Panthers

The girls from the Pikesville field hockey team began dancing to the music of Kanye West and Soulja Boy in the minutes after last night's Class 1A state semifinal matchup against Pocomoke. There was laughter, giggling, screaming and a whole lot of happy faces - not much sadness. Pikesville wasn't expecting to win against the four-time defending state champion, and Pocomoke's 14-0 rout of the Panthers at Broadneck was a truly dominating performance for the Worcester County school. The Warriors broke it open with five goals in nine minutes midway through the first half en route to an 8-0 halftime lead.

Not only is Vinny Testaverde back in the NFL, but there's also a chance he'll start Sunday for Carolina against Arizona. And there's a further chance that before Sunday is over, we'll have Testaverde, 43, dueling Tim Rattay - two guys who were no closer to the NFL than their big-screen TVs four days ago. So this is how it goes for teams that don't have Brett Favre, Payton Manning or Tom Brady on their rosters. The Panthers' first-string quarterbacks, Jake Delhomme, faces season-ending elbow surgery, and Carolina backup David Carr came away from the last game with a back injury and didn't practice yesterday.

LaKisha Walker has provided the defensive edge for No. 1 St. Frances for four years, and it was no different in the championship game of her senior year. With 7.9 seconds left in overtime yesterday against No. 4 McDonogh, Walker deflected a pass meant for Brittany Mallory at the top of the circle and set off on the break. With her team trailing, Mallory was forced to foul her. Walker, a 5-foot-9 guard, hit both free throws to seal a 68-63 victory for the Panthers' fifth straight Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship before a standing-room-only crowd at Goucher College.

Moves Basketball SPURS -- Signed G-F Bruce Bowen to contract extension. Football PANTHERS -- Signed RB Alex Haynes from practice squad. Waived TE Marcus Freeman. Hockey ISLANDERS -- Signed D Richard Park to two-year contract extension.

Playing organized sports can sometimes be a blessing and sometimes be a curse. Last night, St. Frances got both in the same game at the Charm City Classic at Loyola College's Reitz Arena. The Panthers (0-1) were in the lead, by as many as 19 points, until 1:13 remained before falling to Pennsylvania's Neumann-Goretti, 62-57, in the third game of the night. "We stood around in the second half and watched Sean [Mosely] instead of playing our game and getting open," Panthers coach William Wells said.

This offseason was supposed to be the time when Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle focused on rebuilding his confidence after suffering the worst year of his career. But football soon became the least of his worries. During an African safari with his wife and NFL players Fred Taylor and Lito Sheppard, the door of their single-propeller plane opened while traveling at 6,000 feet. Some panicked. Others prayed. Everyone feared for their lives. "I put my shirt over my head and I was like, `Oh no, tell me this isn't happening,' " said Rolle, who was seated two rows in front of the unexpected opening.

Denny Snyder seldom doubted that his North Carroll baseball team would be able to produce runs this season. It's the level of that production that has stunned the Panthers' 14th-year coach. "I knew we could put runs on the board," Snyder said, "but to what degree, I wasn't quite sure. There were still some questions about how they would mesh and how the lineup would work itself out." Six weeks into the season, those questions have been answered, with No. 11 North Carroll on track to score runs at a near-record pace.

It was heartbreak at its very worst for Annapolis last night in the state Class 3A football quarterfinals, as Jon Genua's extra-point kick lifted No. 5 seed Damascus over the fourth-seeded Panthers, 28-27, in overtime at Al Laramore Field.The Panthers forced overtime with a score in the last seven seconds of regulation and scored on their first possession from the 10. Rayvon Johnson's Anne Arundel County single-season-record 29th touchdown on third down from the 10 put Annapolis up 27-21, but Jagman Chahal's extra-point kick was blocked by the Hornets' Kevin Flynn.

The final whistle was heard, an Annapolis win was secure, and the No. 6-ranked Panthers were racing down the field to greet their junior goalie Emily Childs almost as if they had won another state title.That's what the Annapolis-Severna Park girls lacrosse rivalry is all about.Yesterday in Annapolis, sophomore Kristy Dirks scored the game-winning goal with 10 minutes left, leaving the rest of the second-half work to Childs and a stifling defense as the Panthers advanced to the Class 3A-4A East region final with a 6-4 win over the No. 5 Falcons.

Third-ranked Annapolis is so good and deep, with four starters averaging 10 points or more a game, that on a night when they are misfiring, opponents can not allow the Panthers second shots. And it's almost imperative that foes make theirs.A valiant effort by No. 16 Broadneck came up short last night as the host Panthers (13-0 overall, 7-0 league) decisively out-rebounded the Bruins (7-6, 4-3) in the second half and went on to a hard-earned victory, 54-43.After out-rebounding the Panthers, 13-12 in the first half, the Bruins were no match the final 16 minutes with Annapolis holding a 24-10 edge on the boards, 36-23 for the game.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. The Ravens unveiled their team game plan for 2009, and they won't go far from the script if the team is to be successful. It's an upgrade over last season, but is it enough to get them back to the AFC championship game? We'll see. As far as the first teams are concerned, the Ravens played fairly well against the Carolina Panthers on Saturday night. On defense, they only allowed a field goal in the first half and just one big play, which came in the first quarter. The Panthers had 104 yards of total offense in the first half, and just 18 rushing yards.

