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March 5, 2012
February 29, 2012
Elkton Forges Own Reversal Of Fortune In Hoops Playoffs
If the purpose of high school sports is to be an extension of the
classroom, the Elkton High School boys basketball team have already graduated
with honors after their 69-64 win at Edgewood tonight in the Maryland State
Playoffs.
“The took it all away from us,” said Coach Steve Smith, “Now we have it
back.” Smith was referring to the nineteen wins the Golden Elks had to give
back when it was learned Raimek Taylor was ineligible to play.
The Taylor situation got even worse before it got better, his suspension
was reduced in time for him to join his Elkton teammates in the playoffs.
Before
the “readjustment” of wins and losses the Edgewood and Elkton squads were
evenly matched in talent, playing record and in prior matchups. The first quarter of tonight’s tilt played out that way with
the Rams holding a 13-11 lead. In
the second frame, Edgewood made a sustained run to go into halftime with a
10-point lead.
Coach Smith implored his team during halftime to make their own run and
made a defensive switch to a zone he declined to name for fear his next
opponent might make an adjustment.
The speech worked and the new defense worked. Elkton outscored Edgewood
27-9 in the third period to erase their deficit and grab a lead they would
never relinquish.
As each team fought to extend their seasons and playoff runs, it was
free throws from the charity stripe that played an integral role. While the
Rams made only five of ten foul shots in the second half, the Golden Elks
knocked down eleven of thirteen.
Edgewood’s Van Rolle led the Rams with 19 points, while Elkton had four
players in double digits. Malachi
Seney led all scorers with 20 points and Sterling Cruz added in 18 points.
Next up for the Golden Elks is Patterson Mill on the road in Bel Air in
the Sectional Semifinal on Thursday.
02-28-12 Elkton v Edgewood HS Basketball Playoffs - Images by Eclipse Sportswire
February 28, 2012
Lady Panthers Press Their Way To Victory In Playoffs
They didn’t have champagne to celebrate their victory, water
bottles would have to do. But the exhilaration of winning a game in the state
playoffs, a game few thought they could win, was cause for unbridled joy in the
Perryville girls basketball locker room.
Not many who follow girls high school basketball would have believed you
if you said Perryville would be the last Cecil County team standing in the
State Playoffs, but they are.
After closing out the regular season with crushing back-to-back losses
on their home court and mired by injury problems, the Lady Panthers came out
and pressed the visiting Sparrows Point squad from the opening tipoff with a
vengeance.
They built a solid lead off turnovers and went into halftime with a
19-12 lead. The Panthers backed off of the press and it seemed to allow the
Pointers momentum to make a comeback.
The team effort by Perryville saw eight players hit the scoreboard, with
only Ali Jones entering double digits at 13 points to lead all Panther scorers.
Savannah Dunn led the scoring for Sparrows Point with 15 points.
Just as Sparrows Point pulled within a basket of Perryville, the
Panthers made a run that would put the game permanently out of reach.
Perryville outscored Sparrows Point 15-5 in the final period to salt away a
45-27 victory and a trip to the regional semifinals at Western School of
Technology in Baltimore County on Wednesday.
02-27-12 Perryville v Sparrows Point Girls Basketball - Images by Eclipse Sportswire
February 27, 2012
Union Rags and Animal Kingdom Shine Light On Local Horsepower
 |
| Union Rags winning the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Florida. |
The former is the reigning 2011 Champion Three Year-Old and the latter stamped himself as the early 2012 Kentucky Derby favorite with an impressive win this weekend. Cecil Scene mentioned them last month as the Eclipse Awards were approaching. (CLICK HERE)
Both horses are wintering in Florida before they return to Fair Hill. In the mean time, their connections have set their sights on the more prestigious goals in thoroughbred racing in the Kentucky Derby and the Dubai World Cup.
