Spalding

Boys lacrosse No. 1 Gilman @ No. 3 St. Mary's WHEN: Friday, 4 p.m. OUTLOOK: The visiting Greyhounds have the area's finest midfield, led by seniors Jack Doyle and Greg McBride, to go with standout attackmen Marcus Holman and Davey Emala. The Saints counter with midfielder Mark McNeill and attackman Nick Doub. Gilman has a decided edge in depth and experience. THE BALTIMORE SUN'S PICK: Gilman Girls lacrosse No. 7 Archbishop Spalding @ No. 3 Notre Dame Prep WHEN: Thursday, 4 p.m. OUTLOOK: Spalding has lost All-Metro goalie Cosette Larash to a season-ending knee injury, but Mackenzie Jones has stepped in. The Cavaliers' Danielle Kirk and NDP's Erin Laschinger, an All-Metro selection, are two of the toughest players in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference to contain.

Girls basketball No. 7 Archbishop Spalding @ No. 1 St. Frances WHEN: Wednesday, 6 p.m. OUTLOOK: The Cavaliers are one of few teams that could give the six-time defending Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference champions a challenge. They have a strong backcourt led by Jany Brinkley, but they also have height in 6-foot F Jordan Clinton. The Panthers, however, have exceptional speed and quickness in their back court with four strong guards. including All-Metro player Shatyra Hawkes.

It looked like a rebuilding season for the Archbishop Spalding volleyball team after the graduation of setter and All-Metro Player of the Year Brittany Born and second-team All-Metro hitter Colleen Seeba. Instead, the No. 5 Cavaliers have reloaded and are making a run to repeat as Interscholastc Athletic Association A Conference champions. Under coach Scott Rombach, the Cavaliers served notice on Friday with a surprising 3-1 triumph over then-No. 1 St. Paul's by scores of 25-15, 25-15, 19-25 and 25-19.

Reed Parkinson and Jordan Love each scored two touchdowns as visiting Gilman defeated No. 11 Archbishop Spalding, 55-19, last night at Spalding's homecoming. The Greyhounds (3-3), of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference, returned the opening kickoff 50 yards, then scored on Love's 9-yard touchdown run. Gilman led 14-0 after eight minutes and 28-0 before the Cavaliers (4-2), of the MIAA B Conference, scored. Gilman's Derrick Burnett threw two touchdown passes, and Mimmo Cricchio went five-for-six on extra points.

Spalding benefits from store program An Anne Arundel County private school was among the largest grant recipients in Giant Food's 2006-2007 A+ BonusBucks program, the company announced last week. Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn collected $11,594, part of $2 million the supermarket chain gave to more than 3,000 schools in the past school year. Giant's A+ BonusBucks program allows customers to assist schools by making purchases with their Bonus Cards. Schools receive points for every dollar a customer spends using his Bonus Card.

Severna Park's No. 1 field hockey team loses so rarely that even a 1-0 setback in a 25-minute preseason scrimmage sticks with the Falcons. Yesterday, they called upon that loss to Bethesda-Chevy Chase at Pocomoke's playday to fuel a 6-0 victory over the Barons when it counted - at Roland Park's annual Sally E. Nyborg Invitational. Not far away in Annapolis, No. 5 Broadneck and Chesapeake-AA scored similarly big victories over No. 7 Archbishop Spalding and St. Mary's, as public schools ruled the day at the St. Mary's Tournament.

FOOTBALL North County @ Meade WHEN -- Friday, 6:30 p.m. OUTLOOK -- The Knights (5-4) are hoping to gain the fourth and final playoff berth in the Class 4A East regional, but they have to defeat Meade (1-8) and hope No. 15 Severna Park loses at No. 7 Broadneck on Saturday. North County is coming off a 20-7 win in Ferndale over South River and needs another fine defensive effort by Desmond Johnson, Dibo Quaye and Demetrio Fleet. Severn vs. St. Mary's WHEN -- Friday, 7 p.m. WHEN -- Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium OUTLOOK -- St. Mary's (6-3)

The Archbishop Spalding girls soccer team members affectionately call assistant coach Bob Wagner "Bob-O," but Nostradamus might have been more appropriate Friday. In the wake of last Tuesday's 1-1 double-overtime tie against St. Vincent Pallotti, the Spalding coaching staff gave the players the next day off with a practice Thursday leading into Friday's game against Severn. Wagner, who coached the team in the absence of head coach Bob Dieterle who was away tending to family matters, knew precisely what would happen Friday and said as much to the referee.

On Friday morning, Zachary Taylor, 14, said he knew only a half-dozen other teenagers who were going to Archbishop Spalding High School. By the end of a two-day retreat for freshmen at the co-ed Catholic school in Severn, he knew a lot more. "It's really easy to make friends here," Zachary said. For the past decade, Spalding has held a retreat for ninth-graders -- who come from dozens of middle schools throughout the area -- to acclimate them to a new environment. A few years ago, the school switched from an off-site event held mid-year to an event on campus at the start of the school year.

