National Tournament

The Youth Basketball of America Tournament in New Orleans often serves as a convenient, competitive warm-up for the more prestigious nationals later this month.But for the Annapolis Stars, an Amateur Athletic Union 13-and-under girls team, the games have a different purpose."We're looking to get a lot of experience for next year," said Stars coach Calvin Vain Jr., whose squad leaves Saturday for the weeklong event. "And this will actually be our national tournament."And they intend to make the most of it.A four-point loss to the Ledo Lightning in the AAU state tournament in early May eliminated the Stars from national consideration.

Maryland senior Katie Schwarzmann (Century) and former Loyola attackman Eric Lusby (Severna Park) were named the Women's and Men's Division I Players of the Year by Inside Lacrosse as part of its annual Laxie Awards in its December issue. Lusby, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament for the national champion Greyhounds, also was chosen as the Clutch Performer of the Year and Breakthrough Player of the Year. Loyola was recognized as the Team of the Year, while the Greyhounds' Charley Toomey was voted Coach of the Year.

The US Lacrosse Women's Division National Tournament is returning to its roots this weekend in Baltimore, where the first women's lacrosse team in the United States was started in 1926 at Bryn Mawr. The tournament, which began in 1933 and is one of the largest women's lacrosse events in the nation with more than 1,500 players, was hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., for the past seven years. Ann Kitt Carpenetti, women's division director for US Lacrosse, said the event's proximity to this weekend's NCAA Division I women's lacrosse championship at Towson University should help boost college recruiting at the event.

When Sean Farr takes the court for Baltimore City Community College on Tuesday in Danville, Ill., in the first round of the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II men's basketball tournament, he'll have his friend and teammate Carlos Smith to thank. And Farr's thoughts won't be far from his late father, Sean. Basketball wasn't in Farr's plans when he was a senior at Dunbar in 2009. Considered to be one of the top 50 wide receiver recruits in the nation, he originally signed with Louisville to play football.

David Chapman does not feel intimidated as a 17-year-old professional at the United States Handball Association's national tournament. In fact, he enjoys putting the pressure on his older competitors."

Many high school wrestlers don't mount a comeback from injury duringthe summer. And those recovering from major injuries don't usually end up in a national championship tournament.But Brian Kurek did.After suffering a dislocated knee with torn cartilage and ligaments in January, Kurek had to sit out the end of the high school wrestling season. To get that knee back in shape for the upcoming season, the C. Milton Wright senior decided to hit the mats early.Kurek, 17, began the summer by wrestling at a few tournaments.

While most soccer enthusiasts are focusing on the 15th World Cup this Fourth of July weekend, the Columbia Darby -- an under-16 boys soccer team -- will be eyeing a U.S. Youth Soccer Association Eastern Regional Championship and a berth in next month's national tournament.Columbia (22-2), which advanced to the national qualifier by defeating Olney of Montgomery County, 3-0, in last month's Maryland State Cup title game, will take part in the four-day tournament, which begins tomorrow at three sites in New Jersey.

Combine all the teams that participate in the World Series, Super Bowl, the NBA finals and even the Stanley Cup playoffs, and this is still bigger. The National Girls 18-and-under Fastpitch Softball Tournament even has six teams on the NCAA men's basketball tournament.Seventy teams, representing 25 states from across the country, will converge on Columbia's Cedar Lane Park and Centennial Park starting Wednesday night to participate in the five-day tournament.Tournament action continues on Thursday at 8 a.m., with games every two hours through 6 p.m. at each of Cedar Lane's four fields and Centennial's three fields.

WNBA Beard's shot with 1.9 seconds left lifts Mystics to victory Alana Beard hit a 16-footer with 1.9 seconds left to help the Washington Mystics beat the host San Antonio Silver Stars, 84-82, on Tuesday night. The Mystics (5-3) broke a three-game losing streak. The Silver Stars (3-4) were trying to edge past the .500 mark for the first time this season. Beard and Lindsey Harding led the Mystics with 19 points apiece. Beard picked up her fifth foul before the third quarter buzzer and went to the bench, but came back a minute later when the Silver Stars trimmed a 12-point deficit to one. The Silver Stars had a chance to win, but Belinda Snell's three-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim. Women's college basketball Towson to participate in Preseason NIT in November Towson will start its 2009-10 season by participating in the Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament.

SUMMER MOVES along, and with it come dribs and drabs about county competitors doing nice things on the road. A sampling: ACROBATICS: Ellicott City's Kaitlyn Hilton, 15, who is entering her junior year at Mount Hebron High School, and her two acro teammates were named to the U.S. national elite women's acrobatic team last week. If you can't picture acrobatics as a sport, you'd recognize many of the moves from circus performers or high-level cheerleading. Hilton, who has been into acrobatics since she was 9, performs as the limber, agile top athlete in the acrobatic trio out of Emilia Acrobatics and Gymnastics in Columbia.

