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Moms noticed her first.Wearing No. 89 in her red, white and blue East Thunderbirds jersey, Alissa Pili tore through the offensive line in an otherwise all-boys tackle football league. Pili, a powerfully built defensive lineman, led her Boys & Girls Club football league team in sacks and gained a following.I dont think they were expecting a girl to be playing so well against boys, Pili said. They would come up to me after games and tell me they loved watching me beat the boys.Pili, who recently turned 15, hasnt played football in nearly two years. But the 5-foot-11, 240-pound power forward brings the same physicality to basketball, and she is a star for A.J. Dimond High School in Anchorage, Alaska. She averaged 18.3 points and 11.7 rebounds as a freshman last season.Ive been coaching for many years, and Alissa is a special athlete, the type we havent had in Alaska, Dimond coach Jim Young said. So strong for her age. Alissa can rep 135 pounds eight times on the bench press. And she played tackle football against boys from the third through the eighth grade. Coaches I talked to said she was as mobile and strong as any boy she went up against.As good as she was in football, basketball is Pilis passion. As a freshman last season, she led Dimond to the Class 4A state championship game, in which the team lost 44-40 to Wasilla High School. Pili had 14 points, nine rebounds and two blocks -- all game highs -- and she had a putback with 80 seconds left to cut Dimonds deficit to 42-40.That was as close as Dimond got, and Pili tasted disappointment in the biggest game of her life so far.It was really emotional, Pili said. We worked so hard.Pili should have more opportunities at state. She was one of two freshmen on the five-player first-team all-state squad. The other was 5-foot-9 guard Olivia Davies of Wasilla. Those two happen to be AAU teammates with the Alaska Lady Hoops.We have a lot of love for each other, Pili said. Losing state to her didnt ruin anything.Davies said shes a fan of Pili and her versatile game.She can bring the ball up the court, Davies said, and then she can be a beast in the post.Train with meThe second of Billy and Heathers seven children, Pili, who has four brothers and two sisters, has seemingly always been an athlete.Pili, who is of Samoan and Alaskan Native ancestry, grew up wrestling her older brother, Brandon. Thats no easy task. Brandon, 17, is 6-foot-4, 315 pounds and a defensive end for Dimonds football team.In addition to football and wrestling, Pilis other hobbies include volleyball and track and field. She earned first-team all-state honors in volleyball and won an Alaska title in the shot put in an incredible freshman year.Pili was so dominant that two basketball players on other teams asked if they could train with her this summer, thinking there must be some secret to her success. Pili invited those girls to play with her dad, brothers and cousins -- all male -- in her rough-and-tumble cul-de-sac basketball games. Perhaps intimidated, the girls never showed.It was their loss because the Pili Plan is working. She has received recruiting interest from schools such as Washington State, Washington, Utah, South Carolina and Fresno State.Ryan Hales, who coached Oregon-bound Ruthy Hebard, the states three-time Gatorade player of the year, on the Alaska Lady Hoops, figures to build his team around Pili this season.Alissa can have people hanging off her arms and still find a way to finish, Hales said. She can play any position. She can cross you over, shoot the 3 and then hold her ground in the post. I cant think of anyone to compare her to. Shes uncommon in the way she moves.Hales said he had to beg Pilis parents to let her play with his team this past spring and into the summer. The Pili family is close, and they go on family camping trips in the summer. They hike, they fish, and they enjoy the great outdoors and the breathtaking scenery Alaska has to offer.But once Pili got the go-ahead from her parents, she went to a tournament in Oregon and led Alaska Lady Hoops to second place in their pool. Hales said Pili had 28 points and 14 rebounds in a loss to a loaded Cal Stars team. She also had her shot blocked a few times by the taller Cal Stars players, who were keying on her.Pili powerWith a 3.5 GPA, Pili is interested in studying engineering in college. Singing is also among her seemingly endless list of talents. Her teammates say she can belt out Alicia Keys and Beyonce.She almost always hits the right notes. Thats especially true on the basketball court, where Pilis power is a source of intimidation, inspiration and sometimes even imitation.Jahnna Hajdukovich, one of her AAU teammates and the owner of one of the greatest buzzer-beaters in basketball history, said other kids want to test Pilis strength.Everyone likes to wrestle her or play fight, Hajdukovich said. I cant tell you what happens because its kind of like Fight Club. The first rule of Fight Club is you dont talk about Fight Club. ... But I can tell you that no one can beat Alissa.Shes a rock -- crazy strong. Nike Dunk On Sale . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Wholesale Nike Shoes Online . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. http://www.wholesalenikedunk.com/ . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Nike Dunk Outlet . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. Cheap Nike Shoes .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Marylands offense has sputtered over the past two weeks, mainly because of the absence of starting quarterback Perry Hills.That isnt the only reason why the Terrapins (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) have scored only 10 points over the last six quarters.With Hills operating offensive coordinator Walt Bells fast-paced attack, Maryland averaged 43 points en route to a 4-0 start. But after Hills hurt his right shoulder in the second quarter against Penn State, the Terrapins offense went kaput.After true freshman Tyrrell Pigrome assumed the role of calling the signals, Maryland was blanked 14-0 in the second half and absorbed a 38-14 defeat. The trend continued last week against Minnesota: The Terrapins made only four first downs through three quarters and staggered to a 31-10 loss.Hills status for Saturday nights game against Michigan State (2-4, 0-3) remains uncertain. Coach DJ Durkin was non-committal Tuesday, saying Were determining the best course of action.Pigrome was 5 for 9 for 28 yards at Penn State and 18 for 37 for 161 yards and two interceptions against Minnesota. More significantly, his late touchdown pass was negated by an 82-yard interception return that provided the Golden Gophers with the clinching score.Although Durkin concedes the loss of Hills has contributed to the decline of the offense, he insisted that Pigrome isnt entirely to blame.I really mean this: It is not all on Piggy, Durkin said. There are guys around him who can play better, too. Weve had plenty more breakdowns than at the quarterback position. But did we kinnd of lose the rhythm we were in? Yeah, probably.dddddddddddd.Against Minnesota, the Terrapins jumped offside and were flagged for holding on several occasions. And Pigrome got little support from the running game, which totaled 130 yards (71 by the quarterback). Maryland has a combined 300 yards rushing over the past two games after racking up 400 yards on the ground against Purdue to go to 4-0.The drop-off in production has been a team effort and not in a good way.Were just not really playing up to our standard right now, tackle Michael Dunn said. Its not one individuals fault. Its the unit. We can all do a better job.Durkin applauded his team after each of the first four games, but questioned their intensity after both losses. He reiterated that assertion on Tuesday.My disappointment comes from us not providing our best effort, our best game, for whatever reason, he said. We certainly did things to beat ourselves with penalties and turnovers and just sloppy play altogether. I can assure you that will be corrected.Maryland had only four turnovers through its first five games before adding three on Saturday. In addition to Pigromes two interceptions, Will Likely muffed a punt.Likely hurt his knee on the play and is questionable against Michigan State, which is stumbling through an uncharacteristically down season. The Spartans have lost four straight, including a 54-40 surprise at home last week against Northwestern. ' ' '