Blue Devils

IN FEBRUARY 2011, former Lower Merion High lacrosse star Jordan Wolf returned home as a Duke freshman. In only his third game, Wolf had minimal impact as the Blue Devils were upset by Penn, 7-3, at Franklin Field. Wolf will get another chance to shine at home on Sunday, when Duke takes on Colgate in the NCAA men's lacrosse quarterfinals at PPL Park in Chester. "The most important thing is to worry about the game and advancing, but it's definitely special to play in my hometown," Wolf says.

In recent months, while wrapping up a brilliant basketball career at Friends' Central and playing in several showcase events, Amile Jefferson struggled mightily to cement his college destination. Now, finally, all the tossing and turning is over. On Tuesday in his school's gymnasium, Jefferson, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward and one of the nation's top recruits, committed to play at Duke. "In the end, I wanted to choose the school that I thought fit me best on and off the court," said Jefferson, flanked by his parents.

Guards Kelly Williams and Scott Nance provided the one-two punch for Ewing High on Wednesday as the Blue Devils beat Bishop McDevitt 57-50 to win their own tournament in Trenton. Williams pumped in a game-high 24 points on 9 field goals (including a 3- pointer) and 5-for-5 shooting from the free-throw line, and was named the Ewing Blue Devil Holiday Classic's most valuable player. Nance tallied 13 points to become the only other Ewing player in double figures for the evening. McDevitt (5-4)

Former NBA player Bryan Warrick, who starred in football and basketball at Burlington Township, has been named the boys' basketball coach at rival Burlington City. The former St. Joseph's University basketball standout replaces Bob Williams, who resigned in August to accept an assistant principal's job at Pemberton. Williams compiled a 228-124 record at Burlington. Last year the Blue Devils went 22-8 and won the South Jersey Group 1 championship. The 36-year-old Warrick played parts of four seasons in the NBA after a successful career at St. Joseph's.

Perennial public-school powerhouse Westfield dethroned Cherry Hill West in the Public A boys' swimming state championship yesterday at the College of New Jersey. Behind Chris DeLaFuente's wins in the 100 and 200 freestyle events, Westfield (12-0) avenged last year's state-final loss to Cherry Hill West with a 91-79 victory. The Blue Devils won seven of 11 races. Jason Mattingly paced the Lions (12-1) with individual wins in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke.

Burlington City was one of the surprise success stories last season. Coach Bob Williams had hoped to break even with an inexperienced squad. The Blue Devils did more than that. They won the Freedom Division and went all the way to the Group 2 championship game, losing to Middle Township, 67-54. "We turned around our fortune last season," Williams said. "Last year we were able to play great pressure defense. " Williams isn't worried about experience as he looks to the new season.

Suddenly, Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski senses something wrong happening. His 30-7 team arrives in Indianapolis today for its fourth consecutive Final Four appearance and fifth in the last six seasons. As always, there will be no controversy accompanying them, no NCAA charges. Heck, not counting North Carolina fans, there barely will be a Blue Devils detractor. Krzyzewski's players attend classes, graduate on time, stay out of trouble. Whenever an NCAA signing period rolls around, the program regularly restocks its vast riches.

Office pool-aholics across the land have become so accustomed to Duke's making it into the Final Four that it seems almost inevitable. Just move the Blue Devils along at least four lines and save your sleepers for another bracket. They might not always get it done once they get to the Final Four, but the Devils sure know how to advance that far. Four straight times, in fact, and five of the last six seasons. This season, the Devils seemed to be more of a lock than ever.

Although Burlington City basketball coach Bob Williams will have a youthful team to guide this season, he possesses plenty of offensive weapons. Can the Blue Devils parlay that talent into a second straight Burlington County Freedom Division championship? Only time will tell, Williams said. "We won't expect miracles at the start of the season because these are young players, but we're fully capable of having a winning season after they've been in game situations," Williams said.

The Penn men's basketball team will venture far from the Ivy League this season. Among the nonconference destinations for Fran Dunphy's Quakers is Durham, N.C., where they will play Duke on Dec. 7 in a game to be televised on ESPN2. The Quakers also will play at Hawaii, and at Brigham Young-Hawaii, in December.

