Five Points

Defense is what Lake Clifton coach Herman Harried continually reinforces to his group, and he got plenty of it Tuesday. The Lakers held Digital Harbor to one field goal and just five points in the decisive second half. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/varsityletters)

Guard Jannah Tucker (New Town) is out for the rest of the FIBA Americas U18 Championship after injuring her left knee Thursday in a 68-28 victory over Argentina. The Americans cruised past Colombia, 87-36, on Friday to complete preliminary play in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. "It's extremely difficult" watching from the bench, said Tucker, who has committed to Tennessee. "But I know that they're going to use this adversity as fuel and continue to play hard like they've been doing. " Maryland recruit Lexie Brown had five points, five steals and four assists against Colombia and six points, two rebounds and two steals against Argentina.

What percentage of the 389,031 speeding tickets issued in Maryland last year went to folks charged with driving more than 30 mph over the speed limit? Go on, take a guess. How many of your fellow drivers were in such a hurry, or were so into the thrill of speed, or were so stinking drunk that they were willing to put your life and their own in such extreme jeopardy during calendar year 2006? How many people not only violated Transportation Article 21.801.1 - exceeding the speed limit - but stomped all over it?

Senior midfielder Zach Brenneman had a career-high five points as the No. 4 Notre Dame men's lacrosse team opened its season Sunday by defeating No. 10 Duke, 12-7, in a rematch of the national championship game. The Blue Devils survived, 6-5, in overtime at M&T Bank Stadium to win the title in May but couldn't keep up Sunday in front of an announced 8,152 at EverBank Field in a game that was part of the inaugural Sunshine Classic. Brenneman had three goals and two assists, and the Fighting Irish got two goals apiece from senior long-stick midfielder Andrew Irving, junior attackman Sean Rogers and freshman attackman Westy Hopkins.

If you fit the mold of an aggressive driver, plan to pay a fine and get points against your driving record, state police said last week.Officials identified aggressive drivers as those who frequently exceed the speed limit, change lanes in a dangerous manner, follow too closely or fail to grant the right of way.Troopers are asking citizens to report aggressive drivers by dialing No. 77 on a cellular telephone. Drivers also may alert state police by using a citizens or amateur band radio.The fines and penalties for some of the violations are: two points and $60 for following too closely, one point and $40 for failure to grant the right of way and one point and $40 for making an unsafe lane change.

"Are we there yet?"Playing games in the car can make long trips pass more quickly and short trips more enjoyable. Reading games provide the added benefit of improving language and literacy skills. Here are some of our family's favorites; there are numerous vairations to each.Build StoriesOne person begins a story and stops at a crucial point, allowing the next person to continue. The one who ends it says, "The End."I SpyThe first player finds an object out the car window. It must be something common and easy to spot.

WASHINGTON -- A key early backer of Texas Gov. George W. Bush defected to a rival presidential campaign yesterday, offering another reminder that the race for the Republican nomination is far from over.Former New York Rep. Guy V. Molinari, a name with considerable power in delegate-rich New York GOP circles, switched his allegiance to Sen. John McCain of Arizona in the latest in a series of bumps for what had been the smooth-running Bush campaign.Molinari, a leader in the effort to coax Bush into the race, said he changed his mind after comparing the candidates.

New York. - Rome's subway was not built in a day. Excavators frequently found antiquities -- an ancient bath, a pope's toothbrush -- and archaeologists swarmed in to sift and sort.Intuition says America is too young to have urban archaeology. A swarm of students and archaeologists, wearing sweatshirts, jeans and some of the damp clay in which they are carefully digging, says otherwise. They are doing ''salvage archaeology'' at a construction site on Manhattan's Lower East Side, in an 18th-century graveyard built over long ago.More than 90 bodies have been found, all buried with their heads to the west so they will face the Savior when he comes from the east on Judgment Day. Before the cemetery was closed in 1790 it was a burial ground for blacks and a potter's field.

The harsh, bright light flooded the courtroom as if to banish even a shadow from lurking. The walls were white and unadorned.The Maryland flag hung from a broken pole, limply leaning in the face of the constant pain that paraded before it.From the back of the courtroom, a baby began to cry. If he had known what was about to happen, he would have cried even louder.This was not a murder trial. It was not the trial of a thief or an armed robber or any of the other vermin that prey upon decent citizens.

Patty Stoffey scored 29 points and pulled down 14 rebounds, leading host Loyola to a 61-55 victory over Manhattan in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference women's basketball game yesterday.Loyola (5-8, 3-1) led 30-20 at halftime and built as much as an 11-point advantage twice in the second half. After Manhattan (4-10, 0-2) cut the Loyola lead to 56-55 with 1:05 remaining, Loyola scored the game's last five points, including a three-point play by Stoffey with 50 seconds left for a 59-55 lead.

