Rebels

Just two of the 10 wrestlers representing North Hagerstown and South Hagerstown at the Maryland Class 4A-3A West region championships advanced to the semifinals on the first day of the tournament Friday at Sherwood High School. North's Gene Balcita advanced in the 138-pound class with a pin over Thomas Wooton's Garrett Ruderman in 2:26 in the quarterfinals. South's Marquil Holt advanced at 220 with a 4-0 decision over Dalonte Taylor of Northwood in the quarters. The shocker of Friday was the forfeit by North junior Brendon Colbert, who did not make weight.

There's an old saying that claims, “nobody is perfect.” Anybody associated with the South Hagerstown girls basketball team might disagree with that statement. The Rebels finished with a perfect MVAL Antietam record, wrapping up the regular season with a 67-41 victory over Smithsburg on Thursday night. “Going undefeated in the conference is an accomplishment,” South coach Nate Naylor said. “This is the first time that South has won (a) conference (title) since 1995.

The South Hagerstown and Williamsport girls basketball teams tried to meet objectives on Wednesday. The Rebels were out to get some life for the playoffs. The Wildcats were just trying to stay healthy for the postseason. Mission accomplished, even though there were opposite results. South Hagerstown used early pressure to take Williamsport out of the game and coasted to a 67-29 MVAL Antietam win as Katrice Dickson scored 20 points in an all-round performance. “(South deserves)

The South Hagerstown girls basketball team has been led by a trio of junior stars this season. But on Senior Night in the Rebels' gym, it was fitting for Dejiah Johnson to shine. Johnson, the only senior on the floor for the Rebels, was their top scorer, dropping in a season-high 17 points and helping South to a 76-20 rout of Brunswick in an MVAL Antietam game Friday night. “Dejiah played a real nice game tonight, real nice for her to have that kind of game on Senior Night,” said South coach Nate Naylor.

A win over Walkersville for South Hagerstown's wrestling team might have seemed like a foregone conclusion on Wednesday, as the Lions forfeited six bouts. Even so, the Rebels sent their seniors out in style with a 48-22 victory on Senior Night. The Rebels (9-12) made it two straight over Walkersville, as they defeated the Lions 48-24 at the Rebel Duals on Jan. 19. All five of South's seniors wrestled, with three earning victories with pins. Starting at 182 pounds, Michael Rodriguez earned an upset pin over Walkersville's Brennan O'Connell, a winner of 22 bouts.

The Smithsburg boys basketball team found itself driving the lane under the influence. The Leopards would be the first to tell you, any kind of DUI isn't good. This time it was against a flawed but active South Hagerstown defense. The Rebels altered shots around the rim and used an all-around effort by Michael Hill on Tuesday to claim a 61-48 victory over Smithsburg. South (10-5, 7-2) held Smithsburg (6-9, 4-5) scoreless over the final 5:30 of the first quarter to take a 15-3 lead and never looked back - nor did the Rebels have to. The Leopards' shots were either short or errant when they did get into the lane.

South Hagerstown's girls basketball team used a strong defensive effort and got enough timely offense to score a 50-28 victory over Smithsburg on Tuesday in the MVAL Antietam. “We just wanted to put as much defensive pressure on their guards as we could,” South coach Nate Naylor said. “Our goal is to try to hold opposing teams to under 10 points in a quarter. We pretty much stuck to that tonight.” Junior Tayana Stewart had 16 points and 14 rebounds to help South (13-2, 9-0)

Whoever coined the phrase “slow and steady wins the race” never took turnovers into consideration. Boonsboro played a deliberate game, but 24 turnovers thwarted the Warriors' effort on Tuesday as South Hagerstown romped to a 67-45 MVAL Antietam victory. “Turnovers killed us,” said Warriors coach Skip Chambers. “We did not take care of the ball and too many of those turnovers wound up being layups for them.” After a relatively successful first quarter, a close game quickly slipped away from Boonsboro (5-10, 3-5)

South Hagerstown's girls basketball team took a big step toward the MVAL Antietam Conference championship on Tuesday night. Boonsboro didn't make it easy. The Rebels remained the conference's lone unbeaten team by holding off the upset-minded Warriors, 54-53. “We knew that if we won tonight, we would be up by three games in the loss column in the conference standings,” South coach Nate Naylor said. “If we play up to our capabilities for the remainder of the regular season, we can win the conference.” With the score tied at 51, South's Chelsey Scott made 1 of 2 free throws with 47 seconds remaining.

The Musselman wrestling team got a lot done at South Hagerstown High School in a span of just 24 hours. Between 4 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday, the Applemen's season record went from 4-2 to 14-2 as they won all 10 of their matches in their first appearance at the annual Rebel Duals to capture the team title. Broadneck finished second in the 12-team field at 9-1, falling 38-31 to Musselman on Friday, while Williamsport went 8-2 to take third. After going 5-0 Friday, the Wildcats went 3-2 Saturday, losing 42-36 to Broadneck and then 43-28 to Musselman.