January 20, 2020 2:53 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Jack Johnson and Bryan Rust scored third-period goals as the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied to defeat the Boston Bruins 4-3. Pittsburgh trailed 3-0 in the first period but scored four unanswered goals for the win. Johnson scored a short-handed goal and Rust his 21st of the season. Dominik Simon and Teddy Blueger also scored goals for the Penguins, who have won six of their last seven games and 10 of their last 13. Boston’s David Pastrnak scored his 37th goal. It was just the second time since 2010-11 that the Bruins lost in regulation after leading by three or more goals.
January 20, 2020 2:54 am
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Patrick Mahomes tip-toed down the sideline for a game-turning touchdown, added three TD passes, and the Kansas City Chiefs made their first Super Bowl in a half-century by beating the Tennessee Titans 35-24 for the AFC championship. In two weeks in Miami, they will play the winner of the NFC title game between Green Bay and San Francisco. Mahomes did his usual superb job passing, but it was his 27-yard tap dance down the left sideline late in the first half that gave the Chiefs their first lead. From there, they outran the run-oriented Titans and star back Derrick Henry.
January 20, 2020 2:55 am
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) – Raheem Mostert rushed for 220 yards and four touchdowns to make quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo mostly a spectator, Nick Bosa harassed Aaron Rodgers from the start and the San Francisco 49ers beat the Green Bay Packers 37-20 for the NFC championship. The 49ers advanced to their first Super Bowl in seven years and will play the Kansas City Chiefs in two weeks in Miami for the championship. Aaron Rodgers threw for 326 yards but the Packers lost the NFC title game for the third time since their last Super Bowl trip following the 2010 season.
January 20, 2020 11:03 am
Wednesday night marks the start of Team Wrestling Tournaments for the 2019-2020 season with the WPIAL Team Section Championships. In Triple-A, Waynesburg will host Section 4 foes South Fayette, Canon-McMillan and Trinity while Section 2 action, including Peters Township, will be hosted by Mt. Lebanon. Double-A Section 1 teams will meet at McGuffey with the Highlanders hosting Burgettstown, Beth-Center and South Park. Also, in Section 1-AA, Fort Cherry will visit West Greene for fifth place and a berth in the WPIAL AA Team Tournament. Hempfield (1-AAA), North Allegheny (3-AAA), Quaker Valley (2-AA) and Elizabeth-Forward (3-AA) are also hosting Team Section Championship tourneys.
Semifinals are scheduled for 6 pm with finals/3rd place matches at 7:15 pm. Fifth-place matches are scheduled for 7 pm.
WPIAL Team Section Championships
Section 2-AAA (at Mt. Lebanon)
Semifinals: Mt. Lebanon vs. Thomas Jefferson, Connellsville vs. Peters Township
Finals: Semifinal winners
3rd place: Semifinal losers
5th place: West Mifflin at Bethel Park
Section 4-AAA (at Waynesburg) WJPA-AM (1450)
Semifinals: Waynesburg vs. South Fayette, Canon-McMillan vs. Trinity
Finals: Semifinal winners
3rd place: Semifinal losers
5th place: West Allegheny at Chartiers Valley
Section 1-AA (at McGuffey) WJPA-FM (95.3)
Semifinals: McGuffey vs. South Park, Burgettstown vs. Beth-Center
Finals: Semifinal winners
3rd place: Semifinal losers
5th place: Fort Cherry at West Greene
January 19, 2020 7:28 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Xavier Johnson could have chosen a cliche, something about how no one game is more important than any other. Instead, the Pittsburgh point guard went the other way. Two years ago, the Panthers went winless in the Atlantic Coast Conference. On Saturday they completed their first-ever season sweep of North Carolina by using a dominant first half en route to a 66-52 victory. And while the reeling and injury ravaged Tar Heels are a bit of a mess at the moment, they’re still one of college basketball’s blue bloods. North Carolina (8-9, 1-5) has dropped four straight and is just 2-6 without freshman star Cole Anthony, who is nearing the end of his rehab after undergoing knee surgery last month. Despite having a week to get ready, the Tar Heels fell behind by double digits before the game was 10 minutes old and never really recovered. Williams remains stuck on 879 career wins, still tied with mentor Dean Smith for fourth all-time among men’s Division I coaches. If North Carolina can’t develop an offensive identity soon, Williams might have to wait a while before moving ahead of Smith. The Tar Heels committed 16 turnovers and shot just 32% (19 of 60) from the field. Pitt’s defense had something to do with it. The Panthers (12-6, 3-4) swarmed the Tar Heels from the opening tip, cutting off passing lanes and harassing North Carolina into a series of sloppy mistakes. Three times in the first half the Tar Heels were called for traveling, which Williams attributed Pitt’s relentless and a raucous student section that surrounds the court at Petersen Events Center.
January 18, 2020 4:04 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Pittsburgh Penguins won for the 13th time in their last 17 games, but they needed overtime to get by the NHL’s worst team. Sidney Crosby scored a power-play goal 1:33 into overtime to complete the Penguins’ 2-1 victory at Detroit. The Red Wings led 1-0 early in the third period until Bryan Rust notched his 20th goal of the season. Rust also set up the game-winner and Evgeni Malkin had two assists as the Penguins pulled within four points of the first-place Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan Division. Filip Zadina had the long goal for the Wings, who lost for the 22nd time in their last 27 games.
January 18, 2020 4:09 am
UNDATED (AP) – Houston Astros owner Jim Crane expects to hire a new manager by Feb. 3. The Astros need a new manager and general manager after AJ Hinch and Jeff Luhnow were fired Monday, hours after both were suspended by Major League Baseball for a year for the team’s sign-stealing scandal. Crane says his list is still pretty extensive and that he hopes to have it narrowed down by the end of next week.
January 18, 2020 4:07 am
UNDATED (AP) – Two-time Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year Travis Etienne is returning to Clemson for his senior season. Etienne became Clemson’s all-time rushing leader Monday night when he surpassed the old mark after gaining 78 yards in his team’s 42-25 loss to LSU for the national championship. He gained 1,614 yards and 19 touchdowns this season and holds the ACC career mark with 56 rushing TDs this year. Etienne was projected as a second-round selection if he chose to turn pro.
January 17, 2020 3:41 am
BOSTON (AP) – Patrice Bergeron scored his 20th goal, Karson Kuhlman and David Pastrnak both had two assists, and the Boston Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1. Sean Kuraly and Par Lindholm also scored for the Bruins and Brad Marchand added an empty-net goal in the final minute. Sidney Crosby scored for the Penguins just 24 seconds into the game, but Jaroslav Halak shut out Pittsburgh the rest of the way. Halak made 29 saves. Boston improved to 2-0 against the Penguins.
January 17, 2020 3:40 am
UNDATED (AP) – Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans is the first AFC championship since 2002 that doesn’t feature Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Ben Roethlisberger. Brady and the New England Patriots are missing from the conference championship weekend for the first time since 2010. Brady has been to 13 AFC title games and won nine of them. John Elway’s Denver Broncos defeated the Cleveland Browns in two of the most famous AFC title game showdowns and the Cincinnati Bengals beat the San Diego Chargers in 1982 in minus-59 degrees wind chill that left Dan Fouts with icicles hanging from his beard.
