game each season. Shaw would not elaborate on the details of Lee's firing, which became official Friday, but several sources, including Lee's brother, Kirk Lee, said his removal stemmed at least in part from Eric Lee's allowing an adult league funded by his brother's Kurk Lee Foundation to use Dunbar's gymnasium on the morning of Dec. 17. The move was an apparent violation of a rule pertaining to unauthorized use of Baltimore City public school facilities, according to sources.

About a year ago, Bob Wade took a tour of the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards along with other state high school athletic administrators who were in the facility for a meeting. Wade, the legendary former football and basketball coach at Dunbar, had an idea what to expect - and what not to expect. "People who had taken the tour had told me there was hardly any basketball in there. Not just the professionals and the colleges, but no mention of Dunbar ... or any of the rich history of high school basketball," Wade, now the city schools' athletics director, said this week.

Ben Eaton Jr. gripped both sides of the lectern as if he had an opposing quarterback in his grasp. "He taught me to be a real man, husband and great father," he said. Eaton Jr., the former Gilman linebacker and The Sun's 2006 Defensive Player of the Year now playing at Mercersburg (Pa.) Academy, was among those who spoke at Ben Eaton Sr.'s funeral yesterday at the Carl H. Murphy Fine Arts Center at Morgan State. "I had him for 18 years, and I will take care of my mom, " said Eaton Jr., looking at his mother, Sandra.

COLLEGE PARK -- Asked where he was when quarterback Lawrence Watson and running backs Maurice Portee and Tavon Austin ripped through Class 1A rival Fort Hill for Dunbar's fourth state football title last fall, diminutive senior Eric Barksdale displayed his sense of humor. "I had to be the team manager since I was injured," said Barksdale, a reserve defensive back. "Don't you remember? I was up there taking stats with you." He had a much more memorable moment yesterday at Comcast Center, when Dunbar faced Fort Hill on the basketball court in a 1A state semifinal . The 5-foot-7, 140-pound guard scored eight of his 14 points in overtime to go with six assists and four steals in a come-from-behind 73-71 victory.

For a guy who recently lost perhaps the highest-profile high school coaching job in the area, Eric Lee sounded remarkably upbeat. A bit perplexed, maybe, but positive, nonetheless. Lee, who, until a week ago Friday, was at the helm of the Dunbar boys basketball machine, got bounced from the job unceremoniously by the school's principal, Roger Shaw. Although Lee says he's still not certain what exactly led to his dismissal, he also says that he's not exactly sweating things out right now, either.

Pete Pompey may be "Coach" to the players on his fifth-ranked Edmondson football team. But to his grandsons, 4-year-old Jamal and 3-year-old Jordan Michael, he's known as "Peke.""That's how they pronounce his name, and to them, he's the entire world," said the boys' mother, Rhonda Simms, Pompey's 31-year-old daughter who lives with him."When my father comes home, he's like, `Where are my boys?' And they just come running and he gets down on the floor with them," Simms said."He's a sucker for the boys.

Severna Park volleyball coach Tim Dunbar, the most successful Anne Arundel County coach in the sport, announced his resignation yesterday.In 13 seasons, Dunbar's teams won three state championships (1991-93), eight region titles, and 11 county titles. Overall, they won 252 matches and lost 26; they were 148-4 against county opponents.Dunbar stunned the school with his decision, having been named county Coach of the Year for the sixth time after leading the 15-4 Falcons to the Class 4A state semifinals this season.

Working its option offense to near perfection, No. 8 Poly moved the ball seemingly at will Friday night against Baltimore City rival Dunbar. In the end, however, it was big plays by the No. 13 Poets that proved the difference in Dunbar's 22-18 win. Despite allowing 438 yards of offense, the Poets used a blocked punt return by Quinton Brown, a 74-yard punt return by Aaron Haynes and a 96-yard run by Nathan Ayers to continually stay one step ahead of...

