Radford

Northern of Calvert entered last night's Class 3A state final with the reputation of a team able to make opponents pay for even the slightest mistakes.On a night when opposing River Hill gave the Patriots their toughest match of the year, the Hawks also demonstrated one flaw that ultimately spelled the difference.They failed to put Northern away.River Hill was one point away from winning each of the first two games, and led the third, 12-10, before falling, 17-15, 17-15, 15-12 at CCBC-Catonsville.

Navy scored 10 consecutive goals in the first half on the way to a 19-3 win over Radford yesterday in men's lacrosse at Dewey Field in Annapolis.J.L. Reppert and Brad Gilroy each had three goals for the 11th-ranked Midshipmen (3-1), who led 12-1 at halftime and had a 46-21 shot advantage over Radford (3-1).Randolph-Macon 11, Western Maryland 8: Brian Cleary and Mike Smith each had three goals to lift the Yellow Jackets (2-0) over the Green Terror (1-2) in Ashland, Va.Cleary scored his first goal 40 seconds into the second quarter to give Randolph Macon the lead for good, 3-2. The margin grew to 11-7 early in the final period.

LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Thanks to wise old veteran center Eric Poiesz, a young and flashy UMBC team is headed to the Big South tournament semifinals tomorrow night against Radford.The 6-foot-10, 240-pound senior, just 16 days shy of his 24th birthday, was easily the oldest player on the court last night for the Retrievers, but he quickly established a strong inside presence against Winthrop, and UMBC went on to an easy 67-55 victory in the opening round of the tournament at Liberty University.Third seed UMBC will meet second seed Radford tomorrow night at 8 in the semis.

Site: Vines Center, Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va.MenToday's first round(1) UNC-Asheville (11-1, 18-8) has a bye(2) Radford (10-2, 17-9) vs. (7) Charleston Southern (2-10, 5-21), 2 p.m.(3) UMBC (6-6, 13-13) vs. (6) Winthrop (4-8, 7-19), 6: 30 p.m.(4) Liberty (5-7, 10-16) vs. (5) Coastal Carolina (4-8, 8-18), 8: 30 p.m.Friday's semifinalsUNC-Asheville vs. Liberty/Coastal Carolina winner, 6 p.m.Radford/Charleston Sou. winner vs. UMBC/Winthrop winner, 8 p.m.Saturday's championship gameSemifinal winners, 2 p.m.Local hopes: UMBC has a new-look bigger lineup entering the tournament, with 6-foot-10, 240-pound senior center Eric Poiesz moving into a starting spot in place of players such as 6-4 forward Brad Martin and 6-0 guard Tim Hyland, who were starters earlier in the season.

LYNCHBURG, Va. -- When the seniors on the Radford University basketball team were freshmen, Chibi Johnson and Corey Reed had dreams similar to the ones held by Division I players all over the country."

Nyiesha Ford had heard it before.A sophomore goalie at Radford (Va.) University, Ford and her teammates were preparing for last weekend's Big South Conference women's soccer tournament. Highlanders coach Ben Sarobi told his players that "you have to play with heart.""That's like Coach [Steve] Matters would say at Oakland Mills," said Ford, a 1997 graduate and four-year starter for the Scorpions. "We didn't have the best players, but we played with a lot of heart."Ford's teams at Oakland Mills were very successful in postseason play.

LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Hold the fan buses, the band and the dance group right where they are on the UMBC campus.There will be no need for a trip to Liberty University today to watch UMBC play in the championship game of the Big South tournament.The UMBC basketball youth movement isn't ready to flirt seriously with a cherished berth in the NCAA tournament's 64-team field.The young Retrievers found out just where they stood last night when a senior-dominated Radford team took them to school with an impressive 88-69 victory in the Big South semifinals.

Matt Acres scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds to lead New Hampshire to a 64-56 America East win last night over Towson University at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.The Wildcats (7-7, 3-3) never trailed and led by as many as 19 points after Acres scored inside with 6: 58 left to play. New Hampshire made just one field goal, however, over the next 4: 22, and the Tigers (2-9, 0-4) used a 14-3 run to close to within 55-47.Andy Cavo's 15 points helped the Wildcats to a 38-24 lead after a first half of spurts.

On a night when basketball fever returned to UMBC in full force, a well-drilled and experienced Radford University team ruined the fun with a come-from-behind 73-68 victory over the Retrievers in a showdown for second place in the Big South Conference.UMBC (10-9, 4-4) entered the game on an 8-3 roll and had charged into third place in the Big South, one-half game behind second-place Radford (11-9, 5-2), and there was talk about the youthful Retrievers making a late-season charge that might carry them through the league's postseason tournament into the NCAA tourney.

There are still some defensive flaws and the intensity tends to wane at times for the young UMBC basketball team.But the freshman-dominated Retrievers appear to be peaking for a strong stretch run in the Big South that will take them on a roll into the crucial conference tournament Feb. 25-28 in Lynchburg, Va.Yesterday, UMBC basically toyed with an overmatched Winthrop University squad on the way to a 73-51 victory in a Big South encounter at UMBC Fieldhouse.It...

