SPORTS TOME TITANS RECLAIM CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE

By Kevin Phillips

NORTH EAST–One year after losing the Mid-Atlantic League championship game to Tri-State Chrisitan Academy, the Tome School looked to reverse the results in the 2022 edition of the title game against the Crusaders.

The Titans used the momentum created by a close victory in the first set to sweep (25-23, 25-17, 2519) Tri-State and win another MIL championship Saturday night at Cecil College.

“Last year was tough when we lost. As the lone senior, it means so much to be just because it was my comeback year, and it’s how I’m leaving the school with an MIL win,” Tome’s Alivia Carillo said. “I’m really excited to represent the school in that way, and it was great to play along with my sister (Ainsley Carrillo), it was my first and last year with her. It was great. I think winning the MIL was due to a lot of hustle and effort as a team.”

Tri-State and Tome engaged in a back-and-forth first set in which there were seven ties, and at one point, the Titans trailed 13-8 before surging to a 21-17 lead late in the frame.

The Crusaders rallied to tie it at 23-23 before Tome scored two straight points on blocks to win the set 25-23 and take a 1-0 lead in the match, and Titan head coach Chris Spencer says winning those final two points in the first set was critical for the remainder of the match.

“That was huge. That set the tone for the rest of the match. You want to win that first one and put them on their heels a little bit,” Spencer, who won his 100th game at Tome, said. “I couldn’t believe we took it.

I thought it was a little touch and go.” The Titans led the second game from the start and took firm control of the frame with ten answered points to build an 18-7 lead before holding off a late surge from the Crusaders en route to a 25-17 victory continued on B-3 photos by Susan Burkholder

Golden Elks sweat out close win over Vikings in 1st round

By Victor Hensley

ELKTON - Not every win is glamorous.

Sometimes, despite losing the turnover battle, scoring single-digit points and shooting yourself in the foot with penalty after penalty, you still find a way to get the job done.

And in the wise words of Matt Feeney: a win is still a win.

That was the message Feeney, Elkton’s head coach, delivered to the Golden Elks (5-5) last Friday in their narrow 7-6 victory over the Cambridge-South Dorchester Vikings (4-6) in the opening round of the MPSSAA 2A-1A playoffs.

“We were our own worst enemy tonight, truly,” Feeney said after his team escaped with the win over the

Vikings. “That’s a good, athletic football team and they’ve got some guys over there, but we shot ourselves in the foot too many times. That game shouldn’t have been as close as it was, in my opinion. … We should’ve had it in hand, but it is what it is. We persevered, so that’s what matters.”

When it comes to self-inflicted wounds, Feeney hit the nail on the head.

The Golden Elks likely should’ve – and would’ve –won by double digits, but a few ill-advised penalties wiped out a pair of potential game-changing scores, which prevented Elkton from breaking the game wide open.

Just before the half, Elkton senior quarterback Eli Latshaw found junior wide recontinued on A-6

photos by Duane Goldsmith