Winning The Game

After letting a 15-point lead nearly slip away in its first meeting with No. 14 Mercy, the No. 5 Institute of Notre Dame girls basketball team made sure not to let that happen again last night. The Indians used a height advantage at every position to overwhelm Mercy on the boards en route to a 49-35 victory before a sellout crowd at the Towson Center in the 37th annual event known as "The Game." Although the two teams meet twice a year now in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference, one game is designated "The Game" and played amid the all-out hoopla of the long-standing rivalry between the two Catholic girls high schools.

This isn't just Ray Lewis' last ride anymore. It isn't just the heart-warming story of two competitive brothers meeting on the NFL's biggest stage. It isn't about Joe Flacco's status as an elite quarterback and the $100 million contract that will almost certainly come with it. It's about everybody now. For the past few weeks, it has been about No. 52. Now, it's about 53 - the number of players on the roster. When the Ravens and San Francisco 49ers walk off the field at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday night, Lewis will still be headed for the Hall of Fame.

Quote: "I get a lot of fun out of winning the game in general. Now, in the last month of the season, it's pressure-packed. You've got to win every game. But this is also the fun part." -- Will Clark of the Rangers, whose 10th-inning homer won the first game of the doubleheader.It's a fact: Comedian Billy Crystal threw out the ceremonial first ball at Yankee Stadium and imitated Orlando Hernandez's high leg kick.Who's hot: The Angels' Tim Salmon is hitting .437 in his past 24 games.Who's not: The Tigers have been outscored, 121-57, in the first inning this season.

For the Maryland men's basketball team, making sure to nail down the supposed easy ones is certainly important. All the Terps have to do is look back to last season when a few so-called early-season gimmes turned into losses and made Maryland's unsuccessful run for an NCAA tournament spot all the more difficult. However, as the Terps (9-2) take a five-game winning streak into tonight's nonconference home game against Elon (4-4), Maryland does have other objectives on its agenda, such as improving on its half-court offense.

Goalkeeper Scott Manning is coming home to the Baltimore Arena tonight, where he hopes to re-enact a winning performance from the past."What's important to me is that the game is fun again," said the former Blast keeper, who will be in the net for the Wichita Wings at 7:05. "But it's going to feel strange to play in the Arena and not be playing for the Blast. I'm sure I'm going to go to the wrong bench."Manning, who joined the Wings on a 15-day contract earlier this month, helped Wichita beat the Blast, 5-4, in double overtime Sunday.

Goalkeeper Scott Manning is coming home to the Arena tonight, where he hopes to re-enact a winning performance from the past."What's important to me is that the game is fun again," said the former Blast keeper, who will be in the net for the Wichita Wings at 7:05. "But it's going to feel strange to play in the Arena and not be playing for the Blast. I'm sure I'm going to go to the wrong bench."Manning, who joined the Wings on a 15-day contract earlier this month, helped Wichita beat the Blast, 5-4, in double overtime Sunday.

Keno's Odds and OdditiesHaving taught and lectured on the mathematics of gambling for the past 20 years in Baltimore, I couldn't resist checking out the new Maryland keno game at a local pub.What I found was not quite what I had expected -- and it was obvious that the state lottery officials did not consult a mathematician for advice.The first thing that struck me as odd was the incorrect usage of the concept of odds on the game sheet. Odds and probability are related but are not equivalent.

Loch Raven coach Carol McPherson remembers the scene vividly. It was the first week of the season, and her confident team was expecting to breeze past a young Kenwood squad.But then it happened. The J.V. match ended early, catching the Raiders off guard. Short-handed and ill-prepared, they went on to drop a stunner.Now, the two teams will meet again, this time with a trophy on the line. Following last night's four-game win over No. 8 Perry Hall, third-ranked Loch Raven, the champion of Baltimore County's Division I, will get a chance to avenge its only loss of the season when it plays host to Division II champ Kenwood in the county championship game tomorrow at 6: 30 p.m.Said McPherson: "I'm looking forward to it, and I think my kids are too."

For the Maryland men's basketball team, making sure to nail down the supposed easy ones is certainly important. All the Terps have to do is look back to last season when a few so-called early-season gimmes turned into losses and made Maryland's unsuccessful run for an NCAA tournament spot all the more difficult. However, as the Terps (9-2) take a five-game winning streak into tonight's nonconference home game against Elon (4-4), Maryland does have other objectives on its agenda, such as improving on its half-court offense.

Liberty had high-scoring striker Shanna Ziegenfuss and a lot of talent.South River had a hot goalkeeper in Erin Graham, excellent team speed and an ability to strike the goal quickly.South River took Ziegenfuss' best shots and came back for more and more in the state Class 3A-2A girls soccer championship game yesterday at Dundalk Community.But no one on the field could find a way to put the ball in the net during 80 minutes of regulation play and 20 minutes of overtime action and the two teams walked off the field as 3A-2A state co-champions with a 0-0 tie in a grueling physical battle that was marred sometimes by pushing, shoving, forearms to the body and face and even a few punches.

