Forest Park

Antoine Myers loved the idea of learning from one of the game's best point guards of all time, making his commitment to Isiah Thomas ' Florida International program an easy decision. A week after Myers' pledge to the Panthers, however, plans to play for the NBA Hall of Famer were ended when FIU dismissed Thomas. “It was difficult,” Myers said. “I had my mind set on going to one place and then for all that stuff to happen, to reopen my recruitment and try to like another school, it was kind of hard.”  While Myers was upset with Thomas' dismissal, several mid-major programs were ecstatic that the 6-foot-3, 190-pound point guard was back on the market.

After taking a year off from school, former Forest Park shooting guard Quentin Judd has finalized his plans for a return to the classroom and the basketball court. Last week Judd, who averaged a team-high 19 points for the Foresters during the 2010-11 season, signed a letter of intent to attend Pensacola (Fla.) State College on a full basketball scholarship. “I'm proud to be a part of this moment. This sets the precedent for all of you to get through the door," Forest Park coach Greate White said to his team after Judd's signing.

While his friends and former AAU teammates embarked on their college basketball careers, Antoine Myers toughed it out at prep school and then junior college, wondering if he'd one day join the ranks of Baltimore natives playing Division I ball. “To see what they were doing and see where I was at, knowing that I could be there, it kind of hurt my feelings at first. I was down on myself,” said Myers, a 2009 Forest Park graduate who did a fifth year at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., before heading to Pensacola (Fla.)

The Dunbar boys basketball team was in unfamiliar territory midway through the fourth quarter of Saturday's Class 1A South region title game against visiting Forest Park, trailing by three points with another trip to the state tournament in the balance. That's when the No. 3 Poets leaned on a couple of constants that have played big in the team's consistent success — experience and defense — to pull out a 62-54 win over the No. 13 Foresters. Dunbar, two-time defending state champions, closed out the final 5:20 with a 19-8 run to seal the program's 18th state tournament appearance.

Aquille Carr scored 61 points for Patterson when the Clippers played Forest Park last year. But he didn't need to do as much this time, and that made coach Harry Martin a happy man. Carr finished with a game-high 24 points, as No. 3 Patterson defeated No. 8 Forest Park, 79-63 on Monday night. Patterson not only had Carr's complete play, but benefited from strong performances by Nymee Manns, Devin Hebron and Leonard Livingston. This game didn't affect the Baltimore City standings, but a Patterson win over Carver later this week secures the Clippers a spot to play No. 7 Dunbar in the Division I title game, probably next week.

To the casual local basketball observer, it may have seemed unlikely that Forest Park would be able to duplicate the success of its 2010-11 season. The Foresters lost their top two scorers off a 17-6 team that fell to Northwestern in the title game of the Baltimore City Division II title game. Sharod Hartgrove , who averaged more than 17 points as a junior, transferred to Digital Harbor in the offseason, and Quentin Judd , who scored 20 per game, graduated. Forest Park coach Greate White , however, was confident that his 2011-12 squad could be similarly successful.

The No. 4 Mount St. Joseph basketball team was coming off an emotional win over No. 5 John Carroll, and Glenelg Country School in its first year in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference has played the role of spoiler before, but this time the upset wasn't to be. The host Dragons made more field goals, but Mount St. Joseph won, 69-64, from the free-throw line Thursday. The Gaels (16-2) had as many 3-pointers as 2-pointers (nine each) but shot 24-for-27 from the foul line.

As No. 7 Lake Clifton whittled away host Forest Park's 10-point lead, freshman point guard Teion James was sent back in to protect the ball and the Forresters held on Tuesday to upset the Lakers, 83-80. James (14 points) had left the game because of a bloody jersey. During his absence, Lake Clifton double-teamed the ball, forcing turnovers and cutting the lead. Rysheed Corbin had 32 points for the Forresters, and the Lakers' Aaron Parks led all scorers with 33. Forest Park led 19-15 after the first quarter before Lake Clifton took a 41-36 lead at the half.

Host Dunbar proved it deserved its No. 4 ranking with its very first game Tuesday. Evan Singletary scored a game-high 21 points, and the Poets beat Theodore Roosevelt (D.C.), 65-50. Dunbar split its offense between set half-court plays and a full-court press to take a 37-33 lead at the break. The Rough Riders fell to 1-1. No. 3 St. Frances 92, Mount Carmel 45: Maurice White had 16 points and Michael Warren added 12 as the host Panthers (2-0) beat the Cougars (2-1). The Panthers, who beat No. 14 Calvert Hall, 72-62, on Saturday, used a full-court press to take a 48-22 lead at the half.

Crews restored water service at about 5 p.m. to 58 residences and two businesses in Baltimore County that had been without water since the morning due to a 12-inch water main break on Forest Park Avenue, near Security Boulevard. According to Kurt Kocher, a spokesman for the city's public works department, a crew responded to calls Sunday night about the water main break in the 1600 block of Forest Park Ave. and turned off the water service Monday to repair it. Kocher said the businesses affected are a Shell gas station and a Speedy Mart.