Montrose Christian senior point guard Carmelo Bentancourt helped lead his team to a 2011 National High School Invitational Championship in his one-year in the program. Coming to Rockville, Maryland via Puerto Rico, Montrose Head Coach Stu Vetter credited Bentancourt many times on his improvement throughout the season.

Now with his senior year complete, Bentancourt, who is a tremendous student, is contemplating his college decision. The point guard, who has played for the Puerto Rican 18 and Under national team, had seen interest from major programs such as Virginia, Maryland, and Georgetown last fall, but will likely settle into a role with a strong mid-major program.

It has been learned that since the end of the 2011 season, the Puerto Rican point guard has received offers from Siena, Manhattan, and Akron.

The Team Takeover basketball program, based locally in the D.C. area, has emerged in the last few years as one of the very best youth basketball programs in the nation. After turning heads with a team-oriented style that helped to win the prestigious Peach Jam tournament in 2010, Team Takeover finished the EYBL 2011 season undefeated (15-0) and remains a perfect 21-0 this spring.

The EYBL season just concluded with a three-day tournament in Los Angeles, and the team will resume play again in mid-June in Portland, Oregon.

Led by Head Coach Keith Stevens, Team Takeover is loaded with local IAC and WCAC players. Leading the team is DeMatha point guard James Robinson, who as Coach Stevens recently pointed out on twitter, has won 3 City Titles, 3 WCAC Titles, Alhambra Classic Title, 16u Supershowcase title, 17u Peach Jam Championship, and 27 straight Eybl wins before his senior year of high school.

Below is this year's roster for Team Takeover:

Patrick Hollaway 6'0 2012 Paul VI HS
Joe McDonald 6'1 2012 Landon School
James Robinson 6'3 2012 Dematha
Kethan Savage 6'3 2012 Episcopal
Jonathan Tshibuy 6'4 2012 Bullis School
Arnaud Adala Moto 6'6 2012 Episcopal
Jermai Grant 6'7 2012 Dematha
Barrington Alston 6'8 2012 Christ Church
Beejay Anya 6'8 2013 Dematha

Two Quince Orchard football players picked up new college offers this week according to Coach Dave Mencarini on his twitter account, in what continues to be a heavy spring recruitment period for the Cougars.

Rising senior defensive end Darnell Leslie, who has received plenty of interest from college programs, picked up his first offer this week from Bryant University. Leslie, who had a strong junior campaign, is a candidate to become a breakout-star this fall, and will likely be relied upon to make plays behind the line of scrimmage regularly.

Also, picking up another offer this week is All-Gameday sophomore linebacker Marcus Newby. Newby, who already holds offers from Maryland and Virginia Tech, among others, picked up a new offer from Rutgers. The class of 2013 linebacker will certainly be an early candidate for MoCo Defensive Player of the Year in the fall, and will need to play well to make up for the loss of fellow linebacker Alex Twine (Maryland).

In 2008, LJ Hoes was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the third-round of the amateur Major League Baseball draft. Hoes decided to make the jump directly out of high school, where he had attended St. John's in the district. Three year's later Hoes has emerged as a top prospect in the Baltimore system.

On Monday, Hoes received a promotion from class Single-A Frederick to Double-A Bowie, making another step toward possibly becoming the heir-apparent to long-time second baseman Brian Roberts.

While Hoes has struggled some during his minor league career, he has shown enough upside to convince most that he will at least make it to the big leagues one day, and could possibly become an everyday starter with some improvement. Hoes is expected to play both second base and outfield in Bowie.

Hoes is batting .241 with seven doubles, three homers, 17 RBIs and a .638 OPS in 41 games. Despite batting .303 against left-handers, he is only hitting .196 against right-handers, an area that clearly needs work.

Less than two weeks removed from winning their first WCAC baseball title since 2005, St. John's has even more good news coming out of the program. Along with three players that signed in the fall, St. John's announced the signing of four additional Cadets who have made their college choices.

It was a tough 2011 season for St. John's, which began the year ranked as high as #34 in the country, and was picked to win their conference, but the Cadets finished 6th in the regular season. Partially because of underestimated depth in the WCAC, St. John's couldn't quite find their groove until the playoffs.

