Lions

The Lions came roaring into Philadelphia yesterday, 20,000 strong, for the international club's 80th annual convention. The men's service club will kick up its heels with a parade starting at 9 a.m. today on Market Street.

It has been a frustrating season for Penncrest coach Jim Wilson and his Lions. With several returning starters with outstanding athletic ability, Wilson figured his Lions would fare well in the Central League. But the best-laid plans of mice and men. . . . Last Tuesday, the Lions easily defeated the Lower Merion Aces, 49-35, in a conference battle. But Friday night, the Lions could not maintain winning form and fell to the visiting Marple Newtown Tigers, 69-68. "We didn't have anyone who could hit the three-point shot when we needed it," Wilson said.

Radnor kept pace early on, had trouble in the middle periods, and lost 56-43 to Penncrest at home last Thursday. "They had too much firepower," Radnor coach Walt Katuzny said of the Lions. "Their center, Lenny Jenkins, hurt us inside and we again didn't shoot well. " Penncrest quickly turned a 12-10 opening-period lead into an 8-point advantage at the half, 26-18. The Lions then took a 39-26 lead before the start of the final quarter. "We got good shots but we didn't make the high-percentage shots," Katuzny said.

Radnor kept pace early on, had trouble in the middle periods, and lost 56-43 to Penncrest at home last Thursday. "They had too much firepower," Radnor coach Walt Katuzny said of the Lions. "Their center, Lenny Jenkins, hurt us inside and we again didn't shoot well. " Penncrest quickly turned a 12-10 opening-period lead into an 8-point advantage at the half, 26-18. The Lions then took a 39-26 lead before the start of the final quarter. "We got good shots but we didn't make the high-percentage shots," Katuzny said.

Bobby Ross is a very popular unemployed head coach. According to the Detroit Free Press, the Lions have put their search for a new coach on hold, apparently in the belief they are close to reaching an agreement with the former San Diego coach. Meanwhile, Ross interviewed for the Atlanta job Wednesday and appears to be the Falcons' leading choice. Ross, who also was interviewed by the St. Louis Rams, returned to his home in San Diego late yesterday to discuss his options with his wife, Alice.

Methacton's Warriors hammered out an early lead against visiting Lower Moreland Tuesday night and accelerated to a 69-54 Suburban One American Conference victory. "The key to the loss was our lack of intensity on defense, mostly in the first quarter," said Lower Moreland coach Russ Mitchell. "We must play intense defense to be successful. My philosophy is that your offense comes from your defense. " The Lions (4-4 overall, 2-2 in the league) also missed many easy shots during the first eight minutes of play, during which they fell behind to 17-10.

Five of the last six games have been nightmares for Academy of the New Church basketball coach Andy Davis. After jumping out to a 6-1 record, the Lions lost five straight games. It wasn't the losses that hurt Davis as much as the way in which the team lost. The Lions got back on the winning track Friday as they defeated host Germantown Friends, 52-36, in a nonleague game. "We were losing because we weren't playing intelligently," Davis said. "I've told the kids all along that our efforts are more important than our results.

When Wyncote Academy prepared to meet Shipley School in Bryn Mawr on Wednesday, the Lions knew they were already facing a much more formidable foe. "We had no drills, no warmups, no practices," said Wyncote Academy coach Steve Feiner, whose team was in the midst of the effects of influenza. Then, almost inevitably, they also felt the effects of Shipley, as they dropped the nonleague game by a score of 102-64. Shipley raced out to a lead of 23-12 after one quarter. The Lions came back to score 17 points in the second period but still trailed by 41-29 at the half.

To Cardinal O'Hara basketball coach Bud Gardler, Friday night's 73-57 victory at Archbishop Carroll was a thing of beauty. To Carroll coach Chet Walsh, another adjective applied. "It was atrocious," Walsh said. "Nobody on my team wanted to play defense. " The Patriots (5-11 overall, 2-3 in the Catholic League South) were defenseless in the face of O'Hara's patient, unselfish offense. The Lions (10-6, 3-2) shot 29 for 48 from the floor. Guard Steve Cloran was 11 for 16 for 25 points, and forward Steve Dougherty was 9 for 12 for 20 points.

Marnie McBreen gave herself the best birthday present she could imagine. And she shared it with her Cardinal O'Hara teammates. McBreen, who turned 18 years old on Saturday, had seven of the Lions' final nine points in a 47-42 win over Archbishop Carroll in the Catholic League Southern Division championship game at St. Joseph's University. The Lions (27-0) will try for their third straight Catholic League title when they meet Bishop McDevitt on Friday at the Palestra. The Lancers (24-3)

When his seniors were sophomores, Cherry Hill West baseball coach Dan McMaster took them to watch a Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic doubleheader at Maple Shade. "They set their sights on it," McMaster said. Two years later, the Lions hope to do more than watch the prestigious 16-team tournament. They hope to play in it. Cherry Hill West made its case for an at-large berth to the 39-year-old tournament on Friday with an impressive, 12-7 victory over host Paul VI in an Olympic Conference interdivision game.

