January 16, 2026 2:58 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Federal prosecutors are charging 20 people, including 15 former college basketball players, in what they call a scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games. Of the defendants named in Thursday’s indictment, 15 played basketball for Division 1 NCAA schools as recently as the 2024-25 season. The other five defendants were described by authorities as fixers. The charges, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, include wire fraud. In the 70-page indictment, authorities say the fixers recruited the college basketball players with “bribe payments” usually ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game. Among those named in the indictment was Shane Hennen, a former Washington High School basketball player and graduate. He was previously named in connection with rigging bets on NBA games. The indictment follows NCAA investigations that led to at least 10 players receiving lifetime bans.
January 16, 2026 4:31 am
RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold has a left oblique injury. Darnold got hurt during Thursday’s practice and was listed as questionable for Saturday’s NFC divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, but he said he’s confident he’ll play. Darnold said he felt something in his oblique while throwing passes to receivers with no defenders. The eighth-year quarterback said this is the first time he has dealt with an oblique issue and that he’ll be getting treatment leading up to the game. When asked about his chances of sitting out, Darnold said, “Very low percentage. Probably closer to zero.”
January 16, 2026 4:30 am
Kyle Tucker has agreed to a $240 million, four-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, bolstering their chance for a third consecutive World Series championship. A person familiar with the deal confirmed the move to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement was pending a physical. When healthy, Tucker is among the best all-around players in the majors. But he has played in just 214 regular-season games over the past two years. He batted .266 with 22 homers and 73 RBIs for the Chicago Cubs last season. He was acquired in a blockbuster trade with Houston in December 2024 that moved slugging prospect Cam Smith to the Astros.
January 14, 2026 2:34 am
Wrestling squads are nearing the end of their dual meet campaigns, at least as far as matches that count toward WPIAL/PIAA Team Tournament qualifying. The top two teams in each section will qualify for the WPIAL Team Tournaments along with two wild cards in each classification. Those tournament brackets will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 22, the day after the final matches. Here’s a look at Wednesday’s results involving Washington/Greene County teams (section records).
Wednesday, Jan. 14
3A Trinity 51, Waynesburg 12
3A Ringgold 45, West Mifflin 24
2A McGuffey 51, West Greene 15
2A Chartiers-Houston 48, Wash High 27
2A Jeff-Morgan 42, Beth-Center 31
2A Bentworth 47, Brownsville 24
3A Section 2 Trinity (3-0) clinched a tournament berth with the win at Waynesburg (1-2). Canon-McMillan (3-0) also clinched with Trinity’s win. The Hillers host the Big Macs next Wednesday for the section title and, likely, hosting rights for the first round/quarterfinals. We’ll have that match live on WJPA-AM (1450) and online.
3A Section 3 Peters Township (2-1) is off this week, then visits Mt. Lebanon (2-0) to close the dual meet season. The winner of that matches clinches a berth. If Mt. Lebanon wins, the Blue Devils are section champs. If Peters Township wins, the Indians are second behind Baldwin.
3A Section 7 Ringgold (2-1) will host Belle Vernon (2-1) next week with the winner taking the second berth behind Thomas Jefferson.
2A Section 1 Chartiers-Houston (2-0) and McGuffey (2-0) clinched with wins. The two meet in Meadowlands next Wednesday for the section title.
2A Section 2 Burgettstown (2-0) and Avella (1-1) are both off this week. The Blue Devils clinch with a win against Hopewell, with a loss to the Vikings while winning at least 5 bouts, or with an Avella loss to South Side. Avella clinches with a win next week at South Side if Burgettstown wins or loses to Hopewell while winning at least 5 bouts.
2A Section 3 Jeff-Morgan (3-0) clinched a berth and at least a share of the section title with the win over Beth-Center (2-1). Bentworth (2-1) beat Brownsville (1-3). Bentworth hosts Beth-Center next Wednesday with the winner clinching an automatic berth.
January 14, 2026 2:10 am
Congratulations to the following new members of the
WPIAL Hall of Fame, each with ties to Washington/Greene County and our work at the WJPA Sports Network:
Tricia Alderson (Chartiers-Houston), Kurt Angle (Mt. Lebanon & WJPA Wrestling analyst), Jim Conklin (Waynesburg), Phil Mary (Chartiers-Houston), Charles Hunnell (official), Tim McConnell (coach), Joe Salvino (coach). These seven, along with six other individuals, two Courage awardees and two championship teams will be honored at the annual WPIAL Hall of Fame Induction Banquet, Friday, June 5 at the DoubleTree Hotel, Greentree.
