Lancers

NEW MARKET -- Liberty played aggressively throughout the second half last night at Linganore. The Lions controlled play, came up with a number of scoring chances and registered the half's lone goal.But Liberty had problems in a first half that saw Linganore dominate and score twice. The Lions couldn't overcome that, even with a strong second half, and Linganore held on for a 2-1 victory the Class 3A West Region final.Linganore (9-6-2) advances to the Class 3A state semifinals Friday at a site to be determined against Fallston.

Hammond played like a champion yesterday in its 2A state title game against Linganore at UMBC.The Golden Bears just didn't win.Linganore junior Cara Consuegra scored 29, including 12 of her team's 14 fourth-quarter points, and the Lancers (25-0) completed an undefeated season with a 61-54 victory.The Lancers' closest margin of victory until yesterday was 15 points. But two-time defending state champion Hammond, playing in its fifth straight 2A final, rallied from a 15-point third-quarter deficit and twice had an opportunity to take the lead in the fourth period.

Long after the game's final horn sounded, a dozen Oakland Mills players lingered around their home field, stunned and teary-eyed.After taking a 21-0 lead into the fourth quarter against visiting Linganore, the fifth-ranked Scorpions became victims of one of the greatest fourth-quarter comebacks in state playoff history.Linganore senior kicker/quarterback Justin Brown's 27-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in the game capped a comeback for the seventh-seeded Lancers (10-1), who scored three touchdowns in the game's final 11 minutes for a 24-21 victory in the first round of the state Class 2A playoffs.

Eric Yeroshefsky scored his 10th rushing touchdown of the year, quarterback Zach Hayes threw his 20th touchdown pass and ran for a 79-yard touchdown in the third quarter and Jon Moravec made his 14th scoring reception as Linganore of Frederick County routed Lackey of Charles County, 28-0, last night for the Class 3A state title at M&T Bank Stadium. Scott Kent registered his ninth sack and Erik Noll intercepted a pass at his team's 5-yard line and disrupted two others in the end zone as the Lancers (13-1)

Duane Musselman rushed for 198 yards on 31 carries and scored two touchdowns to keep visiting Linganore's (5-0, 3-0) Central Maryland Conference record unblemished with a 21-8 victory at South Carroll (4-2, 1-2).Running back Greg Griffiths rushed for 110 yards for the Lancers, who racked up 322 total yards to South Carroll's 149.The victory was the Lancers' second straight over a Carroll County team. They beat Liberty, 14-0, last week."I was hoping to get 200 this year, but we'll take it," said a smiling Musselman of his 198 yards, a career high.

Liberty has struggled on offense much of the season. Last night, however, may have been its biggest struggle.Linganore used a pressure defense to throw host Liberty's offense out of sync, and the Lions shot only 24 percent from the field in a 54-24 loss to the Lancers in a Central Maryland Conference game.Liberty was only 11 of 45 from the field overall. Amy Wolff, the Lions' top scorer this season, scored only two points, which came on a third-quarter bank shot. Wolff's teammates didn't give much help, as the Lions went long stretches without baskets and points.

The Liberty girls saw their playoff chances continue to fade as they dropped a 74-41 decision to host Linganore last night.The loss -- the Lions' sixth straight -- puts them at 7-14 on the season and in dire need of a win tomorrow against Carroll County champ North Carroll to have any chance of gaining a layoff berth. Central Maryland Conference front-runner Linganore improved to 16-3 overall and a perfect 11-0 in conference play.The Lions played a strong first quarter and stayed relatively close with the powerful Lancers for the first half before the latter put together a 16-3 run to open the third and give them a 20-point lead at 45-25 with 3:03 left.

NEW MARKET -- The Westminster Owls were supposed to be on a short list of teams that would be able to stay close with the Linganore Lancers in the Central Maryland Conference this season.They did last night -- for a half.The defending Class 2A state champ Lancers came out of the halftime break with eight straight points to distance themselves from the No. 14 Owls, pulling away for a 81-58 win.It was the 35th straight win for Linganore, the state's second-ranked team that went 25-0 last season and is off to a 10-0 start this season.

Linganore High School's girls basketball team completed a clean sweep of its Howard County competition Friday night with a 61-35 rout at Centennial.Linganore, a Frederick County school with designs on aClass 3A state championship, had already recorded easy victories over Oakland Mills, Howard and Glenelg before taking on the Eagles.And the Lancers, who lost to Howard in the regional playoffs lastyear, improved their record to 7-0 by performing like a state title contender."I knew we were in for a tough game.

Unjust accusations against Hammerman As a former vice-president of the Lancers Boys Club, I was deeply angered at the accusations made against Judge Robert I. H Hammerman by the unnamed student at Gilman School ("Gilman suspends its ties to Lancers Boys Club," Feb. 13). I have known Mr. Hammerman personally for 11 years, and he is one of the most selfless, devoted people I have ever known. Gilman School, my alma mater, handled this affair in an extraordinarily incompetent manner. Any concerns the school had should have been raised privately with Mr. Hammerman.