Middletown

By DAN SPEARS / Staff Writer photo: RIC DUGAN / staff photographer MIDDLETOWN, Md. - As if the Middletown girls basketball team wasn't impressive enough during Monday night's 61-36 dismantling of Walkersville in the Class 2A West quarterfinals, head coach Kara Nelson was raving about her Knights' attitude before the game. cont. from sports page "I wish you could have seen them before the game," Nelson said with a huge grin. "They were so up for this.

Local Roundup - Catoctin girls stun No. 3 Middletown GIRLS BASKETBALL MIDDLETOWN, Md. - Cyndi Benjamin scored 19 points to lead Catoctin to a 44-40 upset victory over No. 3 Middletown in the Monocacy Valley Athletic League Wednesday night. Kim Waeber scored 20 points to lead the Knights (12-2). CATOCTIN (44) Benjamin 19, Cherry 7, Williams 4, Valentine 2, Atkins 10, Eyler 2. Totals 15 11-16 44. MIDDLETOWN (40) Mannis 3, Waeber 20, Warner 2, Moore 5, Costello 8. Totals 14 12-15 40. Catoctin811187-44 Middletown1011613-40 Three-point goals - Catoctin 3 (Atkins 2, Cherry)

GIRLS BASKETBALL MIDDLETOWN, Md. -- Iesha Robinson scored 16 points and No. 2 Martinsburg went on the road and knocked off Middletown (8-2) 59-46 on Monday night. Yolonda Pinkcett had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Jackie Brewer added 12 points for the Bulldogs (7-1). Martinsburg 59, Middletown 46 MARTINSBURG (7-1) Wright 4, Quinn 3, Robinson 16, Brewer 12, Pinkcett 14, Hill 8, Burkhart 2. Totals 21 15-20 59. MIDDLETOWN (8-2) Keimind 7, Oursler 16, Kessler 1, Holian 4, Holt 8, Payne 3, Robinson 6. Totals 16 13-21 46. Martinsburg 16 9 19 15 -- 59 Middletown 10 6 9 21 -- 46 3-point goals -- Martinsburg 2 (Quinn, Brewer)

GIRLS BASKETBALL MIDDLETOWN, Md. -- Alyssa Oursler scored a game-high 20 points to lead Middletown as the Knights handed North Hagerstown its first loss of the season, 59-52, in the MVAL Piedmont opener for both teams Thursday night. The Hubs (3-1, 0-1) led 12-4 at the end of the first quarter and 26-25 at halftime. The game was tied at 42 heading into the fourth quarter. Kirksten Mitchell had 14 points, eight rebounds and seven steals for the Hubs, while Kishia Jackson had 10 points and four rebounds.

The last time Middletown's volleyball team visited North Hagerstown, the Knights had to rally from a 2-1 deficit to squeeze out a five-game thriller on Sept. 16. Middletown made sure Monday evening's Class 2A West quarterfinal had significantly less suspense. The Knights swept North, 25-19, 25-11, 28-26. "We knew that it would be a tough match," Middletown coach Jaime Pryor said. "For some reason, we always draw them in the ... regionals. It is always a tough match. When we played them earlier this season, they really served us off the court.

SMITHSBURG - Holding a lead going into the last bout is usually a good place to be for a wrestling team. But when the margin is slim and the final opponent is a returning Maryland state runner-up, that position tends to be a bit more tenuous. Smithsburg took a 36-33 lead after 13 bouts Thursday night before Middletown junior Brandon Johnson - ranked third in the latest state rankings at 171 pounds - pinned Jeb Slick to give the Knights a 39-36 win. "That was a good situation for us," said Middletown coach Jim Schartner.

South served sweep : Middletown misses just one serve in MVAL win By CURT HORNBECKER / Staff Correspondent photo: RIC DUGAN / staff photographer There are plenty of large companies who take pride in the quality of the service they provide. Many of them would take a back seat to the Middletown volleyball team. [cont. from sports page ] The Knights hit 69 of 70 service attempts Wednesday - including 67 straight - to dismantle South Hagerstown, 15-2, 15-7, 15-11, in a Monocacy Valley Athletic League match.

MIDDLETOWN, Md. - For the first 16 minutes, Middletown's boys' basketball team had all sorts of trouble against Boonsboro's zone defense. But once the Knights solved the problem, there was no looking back. After hitting just 6 of 25 first-half shots, Middletown caught fire in the second half Tuesday and rebounded from a 15-point deficit for a 70-60 Monocacy Valley Athletic League win. Sparked by Pete Colwell and Brad Kehoe, the Knights buried 19 of 29 shots in the second half to thwart Boonsboro's upset hopes.

North Hagerstown will begin its foray into the Maryland Class 2A tournament next week knowing it will have to do what it didn't get accomplished on Wednesday night. Against Middletown, which will also be in the 2A mix, North did not display its usual aggressive style of play. The consequence was a 55-45 loss to Middletown (16-5) in the regular-season finale as the No. 1 Hubs (19-3) had their 11-game win streak snapped. "We were very passive on offense and had no pressure on defense and you won't beat a team like Middletown playing that way," said North coach Barry Brown.

kauffman@herald-mail.com LANDOVER, Md. - Middletown senior Justin Myers woke up Monday morning without any individual state titles to call his own. He left Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex Monday night with two, while leading the Knights to the 2A-1A boys team title. Myers held off the challenges of Clear Spring's Jeremy Everitts in the Class 2A-1A boys 1,600-meter run and Williamsport's Matt Rouse in the 3,200 to finish his prep indoor career with some long-awaited gold at the Maryland Indoor Track & Field Championships.