Free Throws

LaKisha Walker has provided the defensive edge for No. 1 St. Frances for four years, and it was no different in the championship game of her senior year. With 7.9 seconds left in overtime yesterday against No. 4 McDonogh, Walker deflected a pass meant for Brittany Mallory at the top of the circle and set off on the break. With her team trailing, Mallory was forced to foul her. Walker, a 5-foot-9 guard, hit both free throws to seal a 68-63 victory for the Panthers' fifth straight Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship before a standing-room-only crowd at Goucher College.

NEW YORK -- It was 20 days ago that the Monmouth women's team fell behind Mount St. Mary's by 15 points with 1: 36 remaining, only to make a furious run that ended with the Hawks losing by three points.Yesterday, Monmouth decided to get started earlier, which paid off with a 76-66 win over the Mountaineers in the Northeast Conference tournament semifinals at Wagner College.The fourth-seeded Hawks -- just five minutes away from defeat against UMBC the night before -- shot 62 percent in the first half on the way to an 11-point lead and cruised to an upset over the regular-season NEC champions.

Centennial failed to make a basket in the fourth quarter, but got two free throws each from freshman Ashley Evans and junior Tia Richardson in the final 18 seconds to hold off Central of Prince George's County, 39-36, last night in a Class 2A South region quarterfinal game at Centennial.The 15th-ranked Eagles (19-5) will play tomorrow at Potomac, which defeated host Surrattsville, 61-52, last night. In the other region semifinal, River Hill will play at Long Reach.Centennial led 34-24 entering the final period.

WASHINGTON -- The Goucher College men's basketball team will gather on its campus for a 6: 45 p.m. conference call today that will determine the Gophers' NCAA Division III tournament fate.All signs point to an at-large invitation into the 48-team field, but Goucher must wait because nationally eighth-ranked Catholic earned the Capital Athletic Conference's automatic bid with its 19th straight victory, a 74-73 decision over the Gophers in the league's tournament final last night before 1,025 at DuFour Center.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Just the season on the line. That's all."I told myself, 'Don't think about that. That'll make you crazy,' " Obinna Ekezie said yesterday.A trip to the Sweet 16. A shot at Arizona. A chance to dream big dreams.That's all that was on the line for the Maryland Terrapins when Ekezie stepped to the free throw in the final minutes of a second-round NCAA tournament game against Illinois yesterdayat the Arco Arena."I told myself: 'You aren't here, Obinna. You're back at practice, you're in the gym, no one is around, just make these free throws,' " Ekezie said.

Mercy Aghedo's two free throws with 5.4 seconds left gave St. Peter's a 58-56 win over Loyola in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game in Jersey City, N.J.The Greyhounds (18-8, 13-5) had the ball with 21 seconds remaining, but Corey Hewitt was called for a foul, sending Aghedo to the line. Aghedo also had made two free throws with 28.2 seconds left that tied the game at 56.Loyola trailed by as many as seven points in the second half before taking the lead on a Mary Anne Kirsch layup with 1: 54 left.

The shot left Robert Roche's hands as the final buzzer was about to sound. Oakland Mills needed a three-pointer to tie, and all eyes at the Oakland Mills gymnasium were on the ball as it floated toward the basket.Well, not everyone's eyes.As soon as Roche's shot fell through the basket, the referee, staring at the spot on the three-point arc where Roche took the shot, emphatically put up two fingers, signaling a two-point basket. It was a heartbreaking -- correct -- call, giving Brunswick, of Frederick County, a 51-50 victory last night in a Class 1A semifinal game.

Towson still has eight regular-season games to win before claiming the division title, but the No. 11-ranked Generals likely put a lock on it with last night's 53-51 victory over No. 15 Woodlawn."

When Southern-Balto. defeated Mervo two weeks ago, Mustangs coach Woody Williams compared the loss to a big brother teaching the young sibling a lesson.The little brother learned his lesson well.The No. 3-ranked Mustangs returned the favor yesterday, defeating the No. 2 Bulldogs, 57-49, in a Class 4A North region semifinal played at Poly.Mervo, the top-seed, will play Patterson for the regional championship and a spot in next weekend's state final four at Cole Field House. Mervo defeated Patterson during the regular season.

Third-ranked Wilde Lake, an average free-throw shooting team at best, made 23 of 28 from the line last night, including 13 of 16 in the second overtime, to hold off visiting Northern, of Calvert County, 72-67, for the Class 3A East region championship."

