D J Strawberry

Anthony Wheat, the Compton Dominguez High free safety and quarterback who leads the Southern Section with seven interceptions, will sit out the rest of the season because of partially torn knee ligaments, Don Coach Willie Donerson said. Wheat, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior, suffered the injury during Dominguez's 37-0 loss to Long Beach Jordan on Oct. 11. He missed the Dons' 22-0 victory over Lynwood last week and underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam, which revealed the torn ligaments.

Houston Rockets guard Rafer Alston was charged Tuesday with slashing a man's neck during a ruckus at a Manhattan nightspot -- his second brush with the law this month. Alston was arraigned on felony assault charges before being released without bail. A judge ordered him to return to court Jan. 3. His lawyer said Alston was "absolutely innocent." The man who said he was injured told police the incident occurred about 3 a.m.

Maryland held Syracuse hotshot guard Gerry McNamara to two baskets Saturday but, somehow, Syracuse held on to a victory. In the frenetic final seconds, Maryland freshman D.J. Strawberry missed two short shots that could have sent the game to overtime and Syracuse raced out of the Pepsi Center with a 72-70 victory.

Tonight's two-game NCAA semifinal set at the East Rutherford Regional is all about guards, some of whom actually will be playing against each other. In order of pregame intrigue, here's the backcourt breakdown: Phil Martelli vs. Billy Packer. The skinny: Martelli is head basketball coach at top-seeded Saint Joseph's, which plays No. 4 Wake Forest in one regional semifinal game at Continental Airlines Arena. (No. 2 Oklahoma State and No. 3 Pittsburgh tip off in the early game.

By the time Steve Klosterman finishes his college recruiting trips, he'll probably qualify to be a restaurant critic, considering how much steak, lobster and prime rib he'll be eating over the next month. Klosterman, a 6-foot-7 volleyball player at Huntington Beach Marina High, is the No. 1 high school prospect in the nation, which means he's going to encounter an elaborate wooing process. On each college trip, schools will feed him until he's stuffed.

If you make a list of the biggest disappointments in college basketball this season, the University of Maryland has to be right there at the top. OK, Providence is a nominee. So is Texas. So is Memphis. So is Georgia Tech, which got all the way to the NCAA championship game last year and has struggled desperately the second half of this season. But Tech and Texas at least will make the NCAA tournament this year. Maryland, at 16-12, almost certainly will not.

It's easy to identify the four freshmen on the varsity boys' basketball team at Bellflower St. John Bosco. As they enter the gymnasium for a road game, two are carrying water jugs, one the water bottles and another holds the coach's clipboard. Three of the freshmen are starters, but all rank near the bottom of the totem pole, even below the managers, when it comes to dishing out the least-favorite assignments. "They're baby Braves," Coach Randy Held said. All four are 15 years old.

The wait was long for Nick Young, happily a little longer for Arron Afflalo and painfully the longest for Gabe Pruitt on Thursday night at the NBA draft in New York. Afflalo, the All-American guard from UCLA, and USC's guard duo of Young and Pruitt all decided to leave college after their junior seasons to make money playing basketball. For Young and Afflalo, the decision paid off. Young was the No.

This morning in Southern California, the members of the tight-knit Ibekwe family will gather at their home in Carson if they can, or pause wherever they are. Ekene Ibekwe, the second of four basketball-playing siblings, is in the NCAA tournament here with Maryland in a game that starts shortly after 9 a.m. in California, and they all want to watch on the family's satellite TV. The four Ibekwes -- born in Los Angeles to Nigerian parents -- are one player short of a Division-I starting five.

CITY SECTION Today at the Forum Championship Division Westchester (27-3) vs. Los Angeles Fairfax (26-2), 5 p.m. In a rematch of last year's championship, these Western League rivals meet for the seventh time in two seasons. Westchester, seeking its fourth consecutive title, has won four of the last six meetings.