Six years ago, local attorney Brad Bannon was part of the defense team for Dave Evans, one of three players charged in the Duke lacrosse case. Bannon spoke this week to humanities students at Broughton High School about his experiences and quite modestly downplayed his role in getting to the bottom of DNA evidence. The players were accused of brutally raping Crystal Mangum and were later declared innocent by the state Attorney General.  If you'd like to read more about Bannon, there's a lengthy story about him on the blog Durham-in-Wonderland. Here, find NONVERBATIM notes of his talk at Broughton.

Led by four goals each from Matt Skowran and Tyler Van Horn, Cardinal Gibbons fended off a second-half comeback and cruised to a 14-5 win over Green Hope at home Thursday night.

The Southern Zone Age Group Swimming Championships, which start today at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary, are just one of the many recreational sports events you'll find listed below in the expanded version of the Play! recreational sports calendar.

The East Chapel Hill High School lacrosse team’s web page got a face-lift recently from Don Wittenkind.

Among the new features, Wittenkind will be blogging and feeding live updates from Wildcat Stadium to the page during Friday’s second-round NCHSAA playoff double-header.

The East girls host No. 1 Apex at 5 p.m. Friday, and the boys host Middle Creek at 7 p.m.

East lacrosse’s home page, fittingly enough, is www.eastlacrosse.com.

Many young recreational athletes throughout the Triangle train and practice in their sports year-round.

One way to get in some training is attending one of the many summer camps offered by public and private schools, colleges, nonprofit organizations and commercial enterprises.

Athletes even can take lessons from current and former professional players and coaches who make the Triangle their home.

The Chapel Hill High School girls’ lacrosse team topped Carrboro 21-13 Tuesday to solidify the Tigers’ place in the early season Top 25.
Haley Wilson led the scoring with 6 goals for CHHS, while Sofie Kennedy scored 5 and Jenna Hornik 4.
At 2-1, CHHS currently is No. 8 in the Laxpower.com power ratings. East Chapel Hill (2-2) is right behind at No. 9. Carrboro is at No. 24.
East Chapel Hill hosts Riverside on Thursday and then Charlotte Myers Park on Saturday. Carrboro will play at Durham Academy on Friday.
CHHS returns to action Monday with a game against Raleigh Broughton.

The News & Observer looks at many of the top athletes in spring sports in Sunday's sports section. Nine spring sports are profiled along with dozens of high school athletes.

Originally scheduled as a Blue-White intrasquad affair, the Carolina men's lacrosse scrimmage at Ravenscroft now will feature the Tar Heels playing Limestone College in a preseason game. They'll play at noon on Saturday, Jan. 29, at Stefanou Field in the Raleigh school's football stadium. Admission is free.

Prior to the scrimmage, UNC coaches and players will hold a free clinic from 10 a.m. to noon for boys in grades 1 through 8. No prior lacrosse experience is necessary and no pre-registration is required, but full lacrosse gear is requested.

Following the scrimmage, players will be available for autographs.

The Ravenscroft lacrosse team will also be collecting canned and dry goods for animals at the Wake County SPCA.

Questions regarding the clinic or scrimmage may be directed to Sandy Kapatos at 919-861-2110, ext. 2635. Ravenscroft is located at 7409 Falls of Neuse Rd. in Raleigh. Directions and a campus map are located at www.ravenscroft.org/directions.

Winter started barely two weeks ago, but it's already time to count down to when pitchers and catchers report.

And that means parents planning to sign up children for spring baseball and softball leagues should plan now. Some area leagues fill up fast, and registration deadlines will arrive long before warm weather does.

To find leagues in numerous sports and instruction for all ages, check the Play! Recreational Sports Calendar regularly. The online version of the calendar is updated weekly, and the print version appears each Tuesday in the Sports section.

Duke University and insurer AIG are in discussions to resolve a lawsuit over expenses related to confidential settlements the school paid to lacrosse team members falsely accused of sexually assaulting a stripper.

Duke and AIG have set Nov. 4 as a mediation date in the two-year-old lawsuit, Bloomberg News reports.

Duke had demanded reimbursement for costs tied to lawsuits by the lacrosse players and another by the team’s former coach over the school’s role in investigating the accusation, according to a November 2008 complaint.