Shot Clock

First-year Howard boys basketball coach Art St. Martin had his Lions begin Monday's test against league-leading Oakland Mills in an unusual fashion.All five starters stood in a tight, shoulder-to-shoulder circle just past the half-court line and passed the ball from one to another."

The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and affiliated Baltimore Catholic League have adopted a 35-second shot clock for the upcoming basketball season. The shot clock will be in place this season for all three of the MIAA conferences and the BCL at the varsity and junior varsity levels. After years of consideration, the addition of the shot clock was approved in April at an annual meeting among MIAA athletic directors after the leagues' coaches made a formal proposal following the conclusion of last season.

COLLEGE PARK-- --It doesn't take long, a few seconds really, a far shorter time than it takes for a team to move the ball upcourt and hoist a shot, to figure out how Earl Hawkins feels about the talk of bringing a shot clock to Maryland public school boys basketball. "I've heard about it and it's the worst thing that could ever happen," Hawkins, the Prince George's County school system's athletic director, said during a break at this weekend's state basketball tournament. Hawkins' opinion is especially significant in Maryland because he is also the chairman of the boys basketball committee for the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, where such an idea would get its first hearing.

With conference play heating up, and April - a month that's all about improvement - on the doorstep, I solicited questions on Twitter (@QKessenich) to see what's on people's minds.   National College Lacrosse League @NCLLax: If QK can change just one rule for 2013, what would he add or delete from the NCAA rulebook? QK: The No. 1 rule change on everybody's mind is the shot clock. Shot-clock advocates are growing, but change is a touchy subject. The rules committee works in a two-year cycle, and this offseason offers it the opportunity to enact reform.

In a little more than two weeks, the state boys basketball tournament will begin with no shortage of intriguing story lines, including whether Randallstown can capture a fourth straight title, who will emerge from the scrum that is the Class 1A North region and whether Howard County can grab a state championship for an unprecedented third consecutive year. Whatever happens between the first-round games on March 1 and the title games in College Park on March 15, there's one thing that certainly won't happen: None of the games will be played with a shot clock.

After postponing a move to add a 60-second shot clock to its game, the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Committee can expect pressure to eliminate the rule change in the coming months. The nine-person committee, which had voted in July to add a shot clock in the 2001 season, recently elected to delay the change until 2002. The committee decided that visible shot clocks must be present on the sideline, and discovered that not enough schools had available funds to purchase clocks - which cost about $3,000 - for the start of next season.

Joe Sanford of Southwestern tied the state record for no-hitters in a season when he threw his third on Wednesday - a five-inning gem against Southside in which all 15 outs were recorded by strikeout. Two batters reached on errors. Sanford tied the mark set by Towson's Andre Gardner in 2000. Sanford threw his first no-hitter on April 6 in a 9-3 win over Northwestern. He struck out 17 in seven innings, while the Sabers committed three errors. He pitched his second no-hitter on April 11 against Lewis High, winning, 20-0, in five innings and striking out 12. Daniel denied Mike Daniel, who resigned last week as Towson Catholic boys basketball coach after 20 seasons, said yesterday that he will not be allowed to coach in the United States Basketball Sports Summit in Seattle in June.

Recurring problems with the shot clock and scoreboard at the Baltimore Arena prompted a visit to yesterday's Washington Bullets-Atlanta Hawks game by Matt Winick, the NBA's director of game operations.Based on his observations, Winick could recommend to league officials that the Bullets discontinue playing games in Baltimore next season.After less than eight minutes had elapsed in the first quarter, the shot clock malfunctioned. Because of past problems, the Bullets had two auxiliary 24-second clocks ready to be installed in the corners of the two baselines.

Does the game known as the fastest on two feet require an injection of excitement? The NCAA men's lacrosse committee thinks so. And by announcing two major rule changes last month - the introduction of a 60-second shot clock and the elimination of dead-ball substitutions from the sideline - the NCAA has assured that lacrosse will sport a different look in the spring of 2001. "It's going to be a different game," said Loyola coach Dave Cottle, who is not alone in his skepticism. "We'll find out if different is better."

Towson men's lacrosse coach Tony Seaman sounded less than optimistic that the team will be able to rely on fifth-year senior attackman Blake Best this season. Seaman, who joined Johns Hopkins' Dave Pietramala, Loyola's Charley Toomey and UMBC's Don Zimmerman yesterday for a coaches question-and-answer session at ESPN Zone, said that although Best's latest knee injury is not a reoccurrence of the torn ligament that cost him his senior season at Lehigh, it is bone-related. "He may not even play this year," Seaman said, adding that Best's earliest return would be in April.

