Mervo

John Blake says basketball is still his first love and will always be "a part of me," but for now he is handing over the boys varsity basketball program at Mervo High to Woody Williams, the former coach of Lake Clifton.Blake said yesterday that Williams, who became the school's athletic director this fall, approached him a couple of weeks ago about coaching the team.After a meeting with Williams and school principal Christolyne Buie, Blake voluntarily stepped aside."This was an in-house decision between the principal Woody and myself," said Blake, who also coaches the school's varsity football team.

It was billed as a showdown between two of the Maryland Scholastic Association B Conference's best guards, but Carver center Rodney Black stole the show yesterday, as the Bears held off Mervo, 64-61, in a non-division matchup of division leaders.Black, a 6-foot-4 junior, scored 21 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and had six blocks for No. 20 Carver (8-3). Mervo dropped to 7-3.Carver and Edmondson lead Division I, and Mervo and Forest Park lead Division II."I told the boys before the game that this might be a preview of what will happen at the Civic Center [site of the B Conference championship game in March]

The scene from the 4x100 trials at last year's Gilman Relays remains plastered on the mind of Mervo track coach Freddie Hendricks.With blustery winds making the already skin-numbing conditions nearly unbearable, Hendricks entered his second team in the race, hoping to give his top athletes a needed rest while still qualifying for the finals.Instead, they got disqualified for dropping the baton, and the Mustangs lost to Oakland Mills by eight points.Yesterday, a year to the day, Hendricks and the Mustangs wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Making its region debut at yesterday's Class 4A, Central Region Championships, Mervo showed no signs of jitters.The Mustangs, competing in their first region meet since joining the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association three years ago, emerged as runner-up in the boys team competition with 65 points.Eleanor Roosevelt of Prince George's County swept both team titles, racking up 145 points on the girls side and 100 on the boys.Lake Clifton and Patterson also fielded teams yesterday at the Fifth Regiment Armory, but neither made the top 10."

Probably a perfect scenario for a semifinal game today at the Mervo Holiday Hoop Festival would be a matchup between Mervo and Lake Clifton, bringing Mervo coach Woody Williams against the school he had coached from 1971 to 1987.That didn't happen, but the next best thing did: a matchup between the No. 2 Lakers and No. 8 Southwestern, as each won opening-round games yesterday.The Sabres defeated Mervo, 67-59, and Lake Clifton handled Douglass, 91-66. In the other two first-round games, Carver defeated City, 67-45, and Patterson defeated Northwestern, 90-66.

COLLEGE PARK -- Mervo's bid to capture its first state title in boys basketball came to a crushing halt yesterday with a 70-56 loss to Lackey in the state 3A semifinals at the Comcast Center. One week after upsetting then-No. 2 Walbrook in the 3A North regional final, the No. 8 Mustangs could not muster enough offense to knock off the upstart Chargers of Charles County. Lackey used a slow-tempo offense to maintain possession and took advantage of its size on the defensive end. Mustangs coach Daryl Wade said his team simply did not execute well enough on offense.

Poly's boys basketball team had to battle to the final buzzer to beat Mervo last night, 58-57, for the championship of the fourth annual Gilman Greyhounds Alumni Holiday Basketball Tournament.The Engineers (5-3, 2-0), who advanced to the final by defeating McDonogh 62-52, led by as many as 12 in the fourth quarter and looked as though they were going to walk away with the championship trophy.But, the Mustangs (1-6), whose first win of the season came in their tournament opener against Gilman, rallied back in the waning moments.

Before bursting on to the state track and field scene with a second-place finish at the state meet last spring, few outside of the Baltimore area knew much about Mervo.But that's changing.Mervo, which won the Gilman Relays last Saturday, turned in another impressive performance by winning five events and taking third in two others at yesterday's Towson State Relays.Mervo coach Freddie Hendricks said that, while more now know about the Mustangs, his team still is trying educate others."We're trying to get a little recognition for our kids not only statewide, but I want some colleges to look at us," said Hendricks.

No. 4 Southwestern (20-3) beat host Mervo in boys basketball yesterday, 75-63, and tuned up for selection Sunday - the public high school playoff brackets, which will be announced tomorrow. Jamal Barney, the area's leading scorer at 24.9 points a game, scored 15 points to lead Southwestern. Senior Antwon Lawrence led Mervo (16-6) with 17 points. No. 11 Old Mill 54, Meade 49: Guard Alex Buchholz had 12 points and made a school-record nine assists as the Patriots defeated visiting Meade.

Mervo's boys cross country team lived up to its reputation yesterday as it coasted to an easy victory in the Baltimore City Championships at Herring Run.Mike Curtis, Antoine Collins and Garfield Thompson finished 1-2-3 to lead Mervo to its third consecutive city title.Curtis, who finished second at last year's city meet behind Thompson, won his final race at Herring Run in 16 minutes, 45 seconds. Fifty-one seconds later, runner-up Collins crossed the line for a Mervo team that breezed past second-place Poly, 17-61.