By Josh Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Second-ranked Montrose Christian could be without one of its key players tonight against Booker T. Washington. Guard Isaiah Armwood injured his left knee in the opening moments of Friday's 47-44 victory over Jericho Christian and missed the rest of the game.

X-rays were inconclusive, Montrose Christian Coach Stu Vetter said, and the 6-foot-7 junior was scheduled to have a MRI exam yesterday.

"We're hoping for the best," Vetter said. "It was scary. He was hurting and is still hurting. Our first offensive series of the game and he ran into somebody and twisted it, or somebody ran into him."

Armwood is Montrose's third-leading scorer, averaging 11.3 points per game. The Mustangs also played Friday without their second-leading scorer, senior guard Kevon Moore (11.4 ppg), who missed the game because of the death of his grandmother, Vetter said.

After his team fell to Thomas Stone and Westlake to open the season, McDonough Coach Dave Rooney saw a "blah" look in his players, as if they accepted that they were supposed to lose after six players -- including four starters -- from last season's 10-13 team graduated.

After McDonough dropped to 1-3 on Dec. 18, the Rams held a players-only meeting, lasting nearly 30 minutes. Their next game was a win over defending 3A state champion River Hill, the first of eight straight victories that have vaulted the Rams to the top of the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference at 9-3 overall and 6-0 in the conference.

"Just looking in their eyes, you could see something was happening," Rooney said after seeing the team walk past his coaches' office following the meeting. "They just had a little different energy."

Senior Tyrone Walker said the team aired its grievances and told individual players what they could improve on. One player called out was senior Troy Cummings, a transfer from Thomas Stone. Cummings has improved his defense noticeably since the meeting, and now leads the team in scoring at more than 12 points per game.

After finishing near the bottom of the Monocacy Valley's Chesapeake Division a year ago, Tuscarora has turned around its fortunes this winter. The Titans are 8-3 overall and 4-0 in the division, sporting a 1 1/2 -game lead over Urbana and North Carroll.

Tuscarora lost its first two games of the season, but then won eight in a row behind the scoring of seniors Antoine Smith (16 ppg), Brian Kidd and Dereck Holland (19.4 ppg). Smith had 26 points against a very good Martinsburg (W.Va.) squad on Saturday, but the streak -- during which Tuscarora won by an average of 13 points -- was broken in a 65-60 loss.

While Kidd, Holland and Smith (who transferred from Notre Dame Academy) handle the scoring load, Coach Dan Wagner said his offense revolves around the near-flawless ballhandling of point guard Luis Cotto, who is averaging eight assists and only two turnovers.

"Luis is the one that really manages everything [on the floor]," Wagner said. "We try to play an up-tempo game, and he's the one that makes it work."

Tuscarora, which opened in 2003, has won a first-round playoff game in each of the past three seasons, but lost its second-round region game each time. The Titans will face another hot MVAL team on Friday: Middletown (10-3), which has won eight straight.

"They're a very competitive group of guys," Wagner said. "They'll play anybody. If they're afraid, they don't show it."

Special correspondents Ryan Mink and Dave Yanovitz contributed to this report.