Varsity State adds code of conduct addressing race-baiting Maryland high school athletes have a new code of conduct, prompted by allegations that football players in Cumberland used racial slurs against opposing players during a game last year. Race-baiting was already forbidden but "maybe it doesn't hurt to say so" in the student-athlete handbook, Ned Sparks, executive director of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, said Friday. He said the code was added this school year to a "Respect the Game" handbook that is distributed annually to the 4,800 team captains in the association's 192 member schools.

GIRLS SOCCER No. 1 Archbishop Spalding at No. 2 McDonogh WHEN: : Friday, 4 p.m. OUTLOOK: : The area's top two teams go at it in a rematch of last year's Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship, won by Spalding, 2-0. With first place in the IAAM on the line, both teams went into the week with undefeated records. FOOTBALL No. 11 Patterson at No. 14 Poly WHEN: : Friday, 7 p.m. OUTLOOK: : After upsetting Dunbar two weeks ago, the Clippers face their second big opponent in what is emerging as a five-team Baltimore City Division I race.

After Leatha Ayers heard that five of her son Bryan Martin's Dunbar football teammates were charged with attempted murder last week, she talked to him about the opportunity to learn from others' mistakes. "They're getting a good chance at learning about choices," Ayers said. "Every kid on this Dunbar team felt that. They're close. They play as a family when they're out there as well as a team, and they're well-rounded kids. It's a wonderful thing to be leaders, because [the boys facing charges]

3 Straight MIAA A Conference championships for Loyola, including a tie with Mount St. Joseph in 2007. 9 Times since 1974 that Baltimore-area teams have won two state titles in the same year, including the past three years. 28 Straight victories for River Hill, which has won the past two Class 2A state championships. 30 State playoff victories for Dunbar - the most for a team that reached the tournament for the first time later than 1981. 148 Tackles last season by Catonsville linebacker Tyler Weedon - an average of 16.4 in the nine games he played in before suffering a broken hand.

As Baltimore schools opened Monday, students streamed into Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, which even the seniors didn't recognize after a two-year, $28 million renovation that transformed the worn interior into one better able to support students studying math and the sciences. Among the school's new features are science labs and a robotics lab where students can design robots on computers, build them in a shop and operate them in a large room. The interior boasts wide hallways, larger windows, and a new cafeteria and library.

Tommy Polley has played in his share of big games at the highest level before millions of viewers, but he was admittedly nervous when he entered the Dunbar High School gymnasium Tuesday before an audience of about 200 current and former students and faculty. This time, Polley, who played six seasons in the NFL, including one with the Ravens, was playing the role of storyteller instead of playmaker. The former football and basketball star at Dunbar in the mid-1990s was on hand for a screening of Poet Pride, a documentary that he co-produced with fellow alums Rob Foster and David Manigault about the school's storied basketball program, which was a national powerhouse in the '80s and '90s.

The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association sent an advisory to its member schools this week suggesting that teams avoid shaking hands after games during the swine flu outbreak that led to the closing of five state schools this week, including Milford Mill. "They're suggesting we bump elbows or shoulders or something else," said Calvert Hall coach Lou Eckerl, whose team reclaimed the No. 1 position in The Baltimore Sun's baseball poll Tuesday. "I'm not wild about it. It's a little overdramatic.

With his team ahead by 21 points almost midway through the fourth quarter in last night's Class 1A North regional final, Digital Harbor coach Johnny Grimes implored the Rams not to underestimate the resilience of Baltimore City rival Dunbar. His words would prove true. The visiting Poets stormed back and pulled within four with 1:32 remaining, close to adding another chapter to their storied history. But the sixth-ranked Rams made four free throws down the stretch and held on for a 79-70 victory.

Dunbar star running back Tavon Austin is expected to sign a letter of intent to West Virginia this morning before a crowd of students, parents and media in the high school's auditorium. He will not be the only Poets player putting pen to paper, however. Seven of Austin's teammates also are set to sign letters to play for Division I teams. An additional 10 will be signing with Division II schools. Although they are not part of the signing process, six more are committed to play for Division III programs.