40 STRAIGHT FOR LOYOLA XC

Dons unbeaten in league dual meets since Oct. 15, 2002.

ST. PAUL’S WINS TIEBREAKER

Visiting Mount Carmel succumbed to St. Paul’s and Sidney  McCray in a tie-breaker in MIAA B Conference volleyball.

In an exciting, down-to-the-wire, two-hour B Conference volleyball matchup St. Paul’s won the game five tie-breaker, 15-6, over visiting Mount Carmel.

“I hit the ball real well…but my teammates did a superb job today,” said Sidney McCray, a 6′ 5″ junior who made several key spikes and great blocks at the net as part of what was a spectacular performance.

“[But] it’s not about me,” McCray said.  “I’m very proud of our back-row players.”

In victory, the Crusaders avenged an earlier loss, rising to 10-2 in the conference. The Crusaders are just a half-game ahead of the visitinig Cougars, who dropped to 9-2.
 
“I can’t say enough about both teams. It was a fantastic match,” said St. Paul’s coach Pat Marsh. “Both sides gave 100 percent. We were fortunate that we had  the momentum in the tie-breaker.”
 
 “I give St. Pauls’ a lot of credit, they came ready to play. Sidney McCray had an incredible game,” said Cougars’ coach Jim Flynn.

“Our kids never gave up. We came back time and time again,” Flynn said. “That’s  the first loss for us  in a tie-breaker, but it should bode well for us down the line. Hopefully, it will help us later on in pressure situations.”

Mt. Carmel’s Stephon Dingle was a great leader on the floor for the Cougars.

“St. Paul’s came ready to play. McCray had a lot of kills,” Dingle said. “Even though we have good blockers, we just couldn’t stop him today”.
 
The Crusaders lookforward to a rematch with Boys’ Latin, a team against which they suffered their last defeat.

“They beat us the first time,” McCray said. “We’re looking forward to that rematch.”
                      
 
THE SCORES :    Mt. Carmel  25   St. Paul’s  21
                           St. Pauls     25   Mt. Carmel 18                
                           Mt. Carmel   25   St. Paul’s   9
                           St. Paul’s     25   Mt. Carmel 13
                           St. Paul’s     15   Mt. Carmel  6
 

CURLEY AVENGES EARLY LOSS TO CALVERT HALL, 2-1

Race for the A Conference title heats up.  Curley, McDonogh, Loyola and Gilman all win.

Bash Kamara and Mikias Teketele provided the offense for Curley (18-2 overall, 11-2 A conference), as the Friars netted a goal in each half.  Teketele also assisted on Kamara’s score.

Curley took a 1-0 halftime lead and played stellar defense to hold on.  Friars goalie John Connolly made three saves.

Calvert Hall (9-7-2, 7-4-2) drops to fourth place in the A conference.  Christian Barreiro scored the lone goal for the Cardinals and goalie Mike Brashears made eight saves.

Meanwhile,

Archbishop Curley 2, Calvert Hall 1
Goals: CH–Barreiro; AC–Kamara, Teketele.
Assists: CH–Steele; C–Teketele.
Saves: CH–Brashears 8; AC–Connolly 3.
Half: Archbishop Curley, 1-0.

Other A Conference action yesterday.

Loyola 4, Spalding 1

Douglas Adjei, Steele Stanwick, Dave Phillips and Sean Sheehan each scored for Loyola.  Steve Levine added two assists for the Dons (9-3-3, 7-3-3).    

Loyola is currently in a third place tie with Mount St. Joseph, who lost to McDonogh 4-0 yesterday, in the standings.

Archbishop Spalding (3-10-2, 2-10-1) is in eight place.

Loyola 4, Archbishop Spalding 1
Goals: AS–Fitzgerald; L–Adjei, Stanwick, Phillips, Sheehan.
Assists: L–Levine 2, Taylor, Phillips.
Saves: AS–McGerhin; L–Peitsch, Littleton.
Half: Loyola, 2-1.

Gilman 3, John Carroll 1

Gilman (8-6-2, 6-6-1) defended its home turf yesterday in beating John Carroll (3-9-2, 3-8-2).

Greg McBride scored two goals for the Greyhounds and Diego McQuestion scored the other. Gilman is currently in sixth place followed by John Carroll. 

Gilman 3, John Carroll 1
Goals: JC–Wade; G–McBride 2, McQuestion.
Assists: G–Calahan, Schriver, Sullivan.
Saves: JC–Hetzel 6; G–Hall 4.
Half: Gilman, 2-0.

