“Teli usually plays the forehand, I play the backhand, and that’s just how it’s always been,” stated Demetrios, a sophomore. “That’s how we’ve been training, you know — working hard with each other all year long, helping each other get better.”
The brothers are coming off a number of robust wins, together with a difficult match in opposition to Collegiate School that they received, 8-3. But for all their success on the court docket, they’ve needed to study to go away behind the ordinary sibling rivalry and brotherly annoyances.
“When you’re brothers, you always fight with your brother,” stated Aristotelis, a senior. “But on the court, we never fight. It’s just too fun to ever get in an argument.”
In addition to first doubles, Aristotelis performs first singles for Sidwell whereas Demetrios is seeking to transfer up from third singles to second. They’re gearing up for the George C Shafer Jr. Doubles Invitational this weekend in Newtown Square, Pa., the place they’ll compete in opposition to some of the top duos in the nation.
They’re hoping their work collectively will lead Sidwell to a different Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference title, however for now, they’re targeted on enhancing one another’s sport, one match at a time.
“We’re a very close family and, you know, tennis has brought us together,” Demetrios stated. “We’re always going to have each other’s backs.”
It’s uncommon for 2 nationally related lacrosse applications to be positioned lower than a mile aside, however that’s the case in Severna Park.
Severn School and Severna Park High are separated by 0.8 miles, however as a result of of the Anne Arundel County city’s inflow of expertise, each are contenders of their leagues.
Last week, the personal and public faculty rivals met for the first time since April 2019. Severn proved it’s the city’s greatest staff this spring with a 13-8 win in Annapolis.
“Between Baltimore and here,” Severn Coach Joseph Christie stated, “it’s like the bubble within the bubble within the bubble of lacrosse.”
This season, Severn (8-3) has emerged as a top competitor in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference, one of the nation’s most gifted leagues. Severna Park (6-2) has received a Maryland-record 10 state championships, together with the previous 5 4A titles. The Falcons defeated Severn in 2019.
Christie, who took over Severn’s program in 2017, is the faculty’s affiliate director of admissions. He has attracted athletes to the 420-student higher faculty, which is an afterthought in each sport outdoors of boys’ and ladies’ lacrosse.
“This area’s a great place to raise a family. People don’t leave,” Christie stated. “You have, in many instances, at least one parent who played at a really high level, and then in a lot of cases, two. They were then in turn coaching their kids, and you have a couple of generations of that cycle. This is why you breed such [darn] good lacrosse players.”
In final 12 months’s Virginia Class 5 championship sport, Lewis began seven juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen. Even although they misplaced that match, it was a pivotal second for the Lancers. The Springfield program had not been to a title sport since 1985, and Coach John Millward knew the playoff run would offer a lot of worth in the years to return.
“Everybody got experience, but they also got that bitter taste that comes with going all that way and not finishing the job,” Millward stated.
The Lancers misplaced just a few gamers to membership soccer problems and graduated senior star Cristian Chavez (who had been injured for the title sport), however most of the roster is again to attempt to produce one other playoff run. It received’t be straightforward: The Lancers face the problem of being a contender whereas additionally coping with a soar from Class 5 to Class 6.
As evidenced by a 6-0-1 begin, they’ve risen to the problem.
“They’ll play whoever — Class 6, Class 5, whatever. In the Northern Virginia area, these kids are all playing in the same club structures anyway,” Millward stated. “And they have embraced the challenge of being the hunted, which is different for this program.”
Even with none beginning seniors in 2021, Churchill made a outstanding run to the Maryland 4A quarterfinals.
Without the likelihood at scrimmages earlier than final season’s marketing campaign, the Bulldogs targeted their time on increase fundamentals via themed practices. Coach Pat Skellchock and his employees would put their gamers via particular sport conditions and work to hone the talent.
The outcomes had been clear of their postseason run, and improvement has continued into 2022, making Churchill (10-0) a favourite to go even additional this spring.
“We just have a buzz saw of a lineup,” Skellchock stated. “It’s tough to get through. It’s tough to pitch to them.”
The Bulldogs confirmed it off in a 22-4 thrashing of Magruder final week. Home runs by Erik Rindner, Nathan Gumagay and Isaac Kreisler powered a convincing victory.
Although not each win is as one-sided for the Bulldogs, they’ve but to be solved by an opponent. Skellchock is aware of it stems from these practices final season.
“We play for the team. We’re not stat-hungry guys; we’re not crowd pleasers,” he stated. “We’re not doing this for somebody else. They’re all doing this for the team.”