Jim Calhoun kept track of his top-seeded Connecticut Huskies from a hospital instead of the sideline. All he missed on his sick day was the third-biggest rout in NCAA tournament history, a 103-47 win over No. 16 seed Chattanooga in Philadelphia in yesterday's opening round. Calhoun was admitted to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania yesterday afternoon for tests and was to be kept overnight for observation. An unnamed source told ESPN.com that Calhoun, 66, was treated for dehydration and received IV fluids at the hospital.

Wayne Ellington had 25 points for North Carolina, which led the entire way and had no trouble beating 16th seed Radford, 101-58, in Greensboro, N.C., even without point guard Ty Lawson, who missed his third straight game with a toe injury. North Carolina improved to 26-1 in NCAA games played in its home state and advanced to face LSU tomorrow. It was a game in which senior Tyler Hansbrough set the Atlantic Coast Conference career scoring mark of 2,767 points in the opening minutes and finished with 22 points.

Millersville man, 26, charged in the shooting of his father A 26-year-old Millersville man was charged in the shooting of his father yesterday. Anne Arundel County police said Eric M. Radford pulled out a handgun during a fight with his father and shot him in the upper torso. Marshall S. Radford was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center with injuries that were not life-threatening, authorities said. Eric Radford was charged with attempted first-degree murder and related offenses. Police said they responded to the 800 block of Oakdale Circle in Millersville about 1:15 p.m. in response to a report of a shooting.

An 18-year-old Monkton resident who recently graduated from Dulaney Valley High School died early Saturday after the vehicle in which he was a passenger crashed near his home, police and family friends said. Officer Teresa Lockwood of the Baltimore County traffic investigation team, said Steven Radford of the 4100 block of Stansbury Mill Road was a passenger in an Infiniti sport utility vehicle driven by his friend Derek Campbell, also 18, of the 4000 block of Stansbury Mill Road when Campbell lost control of the vehicle shortly after 2 a.m. while eastbound on Stansbury Mill Road near Jarrettsville Pike.

Jason Patten, a three-year varsity starting pitcher-outfielder for No. 2 Archbishop Spalding, is helping the Cavaliers make a run at knocking off top-ranked Calvert Hall. The Cardinals, who have won three straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference titles, visit Spalding for a game today at 4 p.m. Last season, Patten led the Cavaliers in strikeouts (75) and innings pitched (47 2/3 ), and he posted seven wins. When he's not pitching, Patten is the team's top defensive outfielder.

PHILADELPHIA-- --There are people in Maryland who could write a $200,000 check for a boat without batting an eye. The owner of the Orioles comes to mind. The owner of the Ravens is another. A number of corporations and foundations could do it, too. It becomes a harder sell, however, when the boat in question is a retired 563-foot Navy destroyer that has a date later this year with Davy Jones' locker. Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative volunteers have their eyes on the ex-Radford, a vessel mothballed at Aker Philadelphia Shipyard.

Senior shooting guard Dan Radford is expected to be one of the leading scorers for a Westminster team that enters the season with high expectations. Radford, 6 feet 1, is comfortable ranging outside to shoot three-pointers but scores mostly from inside the lane. He averaged 10 points a game last season. How does it feel to have high expectations put on you entering this season? It feels pretty good. I'm pretty much just working with my teammates and getting better. What do you like most about this team after it finished with a .500 record last year?

It wasn't the violence in Lebanon that bothered Virginia Radford so much as the trip home. "Yeah, you heard bombs falling, but I felt fine. Lebanon didn't feel like a war zone at all," the Marymount University sophomore said yesterday, moments after landing at Baltimore's airport along with hundreds of other U.S. citizens fleeing the fighting in Lebanon. "The only time I was uncomfortable was when we had to leave." With her mother looking on disapprovingly, the 18-year-old criticized the evacuation as disorganized and chaotic.

On April 12, 2006, ANNA E. DIFFENDAL of Brooklyn, MD; beloved companion of Leonard Stinett for 12 years; loving mother to Marshall Wayne, Mark Radford and Linda Spencer; dearest sister to three brothers and two sisters; cherished grandmother of 13 and great-grandmother of two. She was preceeded in death by her first husband Lacy A. Radford and also by her 2nd husband Joseph G. Diffendal. The family will receive visitors at the family owned Singleton Funeral Home, P.A., 1 Second Avenue, S.W. (at Crain Hywy)

WILLIAM GRISWOLD BODENSTEIN, age 86, of Radford, died on March 18. He was born in Herkimer, New York, on July 16, 1919, a son of the late Vera and Arthur Bodenstein. In 1941 he was graduated from the Bliss Electrical School of Engineering in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was hired by General Electric as an electrical technician in their High Voltage Laboratory in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He retired from General Electric in 1981. Mr. Bodenstein was an army veteran of WWII, serving in the Infantry, First Army commanded by General Hodge.