OHIO OWL

Towson Catholic point guard Larry Bastfield commits to Toledo

	by Derek Toney Larry Bastfield knows he has something to prove this coming basketball season. With several standouts gone, the Towson Catholic High point guard will be the focus as the Owls attempt to repeat as MIAA A Conference champions.     One thing Bastfield won’t have to be concerned with is where he’ll be playing in 2008-09. The 5-foot, 11 inch senior recently gave a verbal commitment to Toledo University.    “I didn’t want the stress going into the season,” said Bastfield. “I just want to play, not playing for a purpose like in other years. I know where I’m going. Now, I’m just trying to win the championship.” Bastfield said Toledo assistant coach Lamar Chapman observed him at an Amateur Athletic Union tournament in Milwaukee in July, where Bastfield was playing with Team Melo. After tournaments in Atlanta and Las Vegas, the defending Mid-American Conference regular-season champions offered Bastfield a scholarship.   “They offered me the next day,” said Bastfield. “I was in UNLV’s gym when my father called me and told me they offered me.”
Larry Bastfield will play his college basketball at Toledo once he completes his senior year at Towson Catholic.

Toledo, which lost to Florida State in the opening round of the National Invitational Tournament, was the only school to offer Bastfield. He visited the Ohio campus the final weekend of September.

“I really liked the visit,” said Bastfield, who committed Oct. 8. “I had good feel for the school.”

Bastfield thought about waiting until April signing period, but will sign with the Rockets during the early signing period, Nov. 14 to Nov. 21. It will be culmination of a busy summer for the guard.

“In July, we may have been home 11 days. It was a lot of ripping and running,” said Bastfield, who participated in nine tournament with Team Melo. “We had only had nine to 10 people, and playing two to three games a day, you had to be in shape.”

Bastfield is ready to start preparation for his final high school campaign after averaging 12 points, five assists and three steals as a junior. The Owls went 31-6 last season and was the area’s No. 1 team with Malcolm Delaney, who was the Catholic League’s player of the year, and Donte Greene, who was considered one of the nation’s top 20 players and was a member of the USA Basketball under-19 World Championship team in the summer. Delaney and Greene are freshman at Virginia Tech and Syracuse, respectively.

“Playing with those guys made the game so much easier,” said Bastfield. “We went into the game knowing Malcolm was going to do this, and you had Donte at 6-10 who can play inside or out. Their intensity was so high, we fed off of it. I have to lead by example and be more vocal with this team.”

EAGLES VS. FRIARS: ONE MORE TIME

McDonogh’s 4-0 rout of Mount St. Joseph set up Thursday’s clash with Archbishop Curley, with which the Eagles have split the past two meetings. The Friars won last year’s MIAA A Conference title game, but lost to the Eagles on Sept. 29.

Senior sensation Chris Agorsor scored twice after halftime, and sophomore Mamadou Kansaye, once.

Kansaye put the Eagles ahead, 2-0, just 26 seconds into the second half, sparking the rout as the Eagles tuned up for a big game Thursday against an all-too familiar foe.
 
“I was just in the right place at the right time,” said Kansaye. “We’re all looking forward to the [Archbishop] Curley game.”

“This was a quality win against a good St. Joe team. We stepped up and we scored three quick goals in the first ten minutes of the second half,” said McDonogh coach Steve Nichols, whose Eagles ended a five-game winning streak by the Gaels (10-6, 8-6) that included Friday’s 1-0 shutout of Calvert Hall (9-6-2, 7-3-2).

Calvert Hall has both beaten the Eagles, 2-1, and, tied them, 1-1.

“I’m happy with this win,” Nichols said. “It sets up the showdown game for first-place with Curley on Thursday.”

Nichols referred to Thursday’s meeting with the defending league champion Archbishop Curley Friars (17-2, 10-2), which defeated the Eagles (15-1-3, 9-1-3) in last year’s title game, but which lost to McDonogh, 2-1, on Sept. 29.

“We’re looking forward to the game with Curley,” said All-Metro Andrew Bulls, who scored the lone first-half goal 10 minutes into the game. “We should be ready.”

The Gaels entered the game in third place in the league, which Nichols called, “one of the strongest in the country.”

“You can’t take any game in this conference lightly,” said Gaels’ coach Mike St. Martin. “They did a nice job winning the  ball early on in the game, especially on the 50-50 balls. Chris [Agorsor] is  tough up top, and I give them lots of credit; they play hard”.

The shutout of the Gaels was the 15th for Eagles keeper Tom Caso, whose team has out-scored the opposition by a combined, 53-5.

“The defense made my job easy,” said Caso, whose Eagles are 8-0-2 in their past 10 games.