An outstanding, all-around team effort catapulted No. 7 Dulaney to its second regional championship in four years as the host Lions defeated Thomas Johnson, 3-1, to win the 4A North title yesterday. Four players had at least six kills, led by junior Ally Stangenberg with 13, and senior captain Maria DiPietro set the tone on defense with 31 digs and only five errors. "This was the best team victory we've had all year," said coach Cary Lyon, whose team advanced to the state semifinals with the win. The Lions (17-1)

Patrick Steele scored all three touchdowns in Boys' Latin's 20-0 upset of No. 9 Archbishop Spalding on Friday, but he gave credit where it was due - to his line. "Amazing, that's all I can say," Steele said. Dominating line play along with Steele's running game and big defensive plays, including three interceptions, highlighted an all-around exceptional effort by the host Lakers, who improve to 8-0 and take over sole possession of first place in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference standings at 7-0. Steele finished with 148 yards on 25 carries.

FOOTBALL No. 9 Archbishop Spalding at Boys' Latin WHEN: : Friday, 3:45 p.m. OUTLOOK: : The winner should seal a berth in the MIAA B Conference championship game. Both 7-0 teams have strong running games; Spalding is led by K.K. Smith and J.D. Izon and the Lakers by Patrick Steele. Look for these guys - and offensive-line play - to make the difference. BOYS SOCCER No. 8 Marriotts Ridge at No. 1 River Hill WHEN: : Friday, 7 p.m. OUTLOOK: : The winner earns Howard County bragging rights and a berth in Tuesday's District V championship against Anne Arundel's top team.

With a confident "been there, done that" approach, the No. 1 Archbishop Spalding girls soccer team walks onto the field for every game firmly believing it will come out with a victory. Wednesday's game against No. 8 John Carroll was another prime example, as the visiting Cavaliers made good on their opportunities on offense and played their typical seal-tight defense to come away with a 2-0 win over the Patriots. The defending Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference champions improved to 12-0-1 overall and 6-0 in league play, getting two goals from junior forward Maggie Morrison and their 11th shutout of the season.

Archbishop Spalding senior sweeper Kirsten Frank left the field at McDonogh on Friday more tired than usual. It turned out to be worthwhile exhaustion for the All-Metro standout. After Frank and the Cavaliers' defense continually shut down the Eagles' persistent attack, the visitors got an offensive spark from an unlikely source. Midfielder Francesca Springer scored with five minutes left to give No. 1 Spalding a 1-0 win over No. 2 McDonogh in a rematch of last year's Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship game.

In ice hockey, when a player scores three consecutive goals the achievement is called a natural hat trick. On Wednesday, Garrison Forest freshman Brooke Adler scored three straight to lead the host No. 1 Grizzlies to a 4-1 field hockey victory over No. 10 Archbishop Spalding, and her coach called it something else. "It's called amazing!" said Garrison Forest coach Traci Davis, whose team improved to 8-1-1. "All the credit to her and her teammates. Brooke is in position to score - on the inside, forward line - and it's terrific to have a freshman put it in the net like that."

There was little doubt among the players for Archbishop Spalding and host Cardinal Gibbons that Friday night's crucial Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference game would come down to one big play. With 8:47 left in the game, the Cavaliers faked a punt and kicker Wade Korvin found Chad Wilkerson for a 37-yard gain. Two plays later, Shelley White ran 6 yards for a touchdown, which helped Spalding walk away with a 27-24 victory. "The first thing I did when I got out there was look over and see that Chad was wide open," Korvin said.

5 Consecutive state playoff appearances by Sparrows Point. The Pointers reached the state title game four times in that stretch. 9 Consecutive shutouts Archbishop Spalding posted to close the 2008 season, including the IAAM A title game. 10 Starters back from Glenelg's Class 1A state title team.

Seton Keough sophomore pitcher Megan Hyson was asked what pitches were working for her best after Saturday's Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference title game against defending champion Archbishop Spalding. Her answer said it all: "Pretty much everything." The No. 2 Gators scratched across two first-inning runs and Hyson handled the rest, pitching her sixth no-hitter this spring for a 2-0 win that gave the program its third conference crown and completed a 16-0 season.

The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A and B Conference individual tennis championships saw several schools find success Thursday at McDonogh. Players from Gilman, McDonogh, St. Paul's and Park won A Conference titles. McDonogh's Alex Sidney (No. 1), Anand Parikh from St. Paul's (No. 2) and Gilman's Alec Hoblitzell (No. 3) won the singles titles. Gilman and Park split the doubles championships. Glenelg (three titles) and Archbishop Spalding (two) controlled the B Conference.

Patrick Foster scored two of his game-high four goals in the final 3:25 as the host and No. 4 Boys' Latin lacrosse team upset No. 1 Gilman, 13-12, on Friday. The Greyhounds (10-1) have lost just one game out of 25 over the past two seasons. The Lakers (11-2) fell behind 5-2 in the first quarter before going on an 8-1 run to take a 10-6 lead at the half. Boys' Latin led for most of the second half and took an 11-9 edge into the final quarter. Gilman scored twice to tie the game before Foster scored at the 3:25 and 2:55 marks to preserve the win. "Gilman dominated play in the second half, but we hung in there and withstood the pressure," Boys' Latin coach Bob Shriver said.