Red Storm

The Dunbar gym and the No. 1 Poets' defense were both cranked up in the closing minute of Tuesday's boys basketball game against No. 11 Edmondson. The Red Storm, which had seen its 13-point, early-fourth-quarter lead shrink to one, had the ultimate chance to see just what it was made of. In that final minute, the Red Storm showed poise, determination and a desire that Dunbar was unable to match. Guard Isaiah Tripp was the catalyst, scoring a game-high 20 points and, more importantly, taking care of the basketball in the final minute to secure a 68-61 upset win. After a 13-0 start, Dunbar lost for the second time in three games to fall to 14-2 overall and 5-1 in Baltimore City's Division I. Edmondson improved to 13-3 overall and 4-2 in league play.

Skeptics wonder if Terence Arter's average of 26.9 yards a carry is for real. In yesterday's 52-18 rout of Baltimore City rival Lake Clifton, the Edmondson junior demonstrated that maybe it is. The 5-foot-8, 170-pounder rushed for 213 yards on nine carries -- 23.6 yards a run -- and scored three touchdowns behind a line whose average size is 6 feet 1, 255 pounds. "I had such good blocking, that really I was untouched" on each of his scores of 40, 57 and 66 yards, he said. "It was a pretty good running day, the best I've had this year."

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- They are too big a school with too rich a tradition to be called the only Cinderella team left in the NCAA tournament.Just call Ohio State a turnaround team, the most remarkable in recent college basketball history.The Buckeyes continued their astounding climb from the bottom of the Big Ten last season to the heights of the school's first Final Four appearance in 31 years last night with a thrilling 77-74 victory over St. John's in the NCAA South Regional final at Thompson-Boling Arena.

NEW YORK -- The first time Erick Barkley saw Bootsy Thornton play was in a game at a summer camp while they were both in high school. The point guard from New York was quite impressed with the shooting guard from Baltimore."

Corey Johnson, who coached Patterson for six years, will be named to replace Dante Jones as Edmondson's football coach Monday. Johnson confirmed Saturday that he will take over a Red Storm program that has been one of Baltimore City's most competitive football teams under Jones, who is moving on to coach in Delaware. “I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to get back to a school that has a winning tradition, following Dante Jones and Pete Pompey,” Johnson said. “There's great support for the team and when you have a winning tradition, you seem to get the kids all the time, so this is a great opportunity to carry on that tradition.” Jones, who said Saturday that he was on vacation and would talk later about his departure from Edmondson, is taking over the football program at Dover High School.

Today No. 6 Edmondson (6-0) at Forest Park (4-2) When: 3:30 p.m. Outlook: The Red Storm narrowly escaped Patterson last week to earn Pete Pompey, in his 29th year of coaching, his Baltimore-leading 204th career victory, 20-14. Now, Pompey and the Red Storm face another veteran coach in Obie Barnes, who over 26 years has 125 career wins at Forest Park. The Foresters have won three straight games since losing to Walbrook, 6-3. This a non-league Baltimore City game.

Denver midfielder Jeremy Noble , a preseason first-team All-American as a junior, won't play against Loyola in Saturday's pivotal Eastern College Athletic Conference matchup, a team spokesperson said Wednesday. He has been held out since the Pioneers' loss to Notre Dame at the Whitman's Sampler Mile High Classic on March 16 with an undisclosed injury. On the year, Noble has nine goals, six assists and 18 ground balls in six games. Denver freshman attackman Gordie Koerber (Gilman)

Loyola's No. 1 football team had been a little concerned about Edmondson's defense after the No. 10 Red Storm's performance last week against Mount St. Joseph, but the Dons didn't have nearly as much trouble as their Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference counterpart. Connor Bruns threw for two touchdowns and ran for one in the first 10 minutes Saturday to open a 21-point Loyola lead en route to a 47-14 win in on-and-off drizzly rain. A week ago, the Red Storm didn't let Mount St. Joseph's offense within 19 yards of its end zone but lost a 9-6 heartbreaker because the Gaels recovered a fumble in the end zone.

Tariq Jones rushed for a career-high 308 yards to lead Edmondson to its 11th straight win, a Class 2A state title rout of McDonough of Charles County, 37-9, at M&T Bank Stadium yesterday. Edmondson coach Dante Jones became the first man to coach and play for title-winning teams from the city. In 1994, as a senior linebacker for coach Stanley Mitchell, he recovered a fumble to help Dunbar become Baltimore City's first state champion with a 15-point rout of Cumberland's Fort Hill High. "This is not about me. This is about Coach Pete [Pompey]

1 Game of the Year: That is, the Game of the Year for now. Break out the guacamole for No. 1 Southern California vs. No. 5 Ohio State (8 p.m., chs. 2, 7). But no Beanie dip. 2 Badgered : USC-Ohio State isn't the only meeting between ranked teams. No. 10 Wisconsin is at No. 21 Fresno State (10:30 p.m., ESPN2). Fresno State's 24-7 win over Rutgers isn't so impressive now. 3 Still chasing: The Phillies' division and wild-card chases are at about the same place, and they get a chance to gain ground on the wild-card-leading Brewers today (3:30 p.m., chs. 45, 5)