In the middle of November the Centennial Conference coaches voted both Western Maryland College basketball teams finish last in their West Divisions.
Well, guess again.
The final weekend of the regular season is here and the men have clinched their first conference playoff spot in 15 years and the women are on the verge of doing the same.
Johns Hopkins' 68-63 win at Gettysburg on Wednesday secured second place and the final playoff spot for the Western Maryland men, making tomorrow's home date with Gettysburg meaningless.
The Green Terror will go into the game 7-5 in conference play, with the Bullets' loss Wednesday dropping them to 5-7.
A big key to the Green Terror's surge in the second half of the season has been freshman Will Marshall. The 6-foot-6 forward was rewarded for his fine play with CC Player of the Week honors.
He had 28 points and 15 rebounds in a 68-67 win at Ursinus last Thursday -- both career-highs -- and 10 points and seven TTC rebounds in a 58-57 win at Hopkins, including the game-winner with 13 seconds left.
The Green Terror will open the playoffs at the East Division champ on Wednesday. Who it will be remains unclear.
It's still a three-way race with Washington College (6-5) needing a win over Franklin & Marshall (22-0, 11-0 atop the CC West) on Friday to stay alive.
A Washington loss would set up a winner-take-all situation when Swarthmore (9-3) travels to Muhlenberg (8-4) on Saturday. A Swarthmore win would give it the West Division outright; a Muhlenberg win would declare co-champs with the Mules earning the top seed on a tie-breaker.
The Green Terror probably would prefer to play Swarthmore if it had a choice. Pat Young scored 25 and Jeff Daniels added 19 in a 93-85 win over the Garnet at Western Maryland on Nov. 22. One week later, the Green Terror dropped a 86-66 decision at Muhlenberg, where it hasn't won since the 1986-87 season.
Women's basketball
The women's outlook is much cloudier with a lot depending on a couple of games last night. Johns Hopkins (11-2) has clinched at least a playoff spot with Gettysburg and Western Maryland both at 9-3 going into conference games last night. Dickinson, which played host to Western Maryland last night, was still in the fold at 8-4. Haverford (2-10) traveled to Gettysburg last night.
The Green Terror will play host to Gettysburg Saturday afternoon, and regardless of any of last night's outcomes, will be playing for at least a one-game playoff for second place on Monday.
Western Maryland wins against Dickinson and Gettysburg would assure the Green Terror of a playoff berth.
Sophomore Sandi DeJager was a mention on the conference honor roll for last week. She scored a career-high 25 points in a win at Washington last Thursday before contributing 23 points, six rebounds and three assists in a loss to Hopkins.
Swimming
Buffy Burke will take three top conference times into the CC Championships starting today at Swarthmore.
Burke has the top seed in the 500-yard free (5 minutes, 17.99 seconds), 200 free (1:59.40) and the 100 free (2:12.58). Karen Alexander has the top time in the 200 backstroke (2:12.58).
On the men's side, Paul Matkovic will enter the 200 breaststroke event a second seed with his best time being 2:18.77.
Wrestling
The CC Wrestling Championships will take place tomorrow at Gettysburg. The Green Terror has three wrestlers going in with winning records and another at the .500 mark.
Rick Estes (8-6) will drop to the 158-pound class after competing at 167 for most of the season. Phil Simmerer (9-5) will compete at 167, and Joe Fleming (8-3) drops down to 177 after spending most of the season at 190.
C7 Jeff Kellmer will compete at 190 with a 7-7 record.