Brothers from Sidwell become one of the area’s top tennis tandems

“Teli usually plays the forehand, I play the backhand, and that’s just how it’s always been,” Demetrios, a sophomore, said. “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 several strong wins, including a challenging match against Collegiate School on Tuesday, which they won, 8-3. But for all their success on the court, they’ve had to learn to leave behind the usual sibling rivalry and brotherly annoyances.

“When you’re Brothers, you always fight with your brother,” Aristotle, a senior, said. “But on the court, we never fight. It’s just too fun to ever get in an argument. ”

In addition to the first doubles, Aristotle plays first singles for Sidwell while Demetrios is looking to move up from third singles to second. They’re gearing up for the George C Shafer Jr. Doubles Invitational this weekend in Newtown Square, Pa., Where they’ll compete against some of the top duos in the country.

They’re hoping their work together will lead Sidwell to another Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference title, but for now, they’re focused on improving each other’s game, one match at a time.

“We’re a very close family and, you know, tennis has brought us together,” Demetrios said. “We’re always going to have each other’s backs.”

It’s rare for two nationally relevant lacrosse programs to be located less than a mile apart. That’s the case in Severna Park, however.

Severn School and Severna Park High are separated by 0.8 miles, but because of the Anne Arundel County town’s influx of Talent, both are contenders in their Leagues.

Last week, the private and public school rivals met for the first time since April 2019. Severn proved it’s the town’s best team this spring with a 13-8 win in Annapolis.

“Between Baltimore and here,” Severn Coach Joseph Christie said, “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 Conference, one of the country’s now Talented Leagues. Severna Park (6-2) has won a Maryland record at 10 state Championships, including the past five 4A titles. The Falcons defeated Severn in 2019.

Christie, who took over Severn’s program in 2017, is also the school’s associate director of Admissions. He has attracted athletes to the 420-student upper school, which is an afterthought in every sport outside of boys ‘and girls’ lacrosse.

“This area is a great place to raise a family. People don’t leave, ”Christie said. “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 last year’s Class 5 Championship, Lewis started with seven Juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen. Even though they lost that match, it was a Pivotal moment for the Lancers. The Springfield program hadn’t been a title game since 1985, and Coach John Millward knew the playoff run would provide plenty of value in the years to come.

“Everybody got an experience, but they also got that bitter taste that comes with going all that way and not finishing the job,” Millward said.

The Lancers lost a few players to club soccer complications and graduated senior star Cristian Chavez (who had been injected for the title game), but now the roster is back to try to produce another playoff run. It won’t be easy, as the Lancers are confronted with the challenge of being a contender while also dealing with a jump from Class 5 to Class 6.

As evidenced by a 6-0-1 start, they have so far risen to the challenge.

“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 said. “And they have embraced the challenge of being the Hunted, which is different for this program.”

Even without any starting seniors in 2021, Churchill baseball made a remarkable run to the Maryland 4A quarterfinals.

Without the chance at scrimmages before last season’s campaign, the Bulldogs focused their time on building up Fundamentals through themed practices. Coach Pat Skellchock and his staff would put their players through specific game situations and work to hone the skill.

The results were clear in their postseason run, and development has continued into 2022, making Churchill (10-0) a favorite to go even further this spring.

“We just have a buzz saw of a lineup,” Skellchock said. “It’s tough to get through, it’s tough to pitch to them.”

The Bulldogs showed it off in a 22-4 thrashing of Magruder last week. Home runs from Erik Rindner, Nathan Gumagay and Isaac Kreisler powered a convincing Victory.

Although not every win is as one-sided for the Bulldogs, they’ve yet to be solved by an opponent. Skellchock knows it stems from those practices last season.

“We play for the team. We’re not stat-hungry guys, we’re not crowd pleasers, ”Skellchock said. “We’re not doing this for somebody else. They’re all doing this for the team. ”