Luke Harangody had done everything a bruising power forward is supposed to do. He scored 29 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and even threw in a banked 40-footer as the shot clock expired. But he had to wait to make sure his two missed free throws in the final seconds didn't cost No. 8 Notre Dame a win over No. 6 Texas. They didn't, barely. After Harangody's second miss with 3.5 seconds to play, Texas' A.J. Abrams let fly with a shot from just beyond half court that bounced off the front of the rim and the Fighting Irish had an 81-80 victory in the semifinals of the EA Sports Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii.

Towson men's lacrosse coach Tony Seaman sounded less than optimistic that the team will be able to rely on fifth-year senior attackman Blake Best this season. Seaman, who joined Johns Hopkins' Dave Pietramala, Loyola's Charley Toomey and UMBC's Don Zimmerman yesterday for a coaches question-and-answer session at ESPN Zone, said that although Best's latest knee injury is not a reoccurrence of the torn ligament that cost him his senior season at Lehigh, it is bone-related. "He may not even play this year," Seaman said, adding that Best's earliest return would be in April.

In a little more than two weeks, the state boys basketball tournament will begin with no shortage of intriguing story lines, including whether Randallstown can capture a fourth straight title, who will emerge from the scrum that is the Class 1A North region and whether Howard County can grab a state championship for an unprecedented third consecutive year. Whatever happens between the first-round games on March 1 and the title games in College Park on March 15, there's one thing that certainly won't happen: None of the games will be played with a shot clock.

COLLEGE PARK-- --It doesn't take long, a few seconds really, a far shorter time than it takes for a team to move the ball upcourt and hoist a shot, to figure out how Earl Hawkins feels about the talk of bringing a shot clock to Maryland public school boys basketball. "I've heard about it and it's the worst thing that could ever happen," Hawkins, the Prince George's County school system's athletic director, said during a break at this weekend's state basketball tournament. Hawkins' opinion is especially significant in Maryland because he is also the chairman of the boys basketball committee for the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, where such an idea would get its first hearing.

Joe Sanford of Southwestern tied the state record for no-hitters in a season when he threw his third on Wednesday - a five-inning gem against Southside in which all 15 outs were recorded by strikeout. Two batters reached on errors. Sanford tied the mark set by Towson's Andre Gardner in 2000. Sanford threw his first no-hitter on April 6 in a 9-3 win over Northwestern. He struck out 17 in seven innings, while the Sabers committed three errors. He pitched his second no-hitter on April 11 against Lewis High, winning, 20-0, in five innings and striking out 12. Daniel denied Mike Daniel, who resigned last week as Towson Catholic boys basketball coach after 20 seasons, said yesterday that he will not be allowed to coach in the United States Basketball Sports Summit in Seattle in June.

Sun reporter Gary Lambrecht answers readers' questions about college lacrosse. Rob, Fallston: Do you think the game would be better served with a shot clock, say, of 30 seconds once the attacking team crosses midfield? Gary Lambrecht: The shot clock discussion has gone on for a good decade or so, and I doubt the NCAA will make that move anytime soon. But, as the game has slowed down so much with so many teams holding the ball for long stretches, whether to protect a lead or to shorten the game against a deeper, more talented opponent, I think a shot clock discussion remains relevant.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Home sites -- a subject of discussion during this year's championships -- could be phased out in the future, though the women's game is years away from neutral sites.Bernadette McGlade, chair of the NCAA's tournament committee, said the committee is considering having colleges bid in advance for sites for the championships. Though a college could be host for first- and second-round games regardless of seeding, it could only do so for two consecutive years.The results of the opening two rounds opened eyes, with the top four teams in each region advancing to the regionals after playing two tournament games at home.

South River senior guard Stacy Hunt and the No. 3 Seahawks weren't bashful for a minute. In fact, they were a little brash. Clearly stating their offensive work in yesterday's Class 4A girls basketball state semifinal against Thomas Johnson would come from the outside, the Seahawks took effective aim on tomorrow's championship game with another win, this one by a 58-49 count at UMBC over the Patriots from Frederick County. Hunt finished with a game-high 27 points, the defense did its part by holding the Patriots' 20-point scorer, Nia Josiah, to zero in the first half, and the Seahawks (21-5)

Read our transcript with the UMBC men's lacrosse coach Don Zimmerman is in his 12th season as head coach at UMBC. The Retrievers finished 6-8 last season. Baltimoresun.com: What have you learned about your team in the preseason? Don Zimmerman: We've had two scrimmages and I think we played well in one and didn't play as well in the other, so we were a little inconsistent. We've been hampered by the weather a little bit. They are re-doing the turf in our stadium and we've been practicing on grass and have been forced to play indoors.