Gaels

Henry Sims, a 6-foot-10, 225-pound All-Metro center from Mount St. Joseph, committed orally to Georgetown over the weekend. "When I visited, I really appreciated coach [John] Thompson's honesty about getting to play right away," said Sims, who narrowed down his choices to Georgetown and Virginia from a list that included Boston College, Florida and Maryland. "Coach Thompson told me that if I worked hard, I would get a chance as a freshman." This past season, DaJuan Summers - a two-time All-Metro forward and The Sun's Player of the Year in 2005 - started as a freshman for the Hoyas, who reached the Final Four.

BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR Dino Gregory Mount St. Joseph Gregory averaged 14.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots in leading the second-ranked Gaels (25-8) to second place finishes behind No. 1 Towson Catholic in both the Baltimore Catholic League and the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference. The 6-foot-8 senior post player, who had committed to Maryland before his junior season, was a guiding force for a young Gaels backcourt, whose inexperience put added pressure on him offensively.

Mount St. Joseph coach Erv Terwilliger said there is no great secret to the Gaels' dominance in Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference hockey. The Gaels win by simply outworking their opponents, and yesterday their efforts paid off as they captured their ninth straight league championship with a 5-0 win over Calvert Hall at Mount Pleasant Ice Arena. The Gaels remain the only team to win the title since hockey was recognized as an MIAA sport in 1998. Although the Gaels blew open what had been a close game with four third-period goals, the difference in the game was the play of goalie Brooks Schilling.

The low point for K.C. Woods was against Loyola, when the junior was one of only two McDonogh wrestlers to lose. "I didn't feel too good that night," said Woods. "Not too good at all." Last night, Woods' perseverance paid off, as he decked Mount St. Joseph's Ed Jackson at 1:54 of their 171-pound bout to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the Eagles' 34-24 dual meet victory. The win earned the No. 1 Eagles their second straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference crown and their fourth overall before a screaming crowd at Mount St. Joseph.

Throwing 90 mph doesn't guarantee victory, even in high school, as Mount St. Joseph sophomore right-hander Gavin Floyd found out yesterday.Floyd (9-1) suffered his first loss by 11-5 to No. 3-ranked Calvert Hall. The top-ranked Gaels' ace, Floyd (9-1) also found out that good hitters hit the heat when it comes in straight.He had velocity but little movement yesterday, and Calvert Hall jumped on him for eight hits and eight runs in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference contest.

Top-ranked Mount St. Joseph stormed past McDonogh yesterday, repaying the No. 3 Eagles for two upsets last season, the first time the Owings Mills school had beaten the Gaels twice in dual meets.The Gaels won their third straight match of the season, 38-24, in the first of two days of wrestling in the second-annual St. Paul's dual-meet event.Mount St. Joseph turned what was a close match in the middle weight classes into a rout on consecutive falls from Joey Sargent (160 pounds), Jake Keyes (171)

Down 4-3 after Greg Smoot's bases-empty homer in the bottom of the third, No. 2-ranked Mount St. Joseph rallied for three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth on the way to an 8-4 victory over No. 3 Calvert Hall at Joe Cannon Stadium in Harmans Park last night.Catcher John Kotofski's infield hit scored the first two runs of the three-run fifth to put the Gaels (11-3) on top to stay and starter Gavin Floyd with help from reliever John Ritt shut down the Cardinals (10-4) the rest of the way.It was the first meeting of the season between the perennial top teams in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA)

Quarterback Tom Cleaver rushed for two touchdowns and completed 10 of 16 passes for 190 yards and no interceptions, and Scott McMullen rushed for two scores and a conversion run as visiting and unranked Severn upset 10th-ranked Mount St. Joseph, yesterday, 28-14.Dan Lilly rushed for 171 yards, and Drew Habech booted two extra points as the Admirals (1-0), of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association's B Conference, defeated the Gaels (0-1) in their first meeting in about 35 years.

LAUREL -- In the 1940s and '50s, Mount St. Joseph ruled the local hockey scene, winning the old Maryland Scholastic Association conference title year after year.It had been over 40 years since local private schools crowned a champion, but in yesterday's conclusion to the first-ever Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference finals, it seemed little had changed.Jim Morrison (two goals, one assist) and freshman Adam Levine (goal, assist) led Mount St. Joe to a 5-2 win over Loyola at the Gardens Ice House, giving the Gaels a 2-0 series victory in the first season of varsity competition.

Todd Plajzer's bases-loaded, two-run single with two outs in the seventh inning and Jimmy Dunn's subsequent two-run triple lifted No. 4-ranked Mount Saint Joseph to a come-from-behind 11-8 victory over third-ranked Calvert Hall last night.The victory, achieved about 11: 15 p.m. at Joe Cannon Stadium in Harmans, earned the 20-6 Gaels a berth in tomorrow's championship game of the double-elimination Maryland Interscholastic A Conference tournament.It also sent Calvert Hall (22-8) into today's semifinal against No. 6 Archbishop Curley, which eliminated No. 8 Loyola earlier yesterday.

