January 26, 2026 4:24 am
SEATTLE (AP) — Sam Darnold threw for three touchdowns, the Seahawks’ “Dark Side” defense came up with a critical fourth-down stop, and Seattle advanced to the Super Bowl, beating the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 in an electrifying NFC championship game. Led by second-year coach Mike Macdonald and Darnold, the Seahawks reached the fourth Super Bowl in franchise history and first in 11 years. Seattle lost that most recent appearance to New England, and the Patriots will again be the Seahawks’ opponent in two weeks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Matthew Stafford threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns for the Rams, but the Seahawks broke up his pass to the end zone on fourth-and-4 late in the fourth quarter.
January 26, 2026 4:24 am
DENVER (AP) — Drake Maye scored New England’s only touchdown on a 6-yard keeper, propelling the Patriots to their 12th Super Bowl with a 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos. Christian Gonzalez intercepted Jarrett Stidham at the New England 36 with 2:11 remaining and the Patriots iced their first playoff win in Denver when Maye ran for 7 yards on third-and-5 from his 41. The Patriots will face the Seattle Seahawls in the Super Bowl. In Mike Vrabel’s first season as coach, New England became the third team in the Super Bowl era to win a conference championship with 10 points or less. The Broncos finished one step shy of fulfilling Sean Payton’s preseason prediction of a trip to Super Bowl 60.
January 26, 2026 4:22 am
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Rookie Ben Kindel scored twice in the second period to lead the Penguins to a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday and a sweep of Pittsburgh’s four-game western Canada trip. Evgeni Malkin also scored for the Penguins (26-14-11). Stuart Skinner stopped 19 shots and won for the seventh time in eight games. Jake DeBrusk and Teddy Blueger scored in the third period for the Canucks (17-30-5), who dropped their second straight. Kevin Lankinen stopped 21 shots.
January 26, 2026 4:25 am
LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler starts the new season looking every bit the player who dominated the PGA Tour a year ago. He closed with a 66 at The American Express to blow past 18-year-old Blades Brown and everyone else. Scheffler now has 20 wins on the PGA Tour to give him lifetime membership. He joins Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to have 20 wins and four majors before turning 30. Scheffler now has nine wins by at least four shots. Brown fell apart with a double bogey on the fifth hole. He shot 74 and tied for 18th.
January 24, 2026 7:00 am
Trinity and Baldwin split their girls/boys doubleheader. The Hillers girls rallied from a 2-point halftime deficit to pull to within a half-game of the Highlanders in 5A Section 4. Baldwin won the boys half of the twin-bill, dashing Trinity’s flickering playoff hopes. Ringgold’s loss at Bethel Park puts the Rams in a tie with Baldwin for the final playoff spot in the section. Canon-McMillan boys fell four games out with four to play with their loss at Mt. Lebanon. Wash High lost at home to league leader Bishop Canevin. McGuffey beat Carlynton, creating a three-way tie for the last two playoff spots. Charleroi lost at 3A Section 4 leader Southmoreland, pushing the Cougars into fourth place, the final playoff spot. Waynesburg beat Brownsville to stay in second place. Bentworth’s loss at Springdale leaves the two teams tied for third place in 2A Section 1. The top teams in 2A Section 3 put some distance between themselves and the rest of the league. Chartiers-Houston and Jeff-Morgan had already clinched playoff spots. Both won Friday. Fort Cherry punched its playoff ticket with a home win against Beth-Center. B-C and West Greene are in playoff position, tied for fourth place, three games clear of the rest of the field with four games to play. Avella lost at Nazareth Prep to open the second half of the season. The Eagles couldn’t protect a 9-point halftime lead, dropping a game back into second place.
Girls
5A Trinity 50, Baldwin 44
Boys
6A Mt. Lebanon 71, Canon-McMillan 34
5A Baldwin 72, Trinity 56
5A Bethel Park 73, Ringgold 68
3A-2 Bishop Canevin 42, Wash High 37
3A-2 McGuffey 46, Carlynton 40
3A-4 Southmoreland 75, Charleroi 60
3A-4 Waynesburg 76, Brownsville 47
2A-1 Springdale 43, Bentworth 31
2A-1 California at Greensburg Central Catholic (Saturday)
2A-3 Chartiers-Houston 65, West Greene 32
2A-3 Fort Cherry 63, Beth-Center 44
2A-3 Burgettstown 64, Carmichaels 60
2A-3 Jeff-Morgan 63, Mapletown 15
1A Nazareth Prep 53, Avella 51
January 25, 2026 8:30 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers and Mike McCarthy have reached a verbal agreement for McCarthy to become the club’s next head coach. McCarthy, a Pittsburgh native, would replace Mike Tomlin, whose surprise departure created just the third job opening in Pittsburgh since 1969. Tomlin stepped down earlier this month after his 19th season ended with a seventh straight playoff loss. McCarthy posted a 185–123–2 record across 18 seasons, 13 with Green Bay and five with Dallas. His resume includes a victory over the Steelers in the Super Bowl following the 2010 season.