In the playoffs, St. John's beat O'Connell, Good Counsel, and DeMatha to show everyone what they were truly capable of.

According to the team website, St. John's has produced 74 college baseball players since 1992, a remarkable number. Here are the 7 that will begin playing at the next level in the fall:

Joe Camp - 1B Concord University

Nick Howard - P/SS University of Virginia

Brady Schmitt - P/SS University of South Carolina @ Aiken

Bobby Boyd - West Virginia University

Justin Korenblatt - LaSalle University

Nate Mieners - Randolph Macon University

Nick Papillo - University of Scranton

On the same day it became official that Baltimore senior guard Nick Faust will keep his commitment to the University of Maryland, rumors are circulating that Montrose junior Justin Anderson maybe having second thoughts.

As first reported by TerrapinTimes.com, the 6'6" wing has reconsidered his options since the announcement of Gary Williams retirement and may decide to commit elsewhere. At the time of Anderson's oral commitment to MD he was down to three schools as final choices, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. Virginia is believed to be the favorite if Anderson looks elsewhere.

Josh Barr of The Washington Post is reporting that Anderson's AAU coach, Boo Williams, has confirmed that he is looking at his options.

The news comes less than a week after junior point guard Seth Allen became the first high school player to pledge a commitment to new Maryland coach Mark Turgeon. Allen and Anderson have had a relationship from youth basketball and it was believed by many that the two athletic locals would complement each other nicely at the next level.

Anderson, fresh off of Montrose Christian's National High School Invitational victory, has plenty of time to make a decision on his college choice, but the news that he is reconsidering surely has Terrapin fans quite unnerved. It remains a possibility Anderson does stick with Maryland.

Georgetown Prep senior Denny McCarthy was able to come from behind after long weather delays to win his third consecutive Washington Private Schools Golf Championship. McCarthy, the reigning All-Met Player of the Year, recently won his third straight IAC individual title, and helped Prep to their fifth straight as a team.

The Washington Private Schools Championship was the final high school event for the decorated senior who is likely headed to Duke next year. For more on McCarthy and the tournament check out:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wcac-golf-georgetown-preps-denny-mccarthy-rallies-to-win-after-rain-delay/2011/05/17/AFvoE85G_story.html

One of the premier high school basketball scouting services, Rivals.com, has released their new 2012 class rankings that include several players of interest.

Locally, here is how some of the guys stack up in the top 150 of the rising senior class in America:

#23 Justin Anderson - Montrose Christian (Oral Commitment to Maryland)
#57 Jerami Grant - DeMatha
#83 James Robinson - DeMatha
#117 Arnaud Adala-Moto - Episcopal

Also appearing on the list was #24 Rasheed Sulaimon (oral commitment to Duke) from Strake Jesuit in Texas. Strake and Sulaimon appeared at the Georgetown Prep hosted Jesuit Classic tournament this past season and could return again in 2011-12.

One of the strongest athletic programs in MoCo will see their graduating talent represent well at the collegiate level. Quince Orchard has ten athletes already committed to colleges, in seven different sports, and may very well have a few more before the end of the year.

Here is the list of Quince Orchard's committed athletes:

Peter Bowles - Towson State University for Baseball
Leah Dagen - Manhattanville College for Basketball
Jhamal Diggs - Johnson & Wales University for Volleyball
Shannon Dwyer - LaSalle University for Track & Field*
Ian Harding - Frostburg State University for Lacrosse
Leah Hunsinger - York College for Field Hockey
Jade Lebrock - Salisbury University for Track & Field*
Eric Simon - St. Mary's College for Lacrosse
Nick Thompson - Shepherd University for Football
Alex Twine - University of Maryland for Football

5-foot-6 sophomore point guard Aquille Carr dominated competition for Patterson High School (Baltimore) this season, leading his team to the state finals, only to lose to North Point for their first loss of the season. Carr passed the 1,000 points scored mark this year, making him the fastest to the milestone in Baltimore City history.

After leading the U.S. Junior National Team to a Gold Medal in Milan last month, and averaging 40 points per game, Italian pro basketball team's took notice.