The National Prep tournament begins Friday at Lehigh with 46 Maryland wrestlers among the top seeds. No. 1 McDonogh is sending the biggest contingent with eight wrestlers, while No. 5 St. Paul's and No. 3 Archbishop Spalding each have five. The 160-pound class features six wrestlers from the state among the 12 seeds, including four of the top five. The Maryland seeds in each weight class are listed below. The finals will be covered live on The Open Mat , which will have wrestling experts Willie Saylor and Corey Haddad commentating.

Team TOP of the BAY, a girls lacrosse team from Harford County, took third place in the US Lacrosse U15 National Championships held in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., at the Wide World of Sports Complex last week. Grace Richards (John Carroll '15) led the team in scoring with 17 goals in seven games, while Miranda Ibello (Maryvale '14) was a close second with 16 goals and Emma Wall (John Carroll '14) finished the tournament with 15 goals and also led the team in assists with seven. The defense was anchored by Haley Kyger (John Carroll '14)

The left winger carried the puck up ice, swerved into the corner of the rink, and just as a defender slid helplessly toward him, slipped a pass in front of the goal. A teammate, Joe Tarbox, gathered it in, fired a shot past the goaltender and raised his stick in celebration. It was Monday morning at The Gardens Ice House, the usual friendly ice hockey scrimmage was under way, and the Red team had taken a 1-0 lead over the Gold. "After this many years, you do have a sense of where your teammate is going to be," says Carl Sherman, the winger who made the pass.

They practiced speed drills, studied films of their opponents and outlined strategies — all to ensure that when the tournament began, they would be ready to perform. That is why the Howard County-based Capitol Debate team is one of the best nationally in a contest that is just as intense and competitive as any sport. They're hosting their fourth-annual Fall Classic Tournament at Centennial High School, starting Saturday and ending Sunday. The contest matches teams from Maryland as well as those from seven other states — including Florida, New Hampshire and Alabama — and Washington, D.C. It features policy debate, with more than 60 two-member teams competing.

WNBA Beard's shot with 1.9 seconds left lifts Mystics to victory Alana Beard hit a 16-footer with 1.9 seconds left to help the Washington Mystics beat the host San Antonio Silver Stars, 84-82, on Tuesday night. The Mystics (5-3) broke a three-game losing streak. The Silver Stars (3-4) were trying to edge past the .500 mark for the first time this season. Beard and Lindsey Harding led the Mystics with 19 points apiece. Beard picked up her fifth foul before the third quarter buzzer and went to the bench, but came back a minute later when the Silver Stars trimmed a 12-point deficit to one. The Silver Stars had a chance to win, but Belinda Snell's three-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim. Women's college basketball Towson to participate in Preseason NIT in November Towson will start its 2009-10 season by participating in the Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament.

The US Lacrosse Women's Division National Tournament is returning to its roots this weekend in Baltimore, where the first women's lacrosse team in the United States was started in 1926 at Bryn Mawr. The tournament, which began in 1933 and is one of the largest women's lacrosse events in the nation with more than 1,500 players, was hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., for the past seven years. Ann Kitt Carpenetti, women's division director for US Lacrosse, said the event's proximity to this weekend's NCAA Division I women's lacrosse championship at Towson University should help boost college recruiting at the event.

Catonsville Community College's men's basketball team had everything planned from the outset of this season. Beat each of its rival schools. Get nationally ranked. Win both the Maryland and Region XX junior college tournaments. And ultimately advance to the national tournament.It's one thing to put team goals into words, another to accomplish them.Yet, with a 90-78 overtime victory over Baltimore City Community College in the regional finals two weeks ago, Catonsville completed everything it set out to do by earning its first-ever trip to the national tournament (March 21-23)

With one month to go before the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference basketball tournament returns to Baltimore after a 19-year absence, enthusiasm surrounding the tournament seems to be building, based on early ticket sales reports.But even if the MEAC tournament comes off successfully, the timing of the men's championship game has cast doubt on where the winner will wind up in the NCAA tournament, particularly if the MEAC winner is, as expected, Coppin State.After preliminary games at Morgan State, the men's MEAC title game will be played at 7:30 p.m. on March 13 at the Baltimore Arena, where it will be televised by ESPN.

The temperature plunged quickly to about 35 degrees and 50 mph squalls jostled the small boat carrying two anglers. The conditions on Lake Erie prompted the Coast Guard to issue a small-craft warning. The father-and-son fishing duo of Thomas and James Rufenacht figured they had seen the worst - then thunder clapped and a driving sleet began, followed by snowfall. Though experienced fishermen taking part in a competition on the lake that day last October gave up and headed for shore, the Rufenachts persisted.

It's a game that transports players into the caldrons of sorcery, unleashing trolls, minotaurs, nameless abysses, vampire trainers, fanged rats with dripping saliva and hulking monsters with ram horns. But in a card game that often honors creatures that can quickly slash flesh or rip out hearts, Antonino De Rosa, 23, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., advanced to the "Magic: The Gathering" national championship in Baltimore yesterday using a trio of serene, human-feline hybrids pleasantly named "sun droplets."