Girls Basketball Coach

The Anne Arundel County board of arbitration ruled that South River girls basketball coach John Wardell violated a state athletic rule when he allowed his team to practice with players from Anne Arundel County Community College earlier this month. The committee, headed by assistant superintendent Ken Nichols and comprised of county athletic directors and other school administrators, penalized Wardell with a letter of censure after a hearing on Tuesday, county spokesman Michael Walsh said.

Mona Jackson, a 1995 Howard graduate and a 2000 inductee into its athletic Hall of Fame, has been hired to coach Hammond's girls basketball team. "I'm very excited and eager to get started," said the 24-year-old Jackson, who will become the first woman to coach the team since the school opened in 1977. Jackson excelled in basketball and track at Howard, and played both sports while at Norfolk State University. She graduated with a degree in physical education and taught last year at Long Reach before moving this school year to Hammond.

Dirk Rinehart should've been happy. Last month, the South River High coach took the school's girls basketball team and elevated the program from its .500-record status to a 17-8 mark, which included appearances in the Anne Arundel County championship game and the Class 3A East Regional semifinal. But rather than bask in the afterglow of a season that exceeded nearly every expectation, Rinehart has been the target of an anonymous letter-writing campaign aimed at forcing him out of his coaching position.

There have been several Anne Arundel County coaching changes within the last week, but one coach not going anywhere is Mike Bellotte. Severna Park athletic director Wayne Mook announced Friday that Bellotte will return for his fourth season as boys lacrosse coach despite rumors to the contrary. Bellotte is an emergency coach because he is not a county teacher and as a result, must re-apply each year. County teachers are preferred, but often cannot be found. Controversy has followed Bellotte, a mortgage banker, in the three years he has coached the Falcons and led them to a county title his first year, the 4A-3A state title in 1998 and state runner-up last spring.

Don Storr has resigned as girls basketball coach at Wilde Lake, but will continue to coach the Wildecats' baseball team. Storr and his wife, Kelly, a teacher at Glenwood Middle, have two young children, and he cited "family obligations" as his reason for stepping down. Kelly coached the Wilde Lake varsity from the 1991-92 season through 1998-99. Don served as Kelly's assistant the entire time before taking over last season. Wilde Lake, which won the Class 1A state title in the 1994-95 season, finished 13-11 overall and 9-9 in the county last season.

Hammond coach Mike Mongelli became the county's third girls basketball coach this season to be ejected when he received a double technical in the fourth quarter of yesterday's home game against Centennial. Hammond athletic director Bob Maxey, who was in the gym when Mongelli was told to leave, said that Mongelli would have to sit out his team's next game. The Golden Bears are scheduled to play tomorrow at Wilde Lake. Basketball coaches Ciaran Lesikar of Glenelg and Marcus Lewis of Oakland Mills were each ejected in separate games this season, but neither sat out the next game.

Wherever Westminster girls basketball coach Dick Ebersole goes during practice, a yellow sheet of paper follows. On that piece of paper is the types of drills he plans to run his squad through. And beside each notation is the starting and ending times for each drill. For Ebersole, who doesn't shy away from the "basketball junkie" label, that yellow sheet of paper is a blueprint for success. "I'm a stickler for perfection and this is my classroom," he says, referring to the gymnasium.

Meade girls basketball coach Phil Popielski resigned late last week after five-plus seasons, citing "family issues" as the primary reason.The unexpected resignation came two days after the No. 12-ranked Mustangs improved to 4-0 for the season with a win over Southern-AA last Tuesday.Popielski was ejected from the game after being issued two technical fouls and also received an automatic one-game suspension based on Anne Arundel County rules.Royal Webster, an assistant under Popielski the past five seasons, has taken over on an interim basis, but will likely remain as head coach.

Major milestones have come and gone in Lin James' 34 years of coaching girls basketball at North Harford High School. She has marked all of them quietly.During the 1997-98 season, her 400th career victory drew no fanfare other than a team party. Last season, she passed former Western coach Breezy Bishop to become the Baltimore metro area's all-time win leader among girls basketball coaches. She kept that milestone pretty much to herself."She's the best-kept secret," said Suzanne Eyler, a 1998 graduate who played four years for James.

Bev Snyder never has been one to seek the spotlight, but tonight, the Towson High girls basketball coach will not be able to duck the attention.If the Generals (8-1) win at Dundalk (6-4) tonight, and they figure to, Snyder will become the first Baltimore County coach to reach her 400th career victory. She will be only the fourth Baltimore-area girls coach to reach the milestone.In 26 years at Towson, Snyder always has deflected credit for the program's success to her players, recreation programs that prepare them, and support from within the school.