February 9, 2025 12:01 am
Monday afternoon, the WPIAL Basketball Committee will release its six boys basketball playoff brackets. Those pairings will include 10 Washington & Greene County teams, six of them in the Class 2A bracket. Following is a playoff primer on all six boys brackets.
Class 6A – 11 teams with five first-round byes. Upper St. Clair (20-2) will be the top seed, with New Castle, Imani Christian, Central Catholic and Fox Chapel rounding out the top five. Butler, Mt. Lebanon and Seneca Valley should host opening-round games.
Class 5A – 17 teams including Peters Township (15-6). Montour (20-1) has been the #1 ranked team all season. Baldwin, Uniontown, Chartiers Valley and Moon Area will round out the top five. Peters Township is likely to be seeded 7th, funneling into a possible quarterfinal rematch with Baldwin.
Class 4A – 12 teams. Belle Vernon, Beaver Area, North Catholic and Avonworth should be the top four seeds, each receiving first-round byes. Central Valley, Deer Lakes, Elizabeth-Forward and Knoch should host opening-round games.
Class 3A – 16 teams including Charleroi (10-11), McGuffey (15-6) and Waynesburg (9-11). Aliquippa, South Allegheny, Mohawk and Bishop Canevin are likely the top four seeds, followed by Southmoreland and South Park. Keystone Oaks, Ligonier Valley, and McGuffey are next in line with the Highlanders likely settling in at #9, having to open the playoffs on the road.
Class 2A – 21 teams, including six from Washington/Greene Counties. Greensburg Central Catholic, Sewickley Academy, Neshannock, Jeannette and Chartiers-Houston (19-2) will be the top five seeds. Fort Cherry (12-8), Jeff-Morgan (14-7) and West Greene (12-8) will be in the next group of seven teams, six of whom will avoid preliminary games. Bentworth (10-10) and Beth-Center (9-13) will certainly have to play opening night.
Class 1A – 8 teams. Neighborhood Academy will be #1, followed by Serra Catholic and Nazareth Prep, the Section 1 champion. Serra beat Nazareth in mid-January to earn the second spot. Aquinas Academy will be fourth and host the quarterfinal round match-up, likely with Geibel Catholic.
February 9, 2025 6:05 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Travis Konecny had a goal and an assist to help the Philadelphia Flyers snap a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. Scott Laughton and Garnet Hathaway also scored for Philadelphia. Samuel Ersson made 32 saves. Erik Karlsson and Kevin Hayes had tallies for Pittsburgh, and Joel Blomqvist stopped 17 shots. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (upper body) missed his second straight contest after sitting out Friday’s 3-2 win over the Rangers. Pittsburgh also was without Evgeni Malkin (lower body) and Bryan Rust, who was placed on injured reserve on Saturday.
February 9, 2025 6:12 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Andy Reid and Matt Nagy vs. Vic Fangio. Nick Sirianni and Kellen Moore vs. Steve Spagnuolo. This Super Bowl is a matchup of some of the brightest — and oldest — minds in the NFL. When the Kansas City Chiefs go for a three-peat in a rematch against the Eagles on Sunday, the game will come down to what Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones and teammates do on the field against Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, Jalen Carter and the rest of Philadelphia’s talented roster. But it starts with the coaches and the coordinators and their schemes. They have to devise the right game plan and make the best play calls.
February 9, 2025 6:09 am
CLEMSON. S.C. (AP) — He’s back, baby! ESPN’s Dick Vitale received a standing ovation at Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum in his first game back as a commentator since recovering from his fourth bout with cancer. About 30 minutes before Clemson faced Duke, Vitale was greeted by cheers as he arrived on the floor from a tunnel and began to make his way to his courtside seat to call the game. Clemson’s PA announcer chimed in with his best Vitale impersonation, saying “Dickie V, you’re awesome, baby!” Vitale, 85, hasn’t called a game for ESPN in two years. He’s battled four different types of cancer over the past four years, including vocal cord cancer. Vitale announced in December he’s cancer-free after his fourth bout with the disease in just over three years.
February 8, 2025 4:19 am
(NHL.com)-On Friday in New York, the Penguins played without their captain for the first time since 2022, when Sidney Crosby missed Game 6 of the First Round against the Rangers. He missed tonight’s contest with an upper-body injury, ending his consecutive games played streak at 229. Head Coach Mike Sullivan said, “Right now, we’re just taking it one day at a time” when it comes to Crosby’s situation, but that it’s encouraging he was on the ice for the optional game-day skate. “Obviously, he’s an important player for us,” Sullivan said. “When he’s not in our lineup, he’s a hard guy to replace. He’s the heartbeat of this team. So, we’re going to do our best to put our best game on the ice tonight.” Crosby joined Evgeni Malkin (lower body, week-to-week) on the injury list, which meant other players had big opportunities to step up – and that’s what they did. They brought the high compete level that Sullivan said would be necessary for success, and battled their way to a 3-2 win to begin this year’s Highmark Dads Trip. Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves, while Blake Lizotte, Rickard Rakell and Phil Tomasino all scored for Pittsburgh.
