Milford Mill

When the postseason finally rolls around, fans usually enjoy watching the area's top teams advance to the state playoffs, but in girls basketball, only one of the top four public school teams ranked in The Baltimore Sun's Top 15 will move on to UMBC. All four -- No. 2 Aberdeen, No. 4 Milford Mill, No. 5 Digital Harbor and No. 7 City -- are in the same region, Class 3A North, and there, of course, can be only one winner. Last year, Aberdeen won and went on to win its first state championship.

Dionna White scored a team-high 24 points to lead No. 4 Milford Mill over visiting Hereford 57-49 in a Class 3A North Regional quarterfinal girls basketball game Monday. Qierra Murray had 14 points and Kelli Smoot added 12 for the Millers. Junior Nicole Viscuso led the Bulls with 31 points and 19 rebounds. No. 5 Digital Harbor 85, Parkville 10: In a Class 3A North Regional quarterfinal game, the host Rams' Miqueara Lewis scored 15 points and Jaida Scarborough and Tye Smith each scored 16 to pace Digital Harbor in the win. No. 7 City 66, Bel Air 32: Dyzhanay Burton had points and Treina Ford had 14 to lead the Knights over the visiting Bobcats in a Class 3A North Regional quarterfinal.

Boys basketball No. School Record Prev. 1. Dunbar 21-2 2 2. St. Frances 31-5 1 3. Mount St. Joseph 29-6 3 4. Milford Mill 21-2 4 5. Edmondson 18-5 5 6. Archbishop Spalding 22-11 7 7. John Carroll 26-12 6 8. City 17-5 8 9. Oakland Mills 22-0 10 10. Arundel 20-3 ...

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association held its state boys basketball draw Sunday with seven area teams earning top seeds in their respective regions among the four classifications. The regional playoffs are scheduled to start Tuesday, Feb. 26.  Here's a look at some of the interesting storylines that could unfold in each of the classifications: Class 4A No. 15 Westminster (19-3), the Carroll County champion, earned the top seed in the North region, but the Owls have plenty of competition.  The 12th seed in the North -- on the same half of the bracket as the Owls -- is No. 12 Poly (16-6)

The drawings for the boys and girls state basketball playoff brackets took place Sunday at Long Reach. The first round for the girls is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, while the boys are set to play first-round games on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The No. 3 Dunbar boys have a bye in the first round and will start their quest for a fourth consecutive state championship in the Class 1A South regional quarterfinals against the winner of the KASA-Fairmont Heights...

New Town boys basketball coach Mike Daniel has had a simple philosophy go a long way in his 29 years of coaching in the area. Covering tenures at Towson Catholic, and then City before a one-year stop at Severn last season and this one at New Town, Daniel matter-of-factly states what the foundation has been the same for the success all of his teams over the years. "We just play hard and live and die by defense," he said. Fittingly, on the night he won his 500th career game, New Town was able to offset visiting Randallstown's size advantage with quickness and dogged defense.

In Friday night's pregame huddle, Milford Mill's girls basketball team let loose with their best impression of the Ravens' "Seven Nation Army" cheer and then emulated their football heroes by taking a big first-half lead and holding off a second-half run from Catonsville. The No. 6 Millers used their quickness and speed to fuel second- and fourth-quarter bursts to run by the Comets, 65-36, and clinch the Baltimore County Class 4A-3A division title. They will go after their second straight county championship on Feb. 19 against the 2A-1A division winner.

Allen Costley can often be found in Milford Mill's gym at 6 a.m., working on his shooting before classes begin. He did that once again Monday, and the extra practice paid off later in the day. Costley finished with a game-high 30 points, 18 of which came in the second half as No. 4 Milford Mill pulled away in the final two quarters en route to an 80-61 victory over visiting Dulaney in a Baltimore County Class 4A-3A game. Dulaney (16-2, 6-2) couldn't find a way to stop the 6-foot-4 junior forward, who scored from all over the court in a variety of ways.