Things seen and heard around the county recently:
* The Francis Scott Key girls basketball team sliding down a hill on a bus in a snowstorm one mile from the school Feb. 3 while returning from a postponed game at Walkersville.
Fortunately for Key coach Alice Smith and the players on the bus, the state police cleared the hill of all cars before they allowed the bus to come down the hill.
Even though everyone arrived at Key safe and sound, Smith was hot enough to melt the snow outside.
At that time, the first-year coach thought that Walkersville possibly had postponed the game because four of its players had been suspended from the team that day and the Lions had played South Hagerstown the night before.
Upon further investigation, Smith learned that all varsity games in Frederick County were postponed at the same time that night.
Of course, it didn't help Smith's mood that snowy evening when she discovered that the Key-Walkersville varsity boys basketball game was played at Key.
Smith will take her team back to Walkersville Feb. 24.
* A touch of irony in that whole snowy situation Feb. 3 was that the boys game was played at Key and the Walkersville boys had to travel the same road one hour and 45 minutes later to get home that the Key girls had just been on.
* Former North Carroll wrestling coach Dick Bauerlein coming to the defense of first-year Panthers' coach Bryan Wetzel in the aftermath of North Carroll's fall from its longtime No. 1 position in county wrestling.
Bauerlein said Wetzel was basically doomed from Day 1 because of the loss of three top wrestlers (Eddie Davis, Jason Sims and Andy Gerlach).
Then to make matters worse, outstanding freshman 125-pounder Adam Boog was declared academically ineligible right before the county tournament last Saturday.
Davis (112 pounds) and Sims (189) were county champions last season, and Gerlach was expected to be a starter this year. Davis left school, Sims quit the team a week before the start of the season, and Gerlach is working.
"You just can't lose three wrestlers like that without feeling it," said Bauerlein who had guided the Panthers to 11 county titles in the past 12 years.
Francis Scott Key outscored North Carroll, 153.5 to 134, to win its first county tournament title in 16 years under coach Bill Hyson.
* Another outstanding county wrestler, South Carroll's Dan McKinney (171 pounds), quit the mat to work after the Cavaliers upset Francis Scott Key in a dual match.
McKinney, a senior, has been replaced by sophomore Andy Mann.
South Carroll (126 points) finished third in the county tournament without McKinney, but the 12-1 Cavaliers are favored to win the 3A-4A North Region dual-meet title tonight at Dulaney at 5:30.
Eighth-ranked South Carroll (second-seeded) wrestles Eastern Tech (third-seeded) in the semis, and is expected to meet top-seeded and 13th-ranked Dulaney in the finals.
South Carroll already owns a win over Dulaney (which will wrestle fourth-seeded Perry Hall in the semis), putting the Cavaliers in a good position to be wrestling Saturday on their home floor in the four-team state 3A-4A dual-meet championships.
* The four-team state 1A-2A dual-meet championships also are set for South Carroll Saturday.
North Carroll is the defending champion but has a long tough road to make it two straight.
The Panthers get hit first tonight in the 1A-2A West Region semifinals at North Carroll at 5:30 with a match against second-ranked Francis Scott Key, which already has beaten the Panthers in a dual meet, the Rebel Invitational tournament and the Carroll County tournament.
The Key-North Carroll semifinal winner will meet either Northern-Garrett or Southern-Garrett in the 7:30 finals.
Bowling Brook's best
Bowling Brook of Middleburg in Carroll County won the B Division championship in last weekend's first Maryland Independent State Wrestling tournament at Bullis School in Montgomery County.
Bowling Brook, coached by Jim Tavenner, had fifth-place finishes from Ronald Winder (171 pounds) and Darius Boyles (189).