February 8, 2025 1:50 am
The Steelers are headed to Ireland! The team announced Friday that it will be the designated team to play in Dublin in 2025. It’s the first overseas game for the black and gold since it played the Minnesota Vikings in London in 2013. In addition, this is the first-ever NFL regular season game to be played in Ireland. The game will happen at Croke Park, the largest sporting arena in Ireland. The Steelers have a long history with Ireland. The team played an exhibition game there in 1997 at Croke Park against the Chicago Bears. Also, the late Steelers president Dan Rooney served as ambassador to Ireland under the Obama Administration. The Rooneys are of Irish descent. Croke Park is the principal national stadium of Ireland. It’s in Dublin and seats nearly 70,000 with an additional 13,000 in standing room. It also has a walkway, known as the Kellogg’s Skyline Tour Croke Park, that gives a 144-foot view of Dublin and the surrounding areas. Details including who the Steelers will play, the date of the game and kickoff will be announced when the 2025 NFL scheduled is revealed this spring.
February 7, 2025 1:01 am
A total of 21 high school basketball teams from Washington & Greene Counties will be in the playoff brackets come Monday afternoon. With one night left in the section schedules for boys teams in the area, playoff positioning is all that’s left to be decided. Ten boys teams, 11 on the girls side, have playoff invitations secured. Chartiers-Houston boys & girls, Fort Cherry & Peters Township girls teams will all enter the tournaments as section champions. On the other end of the spectrum, Carmichaels girls forced their way in with a final-seconds game-winning basket to tie for the 4th and final spot in 2A Section 3. The WPIAL Basketball Committee will release the brackets for all 12 tournaments Monday afternoon. As soon as they’re available, we’ll post the brackets and opening-round match-ups for the 21 teams in the two-county area.
Boys playoff status
Clinched (10): 5A Peters Township, 3A Charleroi, 3A McGuffey, 3A Waynesburg, 2A Bentworth, 2A Beth-Center, 2A Chartiers-Houston, 2A Fort Cherry, 2A Jeff-Morgan, 2A West Greene
Eliminated: 6A Canon-McMillan, 5A Ringgold, 5A Trinity, 3A Wash High, 2A Burgettstown, 2A California, 2A Carmichaels, 2A Mapletown, 1A Avella
Girls playoff status
Clinched (11): 6A Canon-McMillan, 5A Peters Township, 3A McGuffey, 2A Bentworth, 2A Beth-Center, 2A Burgettstown, 2A California, 2A Chartiers-Houston, 2A Fort Cherry, 2A Carmichaels, 1A West Greene
Eliminated: 5A Trinity, 4A Ringgold, 3A Charleroi, 3A Wash High, 3A Waynesburg, 2A Jeff-Morgan, 1A Avella, 1A Mapletown
Friday, Feb. 5 Girls
5A Peters Township 44, Bethel Park 40–Indians 12-0 in Section 4
2A Chartiers-Houston 50, Jeff-Morgan 10–Bucs 10-0 in Section 3
Boys
6A Canon-McMillan 61, Connellsville 59
5A Peters Township 54, Bethel Park 42–Indians share 2nd place in Section 3
5A Ringgold 68, Trinity 67–Rams first section win of season
3A McGuffey 59, Wash High 36
3A Ligonier Valley 65, Charleroi 48
3A Waynesburg 70, Mt. Pleasant 60–Raiders share 2nd in Section 4
2A Bentworth 58, Frazier 44
2A Riverview 65, California 28
2A Chartiers-Houston 49, Jeff-Morgan 36–Bucs win Section 3 by 3 games over Fort Cherry, Jeff-Morgan & West Greene
2A West Greene 64, Beth-Center 39–Pioneers share 2nd in Section 3
2A Fort Cherry 73, Carmichaels 32–Rangers share 2nd in Section 3
2A Burgettstown 71, Mapletown 47
1A Avella 59, Beaver County Christian 40–Eagles miss playoffs by one game
Saturday, Feb. 6 Boys
2A Jeannette 71, Bentworth 25
February 7, 2025 4:28 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Antonio Gates, Jared Allen, Eric Allen and Sterling Sharpe have been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the smallest induction class in 20 years following offseason rule changes meant to make it harder to get inducted. Sharpe got in as a seniors candidate and will join younger brother Shannon as the first siblings ever inducted into the Hall. Two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning fell short and won’t join older brother Peyton in Canton. The induction ceremony will be held Aug. 2.
February 7, 2025 4:26 am
Josh Allen beat out two-time winner Lamar Jackson for the Most Valuable Player award in the closest race since Matt Ryan beat out Tom Brady in 2016. Allen, who led Buffalo to a fifth straight AFC East title, got 27 first-place votes to Jackson’s 23 and finished with 383 points. He received 22 second-place votes and one third. Jackson, who led the Ravens to a second straight AFC North championship, got 26 second-place votes and one fourth for a total of 362 points.
February 7, 2025 5:45 am
The NCAA has changed its participation policy for transgender athletes, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth. The change came on day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. The NCAA’s revised policy permits athletes assigned male at birth to practice with women’s teams and receive benefits such as medical care while practicing. The policy is effective immediately and applies to all athletes regardless of previous eligibility reviews.