Lottomatica Virtus Roma has offered the young star a contract worth $750,000 for one season and could be worth as much as $1,000,000. Roma is also the team that now Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings played for when he opted not to attend U.S. college.

For more on Aquille and this story check out the link below as well as the highlight tape put together by our own Mark Stern:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Tiny-sophomore-point-guard-lands-750-000-Italia?urn=highschool-wp1862&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

In an unusually close team competition at the County Championship meet Tuesday night, the B-CC gymnastics team placed third with 162.425 points, just behind Blair (169.975) and Walter Johnson (173.7). Trailing B-CC were Sherwood (155.975), Whitman (153.75), Blake (152.5), and Gaithersburg (118.575).

Five B-CC gymnasts earned the right to represent Montgomery County in individual events at the State High School Championship meet next Wednesday. Members of the "All-Star Team" from different County schools qualified for the State meet on the basis of their scores in individual events, along with the two top-scoring schools in the County competition.

Leading the B-CC qualifiers will be senior captain Julie Siegel, who will compete on 3 events in the State meet. In addition, Junior Nicole Epstein will represent B-CC on floor and sophomore Michaela Socolof will compete on balance beam. Rounding out the B-CC contingent are freshmen Lizzie Orr, on vault and floor exercise, and Bergen Kassoff, on the balance beam.

B-CC's showing was especially impressive for a young, rebuilding team, two-thirds of whom are freshmen or sophomores. Except for Julie Siegel, the entire team will be back next season.

As first reported by Mike Cornejo of Mocofootball.com (@MikeCornejo on twitter) Einstein has hired a new football coach. Jermaine Howell will take over the program after Michael Bonavia left to take the same position at Sherwood High School.

Howell was the head junior varsity coach last year, and will take over a varsity that finished 4-6 in 2010, but showed tremendous improvement.

Also, first reported by Mike Cornejo, former long-time Montgomery County head coach and assistant to his son Marc last season at Sherwood, Coach Al Thomas will move over to Damascus in 2011. Thomas will be the team's defensive coordinator under Coach Eric Wallich.

As rumored throughout the last 24 hours, DeMatha has announced Elijah Brooks will be the team's next head football coach. Brooks, an assistant under former Coach Bill McGregor, will take over the program immediately.

A former DeMatha football and basketball player, Brooks graduated from the school in 2002, before moving on to William & Mary, where he played running back. Only 27 years of age, Brooks will be one of the youngest head coaches of any program in the area next season, but he should be able to rely on a veteran staff to help him.

McGregor spent 29 years as the DeMatha football coach before stepping down just over a month ago. Brooks will have a tough task to continue the success of a program that has built a national reputation, not only for winning on the high school level, but also sending record numbers of players to both the collegiate and professional levels.

By replacing McGregor with an in-house candidate that already has a strong bond with many of the current players, transfers and other program changes should be kept to a minimum.

It has been about a month since DeMatha Coach Bill McGregor announced he would not be returning after 39 years at the school, 29 of which spent as the head football coach. As we enter May it appears the school is on the verge of making a decision on the next coach, which includes several candidates with ties to the Hyattsville Catholic school.

While it is not known who the coach will be, at least publicly, there are strong indications that the DeMatha brass is close to finalizing a decision.

According to DeMatha basketball Coach Mike Jones twitter account, @DeMathaHoops, he will be announcing the new man in charge of the football program via the social networking service. Jones also indicated he is not sure of the selection himself yet, but he believes he will be making the decision public around May 4th on twitter.

On Tuesday, Nico Narel-Aguilar led his B-CC Baron's varsity baseball squad past Paint Branch in a 12-0 victory by tossing a no-hitter. Narel-Aguilar pitched a complete game, with 5 innings pitched, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts.

It just so happens that on the very same Tuesday afternoon (4/26), Tommy McGinnis and Scott Gerson combined for a no-hitter of their own, as the B-CC junior varsity got past Springbrook by a score of 10 to 4.

If you're curious how four runs were scored in a no-hitter...so was I. The two pitchers combined to surrender 7 walks, and three other Springbrook batters reached on B-CC errors, but never allowed a base hit.