“We played together today,” said Agorsor, who may be headed for pro soccer in Tottinhgham, England next year. “There are no easy games. Every game is a challenge.”

SIBLING STATS

Brothers Jim and Mike Becker combined for four goals and two assists in Chapelgate Christian’s sixth straight victory, 7-0, over MIAA C Conference opponent Towson Catholic.

Brooks Parson had a goal and an assist; Josh Rufolo and Mike Lovaas scored goals, and Ji-Min Jeong, Tom Ruzzi and Matt Siggins had assists for the Yellow Jackets (14-2 overall, 9-0 league).

The Yellow Jackets won for the sixth straight time, having out-scored their opponents by a combined, 27-2, with four shutouts during their winning streak.

Chapelgate keeper Steve Handy (three saves) registered his team’s eighth shutout, although the Yellow Jackets led only 1-0 at halftime before putting the game out of reach.

Lovaas led a tight defense that included Jeff Yahiro, Grant
Shipley and Chris Carlson.

Halftime score 1-0, Chapelgate
 
Goals: C-M. Becker 2, J. Becker 2, B. Parson, J. Rufolo, M. Lovaas.
Assists: C- B. Parson, J. Becker, M. Becker, J. Jeong, T. Ruzzi, M. Siggins.
Saves: C-S. Handy 3. TC-K. Bremer 10.
 
— Laura Bradley

DESMIT’S DONE IT AGAIN

Quakers’ junior Ryan DeSmit scored the game-winner in the second overtime to lift visiting Friends over Boys’ Latin, 1-0. The win extended the Quakers unbeaten streak to nine games, also avenging an earlier loss.

DeSmit, a junior midfielder, ran onto a long throw-in from senior teammate Tommy Goldman, then drove it into the net’s lower corner from 24 yards out, according to Friends’ coach Doug DeSmit.

The win avenged an earlier, 2-1, loss to the Lakers on Sept. 14, and extended an unbeaten streak of nine games (8-0-1) for the Quakers.

Goalie Marshall Daly made six saves for the Quakers, who improved to 10-2-1 overall, and, 9-2 against the conference.

The Lakers (11-4, 10-2) had won 10 straight league games, and 10 of their previous 11 games.

The run had included a nine-game winning streak during which the Lakers had out-scored the opposition by a combined, 24-8, with four of their five shutouts.

Also, the Lakers were coming off of Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Fallston of Harford County, a team that had been ranked No. 5 in The Baltimore Sun.

The Quakers, meanwhile, were coming off of a 3-2 victory over Division II rival Glenelg Country School, ending the Dragons’ three-game winning streak with yet another singularly overwhelming effort by DeSmit.

In that game, the Quakers trailed, 2-0, at halftime before DeSmit sandwiched two second half goals around his assist on a third by senior teammate Justin Prushansky.

The Quakers’ run includes a 6-0 shutout of Division I leader Annapolis Area Christian; a 2-1 victory over Severn, the defending B Conference champion; a tie with Archbishop Spalding of the A Conference, which also has tied A Conference power McDonogh; and the win over Glenelg Country School to avenge an earlier, 3-1, loss.

The top three teams in each of the MIAA B Conference’s two divisions make the playoffs.

‘FIGHTING FOR A BERTH’

After an 0-3 start, St. Paul’s takes a four-game winning streak and motivational memories of two straight losses into Friday night’s game at two-time defending MIAA B Conference champion Archbishop Spalding.

But he felt “embarassed” upon reflecting on the memories of what it was like losing to Archbishop Spalding last year.

For it appears that Matthews has more vivid memories of a 42-0 loss to then-visiting Archbishop Spalding on Oct. 20 — nearly a year to the day from this Friday night’s game against the homestanding Cavaliers — than he does of this year’s trio of season-opening losses.

“Obviously, nobody likes to lose. Losing the opening part of the season is not something I had been used to after four years of playing at St. Paul’s,”  said the 6-foot, 190-pound, Johns Hopkins-bound lacrosse player, referring to losses to Calvert Hall, Perry Hall and MIAA B Conference rival Archbishop Curley by 20-3, 21-14, and 16-0, respectively.

“I remember being on the sidelines against [Spalding] two years ago, when we played them down to the wire and lost [14-13] on an extra point, so that was really hard to stomach,” Matthews said. “Last year, we tried to use that as motivation. They were obviously very hyped up and very talented. They wound up blowing us out, 42-0, which was one of the hardest losses I’ve ever had to take in all of my years of playing sports. Losing by that much is just  embarassing. It really hurts you as a competitor.”

