The basketball season is just beginning, but already there's some hot competition in tournaments at Dunbar and Randallstown this weekend and with next weekend's Towson Catholic event at Loyola College.
The seventh annual Baltimore-Washington Challenge features six games in two days tomorrow and Saturday at Dunbar.
In girls action tomorrow, Walbrook meets Washington city title contender H.D. Woodson at 5 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. game between three-time defending state champion and No. 6 Dunbar of Baltimore and District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association runner-up Dunbar.
In boys action Saturday, sixth-ranked Mervo meets Dunbar of Washington at 1 p.m.; No. 2 Lake Clifton faces DCIAA runner-up H.D. Woodson at 3; fourth-ranked and defending Class 3A state champion Douglass takes on DCIAA champ Spingarn at 5; and 2A state runner-up Dunbar of Baltimore plays DCIAA semifinalist Coolidge at 7.
The Randallstown Tip-Off, which features boys teams, begins with tomorrow's 4 p.m. opener between 18th-ranked Southern-Baltimore and Northwestern. Next up is 12th-ranked Walbrook against Virginia's Paul VI at 6 p.m., followed by the fifth-ranked and host Rams against Howard at 8.
On Saturday, Northwestern plays Douglass of Prince George's County at 4, Paul VI meets the D.C.'s New School of Development at 6, and an intriguing matchup between Southern and Randallstown ends things at 8.
Patrick Ewing Jr., of National Christian Academy, and former St. John's-Prospect Hall coach Stu Vetter, now with Montrose Christian in Rockville, will be featured in the Dec. 13-14 Towson Catholic Tip-Off Classic at Loyola College.
Montrose Christian meets No. 13 McDonogh at 6 p.m. Dec. 13, and National Christian takes on 17th-ranked Woodlawn at 7:30 p.m. In the day's final game, Towson Catholic plays Oakland Mills at 9 p.m.
The following day's action begins at 1 p.m. with a standout girls game: 4A state champion Largo meets 3A state runner-up Milford Mill, ranked 16th. Towson Catholic's girls then meet Oakland Mills at 3. In boys games that day, McDonogh faces Bullis of Montgomery County at 5 p.m., Woodlawn plays No. 8 Calvert Hall at 6:30 p.m. and Towson Catholic goes against National Christian at 8 p.m.
Banner season
The CHEN volleyball team turned a rebuilding effort into a smashing success, polishing off the season by winning the Maryland-D.C. Private Schools championship last month.
The No. 13 Bravehearts, a team of home-schooled students based in Baltimore County, defeated the Maryland School for the Deaf in the final after avenging last season's title-match loss to Maret in the semifinals.
After winning the Maryland Christian Athletic League tournament earlier in the month, the Bravehearts (16-1) landed four players on the All-League team -- Roberta Holehouse, Grace Lyon, Brittany Umetin and Christina Wotell.
Holehouse, an All-Baltimore City/County selection, was named Most Valuable Player in the MCAL. The 5-foot-7 sophomore outside hitter averaged 4.3 kills a game.
"To me, what was impressive about the season is that we only had seven girls on the team and two had never played volleyball before," said CHEN coach Janis Umetin. "This was a group of girls who were able to step up to the challenge and make it happen for us to have a successful season."