January 24, 2026 7:00 am
The WPIAL Team Wrestling Tournament brackets have been released. The impending winter storm has led to a revised schedule. Preliminary matches historically wrestled on Monday are now scheduled for Wednesday, with those winners plugging into that night’s first round/quarterfinals. Nine of the 12 Washington County wrestling schools qualified for the tournaments, six of them in the 2A bracket, with four of those heading to McGuffey. The three qualifiers for the 3A bracket are all scheduled at separate sites with Section 2 champion Canon-McMillan hosting a five-team group. WJPA will have live coverage from McGuffey and Canon-McMillan. The WPIAL semifinals/finals are scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 31 at Peters Township. WPIAL Brackets
Here’s the Washington/Greene County teams’ schedule for Wednesday, Jan. 28:
2A at #3 McGuffey
Preliminary on WJPA-AM (1450) Watch/Listen Here
4:20 pm Bentworth vs. Keystone Oaks
1st Round & Quarterfinals on WJPA-FM (95.3) Watch/Listen Here
5:50 pm McGuffey vs. Bent/KO winner & Chartiers-Houston vs. Burgettstown
7:15 pm McG/Bent/KO winner vs. CH/Burg winner
2A at #1 Burrell
6:0o pm Beth-Center vs. Quaker Valley
7:15 pm B-C/QV winner vs. Knoch/Southmoreland/Burrell winner
2A at #4 Laurel
6:00 pm Jeff-Morgan vs. Avella
7:15 pm J-M/Avel winner vs. Avonworth/Freedom/Laurel winner
3A at #3 Canon-McMillan
1st Round & Quarterfinals on WJPA-AM) Watch/Listen Here
5:50 pm Canon-McMillan vs. Belle Vernon/Mars Area preliminary winner
7:15 pm C-M/BVA/Mars winner vs. Latrobe/North Allegheny winner
3A at #2 Norwin
6:00 pm Trinity vs. West Allegheny
7:15 pm Trin/WA winner vs. Armstrong/Seneca Valley/Norwin winner
3A at #1 Franklin Regional
4:30 pm Peters Township vs. Shaler
6:00 pm Peters/Shaler winner vs. Franklin Regional
7:15 pm PT/Shal/FR winner vs. Thomas Jefferson/Moon Area winner
January 24, 2026 4:23 am
The Pittsburgh Penguins were off last night and don’t officially see the ice until tomorrow evening, weather permitting, in Vancouver. The 25-14-11 Penguins will face off against the 17-29-5 Canucks Sunday at 6. Dan Muse’s club will not be back in Pittsburgh until Thursday when the Chicago Blackhawks come to PPG Paints Arena.
January 23, 2026 1:50 am
Despite a number of schools utilizing flexible instruction/remote learning days, there was a full slate of girls basketball action on Thursday’s schedule. Waynesburg and McGuffey wins keep the Raiders and Highlanders solidly in second place while the Little Prexies fall a half-game outside the playoff picture. 6A Canon-McMillan opened the second half of section play with a win at Upper St. Clair, giving the Big Macs a two-game margin on the Panthers. Fort Cherry and Burgettstown clinched playoff spots out of Section 2. The Rangers beat Carlynton while the Blue Devils topped Northgate. 2A Section 3 leader Chartiers-Houston clinched tonight as well, opening the second half with a home win over Beth-Center. Bentworth won at Jeff-Morgan, putting two games between the Bearcats and Rockets in the battle for the final playoff spot.
Girls
6A Canon-McMillan 48, Upper St. Clair 35
4A Ringgold 50, Yough 43
3A Waynesburg 38, Wash High 32
3A McGuffey 59, Charleroi 21
2A-2 Fort Cherry 45, Carlynton 7
2A-2 Burgettstown 54, Northgate 11
2A-3 Chartiers-Houston 53, Beth-Center 32
2A-3 Bentworth 43, Jeff-Morgan 38
2A-3 California at Carmichaels, postponed
1A Serra Catholic 73, Avella 20
1A Monessen 41, Mapletown 25
1A Clairton at West Greene, postponed
January 23, 2026 4:46 am
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Anthony Mantha scored twice, Sidney Crosby made it three in an early 37-second span and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-2 on Thursday night. The 37-second spree was the fastest three goals in Penguins history and the fastest three allowed by the Oilers. The Penguins scored on three of their first four shots. Just 2:20 in, Justin Brazeau made a nifty pass through a defender’s legs to Mantha, who deflected it in. Twenty-two seconds later, Mantha scored on a breakaway. Crosby struck 15 seconds after that, deflecting a pass from the slot into the net. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist, Rickard Rakell, and Egor Chinakhov also scored and Arturs Silovs made 30 saves. The Penguins have won three straight.