But losing is the farthest thing from the Crusaders’ collective minds entering Friday night’s game, having won four straight league games against Cardinal Gibbons, St. Vincent Pallotti, Severn and John Carroll.

Not only do the Crusaders (4-3, 4-1) have a winning mindset, but, more importantly, says their fifth-year coach, Dave Dolch, the mental capacity to dig down deep and truly compete, and, if need be, win a close game against the Cavaliers (4-2, 4-0), who have a 16-game winning streak against the MIAA’s B Conference.

“We’ve seen Severn and Cardinal Gibbons play these guys really tough, and we know that we can play them tough,” said Dolch, in his fifth season with the Crusaders.

“Two years ago, they got their streak going, they beat us, 14-13, when our kicker hit the top of the crossbar with 35 seconds left. And we have 19 seniors who lost to them last year and have that fresh on their minds,” Dolch said. “We took a physical beating. We have a lot of respect for what Coach Mike Whittles has done over the past three years, and I think our football team is going to come out and play really hard.”

Archbishop Spalding entered the season as the odds-on favorite to three-peat, albeit, with a challenge from an Archbishop Curley Friars’ program which returned to the league after two years out of it.

Like the Crusaders, the Friars have won a league-high four MIAA B Conference crowns.

Yet very few observers — other than Dolch and his players — considered St. Paul’s to be an early favorite to be in the mix of a nine-team race whose title game will be played between the two programs with the best records at the end of the regular season.

“We knew that those teams [Cavaliers and Friars] were the teams to beat, but we kind of like being the underdogs. St. Mary’s and Spalding are 4-0, and we’re 4-1, and Curley is 3-1. So we’ve got to win this game to stay in the fight for the championship,” said Peter Smyth, a 6-1, 195-
pound senior offensive lineman and linebacker. “If we lose, we’ve got to count on other teams to lose, so it’s going to be a pivotal game. Right now, we’re fighting for that playoff berth.”

But a lot has changed about the Crusaders — mostly on the inside — since they were losing early on. The changes began on Sept. 17, said senior linebacker, Mike Shipley. That was the date of the first Monday of practice following the loss to Archbishop Curley.

“It was definitely disappointing coming off of those three losses, but we all kind of regrouped under Coach Dolch,” said Shipley, the leading tackler on a Crusaders’ defense that has allowed less than nine points in its past four wins.

“We talked about how, even though we lost to Curley, we had forced a lot of turnovers and, I thought, stopped them on defense real well,” Shipley said. “Then, we got our first win [over Cardinal Gibbons], and we’ve been doing well ever since. Now, we’re just trying to keep playing together, and to keep going with the momentum that we have.”

One of the big adjustments has come with the offensive line as well as the receivers, said senior quarterback Brian Taaffe, particularly where Matthews, junior Lance Roberts (5-10, 175), senior Jake Fradkin (6-1, 195) and, on occasion, senior Colby Roane and sophomore Zack Linkous have all shown improvement.

Since  the 0-3 start, Taaffe has thrown seven TDs and one interception in the past four victories, raising his totals to 601 passing yards with a 45 percent completion ratio.

Junior quarterback Troy Jones has also contributed, with 186 passing yards and a touchdown.

Fradkin leads the receivers with 19 receptions for 290 yards and two TDs; Roane has 14 receptions for 206 yards and three TDs; and Roberts, 14 catches for 201 yards and one TD.

Senior running back Chris Wilson is the top rusher with 158 yards and three touchdowns; Tyler Feeley has five field goals and has been good on 13 of 14 extra points.

“I don’t think we were overmatched by the teams we lost to, but our offensive line was sort of inexperienced and that was a little bit of a growing pain,”  said Taaffe, a 6-4, 220-pounder. “We’ve spent a lot more time working on timing, three-step drops, the short passing game. Our guys have really taken it to heart to try to work on catching the ball to the best of their abilities. As the season has gone along, they’ve gotten much better.”

Roberts is the speedster, also returning punts. “He’s been a consistent guy for us all season,” said Taaffe, calling Fradkin, “our H-back — that hybrid running back-receiver-fullback.”

“If you had told me in the beginning of the season that Jake would be our go-to guy, with his hands, he would not have been my first choice,” Taaffe said. “But he’s put in an extreme amount of time working on his hands and his route-running.”

Roane, a catcher in baseball, “is our other slot, and he’s always had good hands and good route running,” Taaffe said of Roane,  a 5-5, 155-pounder.