The stat line was so unusual, it was not until a B-CC baseball coach checked back in the stat book on Wednesday to recognize the junior varsity had accomplished the same feat as the varsity.

It is little surprise to local golf enthusiasts that Georgetown Prep senior Denny McCarthy won his third consecutive IAC individual title on Tuesday. He also helped Prep to win their 5th straight championship.

McCarthy, a three-time All-Met and the 2010 All-Met Player of the Year, is likely to win both honors again this season as he finishes his impressive high school career. The Duke commit represented the United States as a member of the Junior Ryder Cup team last summer and has been a key contributor for the Prep basketball team the last two seasons.

McCarthy won the individual title by two strokes in windy conditions, which helped edge Landon for the team title by exactly two strokes.

Former St. John's Cadet basketball star Chris Martin has verbally committed to Marshall for next season. Martin, now a senior at St. Patrick's in New Jersey, is from the D.C. area and attended St. John's during his freshman and sophomore years.

While at St. John's, Martin was a star on the basketball court for the Cadets. He led the team in scoring during his sophomore campaign as the teams point guard. WCAC coaches recognized his talent early, picking him as a 2nd team All-WCAC performer as just a sophomore.

Martin's shooting has continued to develop at St. Patrick's and he is considered to be a well regarded combo guard at this point in his career. He has also played with the D.C. Assault AAU program.

Both VCU, led by Coach Shaka Smart, and UAB were the other finalists for Martin before he chose Marshall to play for coach Tom Herrion.

Here is an interview with Martin and one of his St. Pat's teammates:

Two graduating senior's from the Walter Johnson football team have made their college choices, quarterback Cole Ahnell will be heading to Dickinson College, and athlete Ryan Davis has chosen Greensboro College.

While Ahnell will get the chance to play his high school position of quarterback at the next level, Davis's future position is still to be determined. Davis could play a number of positions including running back, receiver, or possibly defensive back.

Both Ahnell and Davis played key roles in the Walter Johnson program that has seen a re-emergence in the last two years under Coach Jon Kadi.

Here is an interview with Cole Ahnell just after the football season ended:

On Monday, we had a chance to cover a highly anticipated baseball contest between the undefeated 2010 4A State Champions Sherwood Warriors and the 2010 3A Regional Champions Quince Orchard. Sherwood won the game on their home field 2-1 with a controversial walk-off inside the park home run with two outs in the bottom of the 7th.

Catch or no catch? You make the call...

GAITHERSBURG, MD - BETHESDA, MD - The B-CC Gymnastics Team honored their Captain, Senior Julie Siegel with a 161.8 to 101.5 win over Gaithersburg High School at B-CC's Senior Night. Julie Siegel has been on the B-CC gymnastic team for four years. She was saluted by her teammates at the beginning of the meet for being a consistently strong contributor whose leadership, energy and positive attitude made all her teammates strive and work harder.

Julie Siegel capped off Senior Night by placing first in the All Around (34.90), second in the Vault (8.50), tying for second on the Beam (8.50) with Lizzie Orr and placing first on the Bars, (8.80) and Floor (9.10). Sophomore Michaela Socolof and Freshmen Lizzie Orr and Bergen Kassoff were strong contributors for B-CC. Michaela placed second in the All Around with a score of 33.40, and placed first on the Balance Beam (8.70), second on the Bars (8.50), and Floor (8.40) and third on the Vault (8.20). Lizzie placed third in the All Around with a score of 33.4, and placed first on the Vault (8.70), third on the Bars (8.20) and fifth on the Floor (8.0). Bergen placed fourth in the All Around with a score of 23.60, and placed fourth on the Vault (8.00), Bars (7.20) and Beam (8.40). Also contributing to B-CC's success were Freshman Elise Girard who placed third on the Floor and fifth on the Bars with scores of 8.20 and 6.50, respectively and Sophomore Nicole Epstein who placed fourth on the Floor (8.10) and sixth on the Beam (5.40).

B-CC's next meet will be Monday, April 11th at 6 pm when they meet Blake High School at B-CC.