Penn State defensive tackle Evan Haithes' playing career is over because of complications from blood clots, coach Bill O'Brien told reporters Tuesday in Washington. Haithes, a sophomore, will remain on scholarship as a graduate assistant. The clots developed in his legs during six-hour drives home to Virginia early last year for his grandfather's funeral. The clots spread to his lungs, and he was hospitalized in March 2011 with a life-threatening situation. He was able to play only two games for the Nittany Lions last fall.

Before last week's NFL draft, the league expanded the offseason roster by 10 to 90 positions. So teams were on the phones immediately after Saturday's seventh round speaking to players who had gone undrafted. Seven Temple Owls signed rookie free-agent contracts on Sunday, bringing the Owls' total NFL signees for 2012 to 10, tying for the largest class in school history. (Ten former Owls also inked NFL deals a year ago) Linebacker Stephen Johnson (Norristown) signed with New Orleans, and receiver Rod Streater (Burlington)

Penn State had three players selected on the final day of the NFL draft. The San Diego Chargers drafted left guard Johnnie Troutman in the fifth round Saturday with the 149th overall pick. Jack Crawford, a defensive end, was taken nine picks later in the fifth round by Oakland. The Raiders also snagged outside linebacker Nathan Stupar with the 230th pick in the seventh. All-American defensive tackle Devon Still went to the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday in the second round.

The king of the Broadway jungle You got Leo, the MGM lion (Ars Gratia Artis!). You got Bubbles, logo of the Detroit Lions. You got the Cowardly Lion of The Wizard of Oz. You got Kimba, and Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion, and Kitty Kat (feline of the Addams Family). Now shove over for The Lion King!! The Broadway show, not the 1994 Disney flick. According to figures (unadjusted for inflation) released Monday, Lion padded past ThePhantom of the Opera last week to become Broadway's all-time top grosser, with about $854 million.

STATE COLLEGE - Penn State hasn't had a Heisman Trophy winner in nearly 40 years, but the Nittany Lions have secured another Hodge Trophy, their first since 1997. Nittany Lions wrestler David Taylor, who reeled off a dominant 32-0 season, became just the third sophomore and the first Penn State wrestler to win the Dan Hodge Trophy - college wrestling's equivalent to the Heisman - since Kerry McCoy. Taylor capped his remarkable second season with an individual 165-pound championship at last week's NCAA wrestling tournament, where he pinned four opponents in a total time of 8 minutes, 46 seconds.

Linebacker Stephen Tulloch re-signed with the Detroit Lions with a five-year contract worth $25.5 million, including $11.25 million guaranteed according to a person familiar with the deal. "I dreamed about this moment my whole life," the 27-year-old Tulloch said Thursday at a news conference after his signing. Tulloch made a team-high 111 tackles with the Lions when he was reunited with Jim Schwartz, his defensive coordinator in Tennessee and now the Lions head coach.   Bush to Bears The Chicago Bears agreed to a four-year contract with running back Michael Bush.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Maggie Lucas backpedaled with her shooting arm extended as her fourth three-pointer of the first half swished through, then she turned to trot back on defense while holding up three fingers on each hand. Penn State's leading scorer was well on her way to a memorable night, which meant trouble for LSU. Lucas scored 30 points, three short of a career high, and the fourth-seeded Lions moved on to the third round of the women's NCAA tournament with a 90-80 victory over No. 5 seed LSU on Tuesday night.

The Detroit Lions have reached a deal to keep linebacker Stephen Tulloch for another five years, allowing the team to cross another priority off their to-do list this offseason. The agreement reportedly calls for a five-year contract. Financial terms were not immediately known. Re-signing Tulloch was one of the Lions' goals after he helped them earn a spot in the playoffs for the first time since the 1999 season. He shopped his services on the market as an unrestricted free agent, but got the long-term deal he was looking for in Detroit.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Penn State guards Maggie Lucas and Alex Bentley have been taking over games all season, and Texas-El Paso was powerless to change that in the NCAA tournament. Lucas, a Germantown Academy graduate, scored 23 points, Bentley had 21, and fourth-seeded Penn State defeated No. 13 seed UTEP, 85-77, in the opening round Sunday. Zhaque Gray added 15 points for the Lions (25-6), who trailed the Miners for much of the first half but led for nearly all of the second en route to their second straight appearance in the second round.