The Pikesville boys lacrosse team stuck to a familiar pattern Tuesday in claiming the program's third state championship: start out fast on offense and protect the lead with possession and quality play in goal from senior Erick Zarzecki. Scoring the game's first three goals against Queen Anne's and watching Zarzecki turn away 17 shots, the No. 15 Panthers claimed a 6-5 win over the Lions and the Class 2A-1A state championship. Senior midfielder Jordan Parker scored two goals and won his share of important draws, junior attackman Alfonzo Timmons sparked the fast start with two goals and an assist in the first half, and Zarzecki showed poise throughout as Pikesville finished the season with a 15-3 mark.

FROSTBURG - Up against defending champion Gonzaga in last night's featured game of the 49th annual Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament, the No. 2 St. Frances boys basketball team finally met its match in a championship game this season. The Panthers got off to a slow start, and the Eagles from Washington relied on their experience and depth to hand the Panthers a 66-56 loss at Frostburg State. "We didn't come to play the whole game - we showed up in the second half, but it was too late then.

Dante Holmes went off for a career-high 34 points as the St. Frances boys basketball team took a 15-5 lead and never trailed in a 64-58 win over DeMatha in the semifinals of the Alhambra Catholic Invitational at Frostburg State. Holmes used his aggressiveness to get easy baskets inside and earn trips to the foul line. The junior also grabbed nine rebounds for the No. 2 Panthers (33-3), who led by 13 at halftime. Terrell Vinson added 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds for St. Frances, which held Naji Hibbert to seven points.

Defending champion Paint Branch warmed up for last night's Class 3A girls state basketball championship game in jerseys with "BK2BK" on the back, but that seemed a bit premature to Jess Harlee and her undefeated No. 11 Fallston team. The Cougars used a big fourth-quarter surge and Harlee, who finished with 28 points, hit two clutch free throws with 3.3 seconds left as Fallston held off Paint Branch, 65-62, to finish 28-0 before a raucous crowd of about 3,500 last night at UMBC's RAC Arena.

The Aberdeen boys basketball team got a fine 26-point performance from standout guard Devon Saddler and a game-changing play from forward Horace Jackson to come away with a 56-44 win over visiting Annapolis in yesterday's Class 3A East region semifinal. A 16-point first half from Saddler staked the No. 13 Eagles to a 30-19 halftime lead before the Panthers rallied in the third quarter. With the Panthers in a box-and-one defense to limit Saddler, they scored the first eight points of the third quarter to cut the lead to 30-27.

All season, St. Frances senior forward Terrell Vinson has found a way to make the important closing minutes of a tight basketball game his own. More proof came in yesterday's 38th Baltimore Catholic League championship game at Loyola College against a determined No. 9 Loyola team that simply wouldn't go away. Vinson had two key blocks in the final two minutes and hit three of four free throws in the last 10 seconds to lift the No. 2 Panthers to a 44-41 win that wasn't decided until Loyola senior guard Matt Rum's desperation heave from midcourt fell short at the buzzer.

The No. 2 St. Frances boys basketball team has had several close calls in staying undefeated in the Baltimore Catholic League, and last night's semifinal against No. 14 Mount St. Joseph was no different. It's in the tightly contested games that the experience of the defending league champion Panthers shines through the most. After watching the Gaels rally from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime, St. Frances' poised play once again took over as it came away with a 68-66 win at Loyola College to advance to tomorrow's title game.

Yesterday's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference basketball championship between No. 2 St. Frances and No. 3 Calvert Hall didn't have the same feel as the teams' regular-season meeting that went three overtimes. St. Frances wouldn't have it. The Panthers had the defensive intensity cranked up from the start, and when the offense got up to speed in the second quarter, they made quick work of the Cardinals to earn a 56-38 win at UMBC's RAC Arena for their first MIAA championship.

The Carolina Panthers placed the franchise tag on defensive end Julius Peppers yesterday, setting up a potentially nasty showdown with their four-time Pro Bowl defensive end who wants to play elsewhere next season. The move came moments after the Panthers signed All-Pro left tackle Jordan Gross to a six-year deal worth more than $30 million in the first three seasons. That cleared the way for Carolina to use the team's only franchise tag on Peppers, who had 14 1/2 sacks last season but expressed his desire to leave the Panthers and their 4-3 scheme for a team that plays a 3-4 defense.