Andy Warner scored a pair of goals and assisted on three others as the No. 12 Navy men beat host Lehigh, 8-3. Joe Lennon (Loyola) added two goals. The Midshipmen (2-2, 1-0 Patriot League) won their 25th straight against the Mountain Hawks (1-2, 0-1) and ended a two-game losing streak this season. ... Cody Lehrer had a hat trick in a losing effort as visiting Mount St. Mary's (0-2) fell, 14-7, to Jacksonville (2-3). Fan experience: ESPNU will bring an on-site fan experience to two events at M&T Bank Stadium: the Konica Minolta Faceoff Classic on Saturday with Duke vs. Maryland, Princeton vs. Johns Hopkins and Notre Dame vs. Loyola, and the Smartlink Day of Rivals on April 17 with Navy vs. Army and Maryland vs. Hopkins.

Top-ranked Mount St. Joseph (9-0) rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit Friday to defeat host Cardinal Gibbons (3-4), 65-50, in an MIAA A Conference and Catholic League game as Gibbons dedicated its basketball court to longtime coach and player Bob Flynn, who died in 2007. The Crusaders' Dylon Cormier, who will play at Loyola College next season, led all scorers with 24 points. Eric Atkins led the Gaels with 23 points. "We turned up the intensity on the defensive end in the second half," said Atkins, who will play at Notre Dame next season.

Didier Drogba scored twice as Chelsea maintained its five-point Premier League lead with a 3-0 victory at Arsenal on Sunday, while Liverpool's monthlong search for a league win ended with a 2-0 victory over Everton. Drogba scored toward the end of each half to give him 10 goals in nine games against Arsenal, and defender Thomas Vermaelen turned the ball into his own net at rain-soaked Emirates Stadium in London. Chelsea leads Manchester United by five points and Tottenham by nine.

Capitals Ovechkin selected as one of NHL's 'Three Stars' of week Washington left wing Alex Ovechkin was named one of the NHL's "Three Stars" for the week ending Sunday. He led all scorers for the week with six points (four goals, two assists) as the Capitals (4-2-2) gained five points and moved into first place in the Southeast Division. Ovechkin began the week by recording two assists in a 3-2 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils Oct. 12. He recorded two goals in a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks Thursday and tallied two more plus the shootout winner in a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators Saturday.

Defense is what Lake Clifton coach Herman Harried continually reinforces to his group, and he got plenty of it Tuesday. The Lakers held Digital Harbor to one field goal and just five points in the decisive second half. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/varsityletters)

Darryl Proctor had 25 points and 11 rebounds in helping UMBC rally for a 76-71 victory over Quinnipiac in the opening round of the Tyler Ugolyn Columbia Classic in New York yesterday. Matt Spadafora added 15 points for UMBC (2-1), Justin Fry had 11, and Jay Greene and Rich Flemming scored 10 each. James Johnson led Quinnipiac (2-1) with 17 points, Jeremy Baker and Bryan Geffen had 12 apiece, and Justin Rutty and James Feldeine added 10 each. Quinnipiac led 43-35 with 18:22 to play when UMBC went on a 13-2 run to take a 48-45 lead with 14:29 left.

THE MORE progress you make, the more you want. Perhaps that's why it is difficult to celebrate advancement. The perpetual nature of progress means that you can't rest on your laurels. As soon as you do, progress slows.That's why educators in Anne Arundel welcome the county's rising scores on the national SATs, but cautiously. Combined math and verbal scores on the college preparatory exams rose an average of five points among graduates in the 1998-1999 school year over the previous year. The seniors averaged 1,061 out of a possible 1,600 total score.

Henry Sims was named tournament Most Valuable Player as Mount St. Joseph beat Douglass Academy (N.Y.), 48-28, to capture the Leon Brogden Holiday Classic yesterday in Wilmington, N.C. Sims had 18 points and 11 rebounds as the Gaels (9-1) pulled away in the second half. Sophomore Eric Atkins, who had seven points and three steals, was also named to the all-tournament team. Gerald Hill added eight points and 11 rebounds in the victory. No. 10 Broadneck 52, Wheaton 51 -- J.J. Hicks hit a fade-away jumper at the buzzer to lift the visiting Bruins over the Knights in the consolation game of the Nationwide Home Mortgage Gaithersburg Holiday Tournament.

Significantly more African-American seniors in Maryland are taking and passing rigorous Advanced Placement tests, a key measure of high academic achievement, according to results released yesterday by the College Board. The number of African-American students among last year's senior class taking the exams rose by nearly 30 percent from the year before to 7,812. Nearly half of those students - 3,498 - received a passing score on at least one of those exams. The increasing participation by minorities around the state reflects the priority that state and local school systems have placed on getting more students to take tougher courses in high school that will prepare them for college.

What percentage of the 389,031 speeding tickets issued in Maryland last year went to folks charged with driving more than 30 mph over the speed limit? Go on, take a guess. How many of your fellow drivers were in such a hurry, or were so into the thrill of speed, or were so stinking drunk that they were willing to put your life and their own in such extreme jeopardy during calendar year 2006? How many people not only violated Transportation Article 21.801.1 - exceeding the speed limit - but stomped all over it?