Kevin Carder scored with six seconds left in the second overtime as No. 13 Loyola upset top-ranked Mount St. Joseph, 1-0, in soccer Wednesday. The visiting Dons (5-3-2) got a free kick, which Elliott Andelman played into the box. Jamie Duboski passed to Carder for the score. "We created a lot of chances. And Mount St. Joe was very dangerous on counterattacks," Loyola coach Lee Tschantret said. "Neither team could get the shots on target." Mount St. Joseph's Brad Benzing had nine saves; Loyola's Tim Peitsch had five.

Third-ranked Mount St. Joseph had the daunting task of playing top-ranked McDonogh without three starters in Friday's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference matchup. Gaels coach Mike St. Martin shuffled his lineup and moved 6-foot-2 forward Dave Arnold into the midfield to give the Gaels more height to win balls out of the air. The Gaels also relied on their top playmaker, Geaton Caltabiano, and some of the younger players to give the team a spark. The changes worked, as Caltabiano scored once in each half - including the game-winner with just under 10 minutes left in the game - to give the host Gaels a 2-1 victory over the Eagles, who also are ranked No. 1 nationally.

For nearly 98 minutes, top-ranked McDonogh pushed forward and attacked second-ranked Mount St. Joseph only to have Gaels goalie Brad Benzing keep the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference opener scoreless. The Eagles, however, finally broke through with two minutes left in the second overtime when Jeremy Kirkwood collected a long clear, pushed the ball around his defender and found the middle of the goal after Benzing came off his line and made the initial save. With the 1-0 victory, the Eagles have won 32 consecutive conference games.

There was little that went right for host Mount St. Joseph on offense Saturday against Edmondson. The Gaels committed four turnovers, went 0-for-4 on fourth-down conversions and never got within 19 yards of the end zone. On this day, about the only thing that did go right for them was the final score. Eighth-ranked Mount St. Joseph first took advantage of a series of fluke plays to take the lead, then used intense defensive pressure to keep it in a 9-6 win over the No. 10 Red Storm. "I thought Edmondson's defense was really well-prepared.

After each win, St. Mary's boys lacrosse coach Matt Hogan hands out a "hammer award" to the players who do the detailed, blue-collar work that plays big in the team's success. Starting slowly at Mount St. Joseph on Tuesday, the No. 3 Saints relied on a collective effort to take charge in a 12-3 win over the No. 7 Gaels in Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference play in Irvington. In improving to 8-1 overall and 2-1 in league play, the Saints overcame a 3-2 first-quarter deficit by blanking the Gaels (6-4, 1-3)

Loyola 70, Iona 63 - Freshman Anthony Winbush (17 points) hit three-pointers on each end of a 10-0 second-half run that gave Loyola the lead for good as the visiting Greyhounds beat Iona yesterday in the regular-season finale for both teams. The victory ended a seven-game losing streak for Loyola (12-19, 7-11 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), while the Gaels (12-18, 7-11) dropped their fourth straight. The eighth-seeded Greyhounds face Canisius at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Albany, N.Y., in the first round of the conference tournament.

The No. 2 St. Frances boys basketball team has had several close calls in staying undefeated in the Baltimore Catholic League, and last night's semifinal against No. 14 Mount St. Joseph was no different. It's in the tightly contested games that the experience of the defending league champion Panthers shines through the most. After watching the Gaels rally from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime, St. Frances' poised play once again took over as it came away with a 68-66 win at Loyola College to advance to tomorrow's title game.

The No. 11 Atholton boys basketball team was at home last night, primed to run away from the pack in Howard County. Hammond said not so fast. The visiting Golden Bears took a 19-point first-quarter lead and pushed back every time the Raiders came back with a run, grinding out an impressive 67-62 win in Columbia. Hammond, behind a 21-point performance from senior guard Chris Baker, improved to 15-3 this season and 13-3 in Howard County. Atholton (17-2) remains in first place in the league with a 14-2 mark.

Mount St. Joseph senior Jake Hulsey looked at the scoreboard before he took the mat in the final match last night. On the line was not only victory against rival and No. 1 McDonogh, but also the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title. "I dreamed of being in this position," Hulsey said after earning an 11-6 decision over McDonogh's Matt Shinsky at 135 pounds that gave host and No. 2 Mount St. Joseph a 27-22 victory. "There was a lot of pressure, but I've always had the dream.

The Calvert Hall boys basketball team had every key facet of the game covered last night at Mount St. Joseph: relentless rebounding, sound help on defense and sharing the ball for balanced offense. It was all necessary as the No. 3 Cardinals were able to hold off the No. 5 Gaels, coming away with a solid 65-57 win. The Cardinals, led by 20 points from junior forward Damion Lee, improved to 19-2 overall, 7-1 in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference and 8-1 in the Baltimore Catholic League.