Jon Scheyer was falling out of bounds when he made a heady play to keep one loose ball alive. David McClure tipped another one to a teammate to deny Texas a last chance. Because Duke is doing all the little things right, some of the biggest things remain very real possibilities. The second-seeded Blue Devils made every clutch play in their 74-69 victory over the seventh-seed Longhorns last night in the East Regional in Greensboro, N.C., propelling them into the second weekend of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006.

Defending champion Paint Branch warmed up for last night's Class 3A girls state basketball championship game in jerseys with "BK2BK" on the back, but that seemed a bit premature to Jess Harlee and her undefeated No. 11 Fallston team. The Cougars used a big fourth-quarter surge and Harlee, who finished with 28 points, hit two clutch free throws with 3.3 seconds left as Fallston held off Paint Branch, 65-62, to finish 28-0 before a raucous crowd of about 3,500 last night at UMBC's RAC Arena.

The No. 1 Lake Clifton boys basketball team has had its share of tests during its undefeated season, but none could compare to the challenge presented by No. 3 Milford Mill yesterday with the Class 3A North regional title on the line. The visiting Millers, who believed all the way to the end they could pull off the upset, had the ball in the hands of standout senior guard Xavier Drake in the last second and a chance to win. But Drake's off-balance three-point try in the right corner, with a hand in his face, found the front rim at the buzzer, making Will Barton's two free throws with seven seconds left stand as the Lakers survived with a 56-54 win. Barton, a junior forward, led a balanced offense with 15 points, and the Lakers remained unbeaten (26-0)

Western came out flat in last night's game at City. The Doves missed their first six shots, scored only four points in the opening 12 minutes and trailed by nine at halftime. But senior guard Akeema Richards then took command. She scored 11 consecutive points to spark the offense in the second half and finished with 21 to help No. 2 Western come back for a 51-48 victory over No. 4 City. The win put Western (13-6, 7-0 league) in excellent position to get back to the city title game, which the Doves have won the past three years.

Coaches aren't always easy to please, but Lake Clifton's Herman Harried was a happy man after his top-ranked Lakers held on for a 67-61 victory over No. 6 Digital Harbor last night. Harried enjoyed watching host Lake Clifton (18-0) keep its perfect season alive, but what he liked even better was the way the team did it. The Lakers showed the composure that Harried demands and wants - something he thinks all good teams need. "They made a lot of runs, and we withstood a lot of runs," Harried said.

The No. 2 Western girls basketball team got off to a slow start yesterday against No. 9 Catonsville, but the Doves made up for it in the second half. Using their superior quickness and depth, the Doves broke out of a tie game and finished it off with a 17-0 run for a 60-43 victory at the Basketball Academy at Morgan State's Hill Field House. "We were just playing and working hard in order to get that run," said Doves senior Akeema Richards, who had 24 points and 11 rebounds. "We had a bunch of hustle plays, especially Mikee Stevenson and Iesha Bell.

A bunch of years ago, I wrote a story about a group of children from the little upstate Pennsylvania town of Archbald. These kids dominated a national contest sponsored by a soft drink company in which boys and girls in different age groups took jump shots from different spots on the basketball court. So how did a bunch of kids from a town in the middle of nowhere, competing against talent from cities such as New York and Los Angeles, account for so many championships in a basketball shooting contest?

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Detroit Pistons made just enough shots and stops to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for a sixth straight year. Richard Hamilton scored 19 of his 31 points in the first half and made victory-sealing free throws late in the game, and Tayshaun Prince had a key block, helping Detroit hold off the Orlando Magic for a 91-86 win last night in Game 5 of the second-round series. "Playing in six straight is awesome, but now we expect to do this," Hamilton said.

Peja Stojakovic's streak was in jeopardy. He had made at least one three-pointer in 35 straight games, but through 47 minutes last night he was 1-for-10 from the field with no threes. He was due, and the New Orleans Hornets' swingman came through. Stojakovic scored six points in the final minute - a three-pointer and three free throws - to lift the Hornets past the host Orlando Magic, 98-97, for their franchise-record 24th road win. "You have to give yourself a chance," said Stojakovic, eighth on the NBA's career three-point shooting list.

VESTAL, N.Y. -- UMBC's offense struggled throughout yesterday's America East semifinal against Vermont. But the Retrievers maintained their poise and took advantage of some clutch free-throw shooting plus tough defense in the final minutes to make school history. Ray Barbosa went 15-for-15 from the free-throw line, scored a game-high 29 points and teamed with Cavell Johnson to spark a late rally that carried UMBC to a 73-64 victory over Vermont in an America East semifinal at the Binghamton University Events Center.