Zone Defense

Mount Hebron may have lost three times to tough teams last week, but what the 14th-ranked Vikings learned during those losses was put to good use yesterday at Glenelg.Mount Hebron (5-4 overall, 5-0 league) displayed a total package, including an outstanding effort from goalkeeper Pat McClammer, to defeat Glenelg, 11-2."Last week helped us a lot because we played high-level competition," McClammer said. "We brought that high level here today to show everybody that Mount Hebron is here to stay.

After tying a career high with five goals, the only thing Davey Emala could do was watch. The Georgetown sophomore attackman was powerless to prevent top-ranked Syracuse from winning the opening faceoff of overtime and scoring with 2 minutes, 19 seconds left to escape with a 9-8 victory over the No. 15 Hoyas in the first game of the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium Saturday. "It's a difficult position to be in," Emala, a Baltimore native and Gilman graduate, said of watching Orange senior attackman Stephen Keogh play hero.

A league win used to mean a major accomplishment for McDonogh. Now it's just a means to an end.Behind Greg Adams' four goals and Rob Scherr's 15 saves, the No. 7 Eagles powered past visiting No. 6 St. Mary's, 12-10, yesterday in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference game.With the win, McDonogh jumped back into the race to earn its first A Conference playoff berth."This is such a big win," Eagles coach Jake Reed said. "We now control our own destiny. If we win our next couple of games, we should be in."

This was supposed to be a close game -- one in which a public school boys lacrosse team had a good shot at beating a private school team at the Maryland High School Lacrosse Showdown yesterday. Instead, No. 10 Mount St. Joseph maintained control throughout and finished with a flurry of six fourth-quarter goals to down No. 13 Centennial at Johns Hopkins, 11-3. "We knew that a public school would come with everything it had to beat us," Gaels defenseman Matt Sparks said. "They [Centennial]

Severna Park's plan against South River's zone defense yesterday was simple: Give what it takes and go from there.So the No. 6-ranked Falcons spread out the field and then spread out the scoring, getting goals from six players in their 9-3 win over the No. 10 Seahawks yesterday in Edgewater.Meg Miller, Jess Gaither and Jen Cielewich all scored two goals to lead the Falcons (12-1), who won their third straight since last Tuesday's loss to Annapolis."The girls have come back nicely," said Severna Park coach Carin Peterson.

UMBC @Mount St. Mary's Saturday, 2p.m. Visiting UMBC forced 18 turnovers, including a season-high 14steals, but lost to DePaul, 69-61, in men's basketball at Allstate Arena on Saturday. Freshman Aaron Morgan led the Retrievers (2-10) with a season-high 15 points in 40 minutes of play. Ryan Cook (St. Vincent Pallotti) scored 13points, and Brian Neller added 12. Cleveland Melvin led all scorers with 24points for the Blue Demons (9-3), who have won seven straight. "I looked at this like any other game - come out, play well and get the win," said Melvin who attended Lake Clifton.

BEIJING - With the U.S. men's basketball team determined not to overlook anybody, what can the Americans come up with for tonight's opponent, Angola? How about, they don't discourage easily? With all the reversals the U.S. has suffered in recent international competition, there was always some team it could beat, not to mention beat on. The Dream Team made its debut against Angola in Barcelona in 1992, winning, 116-48, although the 68-point victory margin isn't what it's remembered for. Nor was it because of the 46-1 run the U.S. went on with the score tied, 7-7, making it 53-8.

It took an entire quarter for Dundalk to get its offense untracked yesterday against visiting Randallstown.But after falling behind 13-2 to start the game, the No. 15 Owls took command for a 72-65 win in a Baltimore County 3A-4A game.Dundalk coach Andy Pons said he never doubted that his talented and deep team could come back."We didn't get off to a real good start," Pons said, "but I knew with the explosiveness we have that we could make a run."He said the biggest factor in the turnaround was his team's switching from a press to a zone defense when trailing 20-11 near the end of the first quarter.

COLLEGE PARK - With six minutes left in Friday night's Class 2A state semifinal game, the Lake Clifton boys basketball team finally got what it wanted. For most of the game, including seven-plus minutes of the second quarter, the No. 4 Lakers challenged No. 12 South Carroll to get out of its zone defense by holding onto the ball. Protecting a seven-point lead at that time in the fourth quarter, the Lakers finally got their wish, and a few moments later they were celebrating a berth in Saturday's championship game with a 46-34 win over the Cavaliers at Comcast Center.

Virginia's resilient Cavaliers keep reinventing themselves through injury and mishap this season. On Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium, they rattled Denver with a suffocating zone defense and an almost flawless first half to take a 14-8 victory in an NCAA Division I men's lacrosse semifinal. In a year when even some of their own fans had written them off, the Cavaliers advance to Monday's championship game for the first time since 2006. They will face Maryland, a 9-4 winner over Duke in Saturday's second semifinal.