Scoring a lot of points is nothing new for Carver A&T's Corey Brown and Chesapeake-BC's Damien Cobb, but Friday night they put on a two-man show. The seniors combined for 78 points - more than Chesapeake scored in winning the game, 70-63. Brown, a 6-foot-1 shooting guard, scored 40, and Cobb, a 6-4 forward, scored 38. "They have totally different styles of play," Carver coach Matt Simms said. "As a player, Cobb, at 6-4, about 225 ... presents big matchup problems for us. Corey is just gifted with his talent."

CLEVELAND - Nothing pushes Ray Lewis' buttons like winning, hardly a big revelation at this stage of his career. So there was almost no chance he would be satisfied with the course that yesterday's game at Cleveland Browns Stadium was taking. Late in the third quarter, the Ravens were down 14 points, short on healthy cornerbacks and wide receivers, relying on a rookie quarterback and running back, facing a fourth loss in Cleveland in five years and on their way to a 4-4 record at midseason.

No. 11 Eastern Tech and Loch Raven attacked each other for 100 minutes in the Baltimore County girls soccer championship game last night at CCBC-Essex, but neither could find the finishing touch in a 0-0 tie. The teams will share the championship, but could meet again in the Class 2A region final. Eastern Tech forward Cindi Nickles came close to winning the game near the end of regulation, with a 20-yard strike that just missed the far corner, and in the first overtime, with a shot that was cleared off the line by Loch Raven defender Jamie Fahey.

Winning a Baltimore City championship is getting to be a habit for Poly's girls lacrosse team. The Engineers' 18-16 win over City last week clinched their fifth straight city crown and their third outright. In 2003, they tied with Western. Although the Engineers (9-2) lost a couple of games out of the league and were scheduled to play Western Tech yesterday, they swept their four city opponents to finish 8-0. Poly coach Josh Headley said this year's title was particularly satisfying, because several games were so close.

In what has become known as simply "The Game" between the two fierce rivals, the Institute of Notre Dame escaped with a thrilling, 67-64, double overtime win over Mercy in front of a raucous, overflow crowd last night at Towson Center. Liz Wesley hit a key jumper from the corner with one minute left in the second extra period to push the Indians (8-11, 8-0 Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference) to a 64-59 lead. IND then made three of its next four free throws in the final 30 seconds to close out the win. Senior guard Amber Smith led IND with 24 points, and Amanda Ward added 15. An emotional Indians coach Tully Sullivan said the win was easily the biggest of the season, and he was proud of the way his team responded despite being down for much of the second half.

SAN DIEGO -- A week after rewriting the NFL record book, the Ravens delivered one for Ripley's yesterday. Believe it or not, the Ravens inexplicably rolled past the winless San Diego Chargers, 24-10, on the wings of a lucky bounce, a jaw-dropping leap and an impromptu tip at Qualcomm Stadium. The snapshots from the Ravens' extended stay in Southern California will feature fullback Alan Ricard 's fluke 50-yard fumble return for a touchdown, tight end Todd Heap 's soaring 25-yard scoring catch and linebacker Adalius Thomas ' awkward deflection that led to the team's final touchdown.

Scoring a lot of points is nothing new for Carver A&T's Corey Brown and Chesapeake-BC's Damien Cobb, but Friday night they put on a two-man show. The seniors combined for 78 points - more than Chesapeake scored in winning the game, 70-63. Brown, a 6-foot-1 shooting guard, scored 40, and Cobb, a 6-4 forward, scored 38. "They have totally different styles of play," Carver coach Matt Simms said. "As a player, Cobb, at 6-4, about 225 ... presents big matchup problems for us. Corey is just gifted with his talent."

It wasn't the convincing kind of victory a manager would like to see against a weaker team with the playoffs fast approaching, but Westminster Elks manager Walt VonBussenius Sr. will take the 3-2 win over visiting Thurmont last night in Uniontown.With the win, the Elks improved to 21-13 and maintained at least a share of second place in the South Penn League as the regular season closes this weekend. New Oxford, which played Littlestown last night, also came into last night's action with a 20-13 record.

After letting a 15-point lead nearly slip away in its first meeting with No. 14 Mercy, the No. 5 Institute of Notre Dame girls basketball team made sure not to let that happen again last night. The Indians used a height advantage at every position to overwhelm Mercy on the boards en route to a 49-35 victory before a sellout crowd at the Towson Center in the 37th annual event known as "The Game." Although the two teams meet twice a year now in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference, one game is designated "The Game" and played amid the all-out hoopla of the long-standing rivalry between the two Catholic girls high schools.

NEW ORLEANS - It's hard to consider a place as memorable when you've only been there twice in 21 years, but the Big Easy likely occupies a special spot in Michael Jordan's heart. It was here, after all, where he first entered the nation's consciousness, hitting a jump shot at the Superdome as a freshman to win the national championship game for North Carolina. Just across the street from his previous exploits, Jordan got another piece of history last night at New Orleans Arena, hitting a short jumper in the lane with 1:09 remaining in the second quarter to move past Wilt Chamberlain for third place on the NBA's all-time scoring list.