“As they’ve gotten better, it’s given me a little more confidence in throwing the ball, having a comfort level in where I can put the ball without necessarily looking at it all the way through,” Taaffe said. “Just having the comfort level for where they’re going to be. We’ve come a long way because of the dedication our receivers have shown to try to make it work almost to perfection.”
                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                      
“College football is something I’d definitely like to pursue,” Taaffe said. “But a lot of the reason I’m in that position is because of the guys I’ve just talked about.”

Other factors in the game could be Feeley, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior placekicker. Or the return from injury of sophomore playmaker Tim Adams, a 5-9, 175-pounder who “score touchdowns in four of our last five games.”

“Over the last four or five years, we’ve competed for the league championship, and we certainly feel that we can be competitive against anybody in the state,”  said Dolch. “Against Curley, we showed we could play defense against any of the best teams in the area. We we learned is that, if we can find some offense,  and do better on special teams, we can play against anybody. And on Friday night, I think with us and Archbishop Spalding, it’s going to be a huckuva game.”

MIAA B Conference champs since the league’s inception

2006
Archbishop Spalding

2005
Archbishop Spalding

2004
Archbishop Curley

2003
Archbishop Curley
ST. PAUL’S
Severn

1999
McDonogh

1998
McDonogh

1997
McDonogh

1996
ST. PAUL’S

1995
ST. PAUL’S

   

B Conference/Gold

2002
St. Mary’s
ST. PAUL’S
Severn

2001
Archbishop Curley
Severn

2000
Archbishop Curley
Cardinal Gibbons

B Conference/Silver

2002
Boys’ Latin

2001
John Carroll

2000
McDonogh
                                                                                                                 

MOUNT CARMEL’S NETTING WINS

Team is leading MIAA B Conference volleyball race with two weeks remaining

Cat Lover: Mount Carmel standout Troy Franklin announced Monday afternoon he’s signing with the Tigers of Towson University.

TIGER TALE

Mount Carmel hoops star Troy Franklin verbals to Towson University

During his press conference Monday afternoon, Mount Carmel High School boys’ basketball player Troy Franklin got an interesting question.

“How does it feel to be best?” someone asked Franklin, who responded, “I don’t think I’m the best, I might be the best in our eyes because I’m your older brother.”

Franklin’s younger brother will get to continue seeing his sibling play basketball next winter as Franklin announced his intention to sign a national letter of intent with Towson University. The 5-foot, 10-inch senior point guard chose the Tigers over Central Florida, George Mason, St. Bonaventure and Toledo.

“It just came down to it being the best academic and overall basketball fit for me,” said Franklin. “I fit in with the players, the coach [Towson coach Pat Kennedy] is a cool person. He spoke to me straight-up, he never tried to talk sly to me.”

Franklin, who also had scholarship offers from Boston University, Niagara, Quinnipiac, Radford, Robert Morris, Tulane and Wagner, said he took his official visit to the York Road school a couple of weeks ago after several unofficial visits.

“A few days later, I was driving in the car with my dad and I just said ‘Towson,'” Franklin said, “I’m ready to commit to Towson.”

“I think Towson being his last official visit and after that experience, he came to the conclusion Towson was the best fit for him,” said Mount Carmel coach Tom Rose. “He’ll be a very good fit for their basketball program and a very good student.”

The national early signing period for basketball runs from Nov. 14 to Nov. 21.

A two-time MIAA B Conference first-team selection, Franklin averaged 14.9 points, four assists and 2.6 steals a game for Mount Carmel, which has reached the league championship game the past two seasons including the title in 2005-06. Franklin averaged 14.9 points, 4.4 assists and two steals as a sophomore after transferring from Boys’ Latin.

“It was a different atmosphere,” said Franklin. “The fans love you, they sit on the stage and bang water jugs together to get the other team rattled. They just took me in like I was part of the family.”
With father Troy Sr., mother Patricia Franklin-Street and Rose next to him, Franklin made his announcement in front of hundreds of students, family and friends in the school’s gymnasium.

Among those he thanked was his coaches with the Baltimore Stars Amateur Athletic Union squad where he solidified his standing as one of area’s top guards. Franklin is ranked among the top 160 seniors from in the Northeast region by Tom Konchalski’s High School Basketball Insider Report, which rates him as the top senior point guard in Maryland/D.C. area.   

“I’m not sure there are many players in the area or on the East Coast that is fast as him,” said Rose. “He shoots the ball very well, extremely competitive. I think all those things come together makes him very successful on the court.”

Franklin said the biggest improvement he’s made on the court from last season is decision-making. He isn’t concerned about distractions with staying home for college.  

“I don’t feel any pressure at all,” said Franklin. “I’ve been playing under pressure since I was seven years old.”