January 15, 2026 4:25 am
ATLANTA (AP) — Brandin Cummings scored 23 points and Barry Dunning Jr. added 17 for Pittsburgh in an 89-66 win over Georgia Tech on Wednesday night, snapping a three-game losing streak. Nojus Indrusaitis put up 16 points off the bench for the Panthers (8-9, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), tying a career and season high on 5-of-9 shooting (4 of 6 from 3-point range). Cameron Corhen added 15 points and Roman Siulepa scored 11 and added eight rebounds in the Panthers’ first conference win of the season. Pitt shot 53% from the field (34 of 64) compared to Georgia Tech’s 40% (24 of 60). The Panthers sank 11 shots from 3-point range.
January 15, 2026 2:42 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II says he wasn’t shocked by coach Mike Tomlin’s decision to step down after 19 seasons. Rooney described Tomlin’s choice as more “family-related” than “football-related.” Tomlin’s departure means the Steelers are searching for just their fourth head coach since 1969. Rooney declined to get into specifics about what the team might be looking for, though each of Pittsburgh’s past three coaches arrived as relative unknowns before taking the Steelers to the Super Bowl multiple times. Tomlin’s departure figures to signal the end of quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ time with the club. Rooney says Rodgers’ decision to play in Pittsburgh was primarily to play for Tomlin.
January 14, 2026 2:36 am
Each WPIAL basketball team plays through its section opponents twice. For the overwhelming majority of teams, Tuesday marked the end of the first trip through their league. Here are the Tuesday results and what they mean heading into the second half of the season.
Girls 5A Bethel Park 40, Peters Township 33 OT
Boys
6A Canon-McMillan 69, Connellsville 58
5A Peters Township 62, Bethel Park 32
5A Ringgold 56, Trinity 44
3A Wash High 51, McGuffey 41
3A Charleroi 74, Ligonier Valley 70
3A Waynesburg 53, Mt. Pleasant 45
2A Bentworth 56, Frazier 35
2A Riverview 76, California 25
2A Chartiers-Houston 50, Jeff-Morgan 45
2A Fort Cherry 79, Carmichaels 26
2A Beth-Center 76, West Greene 67
2A Burgettstown 67, Mapletown 20
Girls
5A Section 4 Peters Township drops into fifth place with the loss to Bethel Park.
Boys
6A Section 2 Canon-McMillan moved to within one game of the final playoff berth.
5A Section 3 Peters Township stays just one game back of first place Thomas Jefferson.
5A Section 3 Ringgold moves into a tie for fourth place while Trinity drops two games off the pace.
3A Section 2 Wash High takes over fourth place, one game up on McGuffey. Watch/Listen Here
3A Section 4 Charleroi and Waynesburg are now tied with Ligonier Valley in second place, two games back of Southmoreland.
2A Section 1 Bentworth stays solidly in third place, two games out of first. California remains winless in the section and overall.
2A Section 3 Chartiers-Houston moves into sole possession of first place, one game up on Jeff-Morgan. The loss is the first of the year for J-M. Fort Cherry is alone in third place, followed by Beth-Center. Carmichaels and West Greene are tied for the final playoff spot in the section. Burgettstown’s win at Mapletown is the first of the year in section for the Blue Devils.
1A Section 1 Avella (2-1) is in third place and is off until Thursday when the Eagles visit Summit Academy (1-2). Avella then hosts Beaver County Christian (1-3) on Friday.
January 14, 2026 4:30 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the deciding goal in the shootout and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 on Tuesday night for their 11th straight win. J.J. Moser scored in regulation and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 26 saves for the Lightning, who have not lost since a 2-1 defeat at home against Los Angeles on Dec. 18. The Lightning moved into first place in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of Detroit, which lost 3-0 at Boston. Evgeni Malkin scored for the Penguins and Arturs Silovs had 30 saves. Pittsburgh lost its third straight (0-2-1) since a six-game win streak. Gage Goncalves scored for Tampa Bay in the second round of the tiebreaker, and Egor Chinakov tied it for Pittsburgh on their attempt in the third round. Kucherov then won it for the Lightning.
January 14, 2026 2:23 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Mike Tomlin era with the Pittsburgh Steelers is over. The longest tenured head coach in major American professional sports stepped down Tuesday after yet another quick playoff exit. The announcement came a day after the end of Tomlin’s 19th season in Pittsburgh. Tomlin won a Super Bowl and went to another during his first four seasons with the Steelers before the club settled into a familiar and frustrating pattern of solid if not always spectacular play followed by a playoff cameo that ended with the Steelers on the wrong side of a blowout. Tomlin went 193-112-2 in Pittsburgh but lost each of his last seven playoff games.