IN FEBRUARY 2011, former Lower Merion High lacrosse star Jordan Wolf returned home as a Duke freshman. In only his third game, Wolf had minimal impact as the Blue Devils were upset by Penn, 7-3, at Franklin Field. Wolf will get another chance to shine at home on Sunday, when Duke takes on Colgate in the NCAA men's lacrosse quarterfinals at PPL Park in Chester. "The most important thing is to worry about the game and advancing, but it's definitely special to play in my hometown," Wolf says.

In recent months, while wrapping up a brilliant basketball career at Friends' Central and playing in several showcase events, Amile Jefferson struggled mightily to cement his college destination. Now, finally, all the tossing and turning is over. On Tuesday in his school's gymnasium, Jefferson, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward and one of the nation's top recruits, committed to play at Duke. "In the end, I wanted to choose the school that I thought fit me best on and off the court," said Jefferson, flanked by his parents.

Bridgette Allessandrini raced home on a two-out wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving host Hammonton a 1-0 victory over Absegami on Friday in Cape-Atlantic League softball. Kimmy Hellyer went the distance for the win, shutting out the Braves on six hits. Kelly Lupton took the loss even though she gave up only two hits and two walks and struck out 11. In other Cape-Atlantic action: One day after pitching her third perfect game of the season, Brittany Scott tossed her fourth no-hitter in Buena's 5-0 home win over Middle Township.

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Mike Krzyzewski knew this year's Duke team had its flaws. Several of them hurt the Blue Devils in a big way on Friday night. Austin Rivers and Mason Plumlee had 19 points apiece, but Duke struggled from three-point range and lost 75-70 to Lehigh to become the second No. 2 seed to lose to a 15 during a wild day in the NCAA tournament. Norfolk State, another 15th seed, upset Missouri earlier in a West region game in Omaha, Neb. The Blue Devils, who relied on the three-point shot this season, went 6 for 26 from behind the arc and another speedy guard sliced through their defense.

JOHN HENSON says he's improving from a wrist injury and sounds eager to return to for North Carolina's NCAA Tournament opener. Coach Roy Williams isn't quite so sure whether the two-time Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of the year is ready to snatch rebounds in traffic or swat shots to start the fastbreak. "He has to feel comfortable that he can play and then I have to decide whether his play will be effective," Williams said yesterday. "And I am being extremely honest, I do not know.

RESERVE Andre Dawkins scored 22 points and freshman Austin Rivers added 20 to lead No. 5 Duke to a 74-66 victory at No. 15 Florida State last night. The win kept the Blue Devils (24-4, 11-2) tied with No. 7 North Carolina for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Florida State (19-8, 10-3) dropped a game behind. "We fought hard but we had just too many empty possessions," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. Dawkins scored 18 points over the last 11:23 of the first half, going 5-for-7 from three-point range as Duke took a 39-32 lead.

Freshman Austin Rivers buried a three-pointer at the horn to give No. 10 Duke an 85-84 win at No. 5 North Carolina last night. Rivers scored a season-high 29 points and hit six threes, the last of which will certainly live on in the lore of this fierce rivalry. With the Blue Devils (20-4, 7-2) trailing by two, Rivers launched a three over 7-footer Tyler Zeller from the right wing. The ball swished through the net, sending Rivers running down the court in celebration while the rest of his teammates gave chase before mobbing him in front of a stunned UNC crowd.

Hammonton High School is one of the most successful athletic programs in the Cape-Atlantic League, especially in football. But the Blue Devils could soon be members of the Tri-County Conference. Hammonton is "exploring" the possibility of leaving the Cape-Atlantic and joining the Tri-County, Hammonton athletic director Frank Torcasio said Thursday. "There's a bunch of different reasons," said Torcasio, who declined to explain further the school's rationale at this preliminary stage of the process.

DURHAM, N.C. - The opening minutes of Sunday's game between Penn and Duke looked a lot like the last time the teams played. In December 2009, Duke trampled the Quakers, 114-55, in the biggest defeat in Penn history. And after a 20-4 run to start the game, the Blue Devils appeared poised to have history repeat itself. The end result was the same, but it was a lot less ugly as No. 7 Duke defeated Penn, 85-55. The Quakers looked skittish from the start, unwilling to attack the basket and unable to get anything on the glass.