Many thought Union Rags should have been Juvenile Horse of the Year. The three year-old trained by Michael Matz was barely beaten by Hansen in the 2011 Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November. The strapping colt made his return to the races at Gulfstream Park in Florida on Sunday and quickly reminded everyone how fantastic he looked in 2011. Ridden by jockey Julien Leparoux, he geared down in the stretch and defeated some accomplished rivals handily. That win solidified him as the early Kentucky Derby favorite.
 |
| Animal Kingdom training at Fair Hill last Spring. |
The return to competitive racing is always a tenuous situation. Horses can look healthy and train well, but one never knows if their competitive fire is still there.
Animal Kingdom returned to the racing on February 18th and cleared up those doubts. His win made him the first Kentucky Derby winner since Big Brown to win a race after the Derby.
With that victory, Animal Kingdom remained pointed for a trip to Dubai on March 31st to run in the $10,000,000 Dubai World Cup, the greatest purse in racing.
Cecil Scene will keep you posted as Animal Kingdom and Union Rags progress towards their ultimate goals this Spring.
February 26, 2012
Cecil Scene Player of the Week Cimarosi Tops State Wrestling Contingent
Cimorosi, who earned All-American honors last summer, notched his 100th career win during this weekend's Maryland State Regional Tournament in Easton, Maryland. The victory gave Cimorosi three straight UCBAC and East Region wrestling titles. Cimorosi hopes to add the one title to his resume he has yet to earn - State Champion. He finished second the last two years in the finals.
Cimorosi isn't the only wrestler from Cecil Country headed to College Park in the 100 Win Club. Perryville's Amos "Buddy Harlan grabbed his 100th win earlier in the year during a match against Havre de Grace.
For wrestlers, the 100-win mark is a big deal. You can check out the Maryland State High School 100 Win List here - http://marylandwrestling.org/maryland-hs-100-win-list/
Perryville and Rising Sun High Schools each placed five wrestlers in the group headed to College Park. Wrestlers earned the right to vie for a State Title by virtue of their Top-Four finishes at this weekend's East Region tournament. Cimorosi and Bohemia Manor's A.J. Jourdan were the only Cecil County wrestlers to win their weight class at Regionals. Here are all qualifiers by weight class.
106 – Tyear Castle, Bohemia Manor
113 – Chris Brown, Perryville / Tim Taylor, Elkton
120 – A.J. Jourdan,
Bohemia Manor / Joe Antoshak, Perryville
132 - Jake Trybus, Bohemia Manor
126 – Andrew Brown, Perryville
138 – Amos “Buddy” Harlan, Perryville / Paul Keeley,
North East
145 - James Hyman, Rising Sun
152 – Anthony Cimorosi, Rising Sun / Alex Sharp, Bohemia Manor
160 – Lance Eveland, Rising Sun
170 – Msema Msackyi, Elkton / David Doring, Perryville
195 – Jake Brown, Rising Sun
220 - Tyere Garner, North East
285 – Ty McGee, Rising Sun
February 24, 2012
The Best 2-21 Team In The State? First Round Hoops Playoff Action
They might be the best 2-21 team you
will ever see play. With Elkton’s 78-62 playoff win at home against North East
in the opening round of the State Championships, the Golden Elks still have a chance to
win it all.
The last weeks of the season brought controversy
and disappointment for the Elkton squad. The Golden Elks were forced to forfeit
all of their regular season wins, save their season ending win after the
forfeits, to give away all 19 wins in their 19-2 season.
In spite of efforts by Elkton to race out
to an early lead, North East made a fight of it in the first period. Indian
Maurice Dickey buried three three-pointers, including a trifecta at the buzzer,
to cut the Elkton lead to 18-16 after one.
Elkton turned on their defense and the
press in the second period, holding North East to three baskets and ten points.
The Golden Elks put up 25 points in the second frame and blew the game wide
open.
North East’s senior leaders did their best
to keep the game close. Maurice Dickey carded five three-pointers for the game
and 21 points to lead the Indians. Kendall Danglade added 20 points.
Malachi Seney posted 25 points for the
Golden Elks to lead all scorers in a team effort that had ten different players
putting points on the board.
After forging their double-digit lead in
the second period, the Golden Elks never let off the gas forcing numerous
Indian turnovers. In spite of
eight three-pointers for the contest, North East never mounted a serious second
half run, ending their season with a sixteen point loss.
The Golden Elks have now started a new
winning streak, currently at two games, and will face the winner of tonight’s
Fallston-Edgewood matchup.
02-24-12 Elkton v North East Boys Basketball - Images by Eclipse Sportswire
Lofty Goals For Seahawk Spring Sports
How do you build a sports dynasty? How do you leave a sports legacy? The
Yankees had the Core Four and the 49’ers had Joe Montana to build their
dynasties. Cecil College softball coach Ed Durham and baseball assistant coach
Rod Williams don’t have the luxury of star players returning year after year.
For them, the legacy is in the teaching.
“The sheer joy of coaching for me is to see how they progress throughout
the year,” said Durham, adding, “I tell them this is their team, I am just here
to facilitate for them.”
The reputation Cecil College has, not only for teaching, but for level
of competition, isn’t lost of student-athletes who choose to come the junior college
in North East, Maryland.
According to returning sophomore Josh Hampton, a shortstop and third
basemen for the Seahawks baseball team, “The coaches are great teachers, they
move kids on to bigger colleges every year.”
The dedication to teaching echoes like at cadence from Coach Williams
during batting practice, “Stand short, stand tall, hit the wall,” he repeats as
he helps his hitters work on their mechanics.
For Hampton, a standout performer his freshman year, the personal goal
of becoming a major league player is a step-by-step process. When he finishes
this year as a Seahawk he will move on to Wilmington University.
Having “the next step” taken care of is a great relief for Hampton. “Now
I don’t have to worry, some kids will start pressing when they don’t know where
they are going next and they know scouts are watching.”
Hampton can credit the weight being lifted from him to his 2011 season.
In 52 games, he tallied thirteen home runs and 53 RBI, while sporting a .411
batting average. “I hoping for average,” said Hampton, “I didn’t expect to play
that well. But, as the year went on, I kept learning more and doing better.”
The baseball team has four position players and five pitchers returning
out of 26 current roster spots. The softball team is in a similar position, usually
having five or six returning players on a total roster of twelve or thirteen
girls. According to Durham, “Sometimes we don’t know exactly who we will have
until January, we always have kids moving on to bigger schools, sometimes after
one year.”
According to Assistant
Baseball Coach Rod Williams there is only one way to combat the turnover. “If
you recruit right, it doesn’t matter,” he said, “You just go where the talent
is and hope for the best.”
The baseball and softball teams have different recruiting missions. The
current baseball team has only four local high school graduates. That varies
according to Williams, “The 06-07 team, we had seven or eight local kids, but
right now we have kids from as far away as Virginia and New York.”
The softball team doesn’t have to wander as far for talent. “ In the
five years I have been coaching softball, we have had two girls from
Pennsylvania, two from Delaware and one from Harford County,” said Durham, “The
rest are home grown in Cecil County.”
The pipeline of local talent has served Cecil College well, allowing the
Seahawks to make back-to-back appearances in the National tournament. “I have
always said the strength of Cecil County is in its softball and baseball,”
added Durham.
One of those local products is returning sophomore Hannah Musick.
Initially Musick, a graduate of Perryville High School, attended college and
played softball at Bowie State, but felt the fit wasn’t right. “I came here and
I love it so much better,” said Musick, “I feel like I have learned a lot more
here and I love the way coach coaches.”
Musick was eight years old when she became a part of the Cecil County
softball pipeline. She played recreation league, travel league and high school
softball. Before moving on to either Washington College or Stevenson University,
Musick hopes to help the Lady Seahawks make it three National Tournament
appearances in a row.
Whether it is with a softball or baseball everyone at Cecil College
echoes the same thoughts about making it the National Tournament. Says Coach
Rod Williams, “We have lofty goals.”
02-24-12 Cecil College Spring Baseball Softball - Images by Eclipse Sportswire
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