January 30, 2023 3:50 am
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Patrick Mahomes scrambled for a first down on his badly sprained right ankle and then was shoved late out of bounds by Joseph Ossai, giving Harrison Butker a chance to kick a 45-yard field goal with 3 seconds left that gave the Kansas City Chiefs a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC title game. The Chiefs finally beat the Bengals after three straight losses, including a three-point overtime defeat in last year’s conference championship game. They advanced to play the Philadelphia Eagles in their third Super Bowl in four years.
January 30, 2023 3:52 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Jalen Hurts had one of Philadelphia’s four rushing touchdowns and the Eagles soared into the Super Bowl, forcing both of San Francisco’s quarterbacks out of the game with injuries and beating the wounded 49ers 31-7 in the NFC championship game. The Eagles won the Super Bowl five years ago with a different coach and quarterback. They’ll try to do it again behind the formidable duo of Hurts and Nick Sirianni. Philadelphia will play either the Cincinnati Bengals or former Eagles coach Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs. Miles Sanders ran for two touchdowns and linebacker Haason Reddick made the hit that forced 49ers rookie quarterback Brock Purdy out of the game with an elbow injury.
January 30, 2023 10:18 am
DALLAS (AP) – Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett, who led the Bulldogs to their second straight national championship, has been arrested in Dallas after police said he was intoxicated and banging on doors. Dallas police said the 25-year-old was arrested Sunday. Police said Bennett was charged with public intoxication and taken to the city detention center. Police said that at about 6:10 a.m., officers responded to reports of a man banging on doors. Last week, Bennett told reporters that he would be training for his pro career in Fort Worth, Texas, located just west of Dallas. Bennett threw two touchdown passes and ran for two scores in the first half as No. 1 Georgia demolished No. 3 TCU 65-7 in the national championship game.
January 30, 2023 2:29 am
Boys basketball teams have two weeks (4 play dates) left in the regular season. The top four teams in each section qualify for the playoffs plus any unbreakable ties. Here’s a look at the Washington & Greene County boyss teams (section records):
Class 6A Canon-McMillan (0-6). The Big Macs have been close, suffering 1-point and 2-point losses the first time through section play. Now, CM needs to win out, sitting three games back with four to play.
Class 5A Peters Township (5-1). The Indians share the section lead with Bethel Park. The two meet Feb. 10, the final night of the season, at Peters Township. Trinity (3-3) holds the final playoff spot, having swept Connellsville and beating Ringgold (1-5) the first time through. Barring upsets, the Hillers will qualify and the regular season finale at Ringgold Feb. 10 will determine the Rams’ playoff fate.
Class 3A Wash High (8-1). The Little Prexies have clinched a playoff spot but suffered their first section loss (at Brownsville) Friday night. Still, WHS can clinch a share of the section title with a home win over Yough Tuesday night (WJPA-AM, airtime 7:20 pm). McGuffey (4-4) sits in third place a half-game up on Brownsville, Charleroi (4-5) and a full game ahead of Mt. Pleasant. The Highlanders split their season series with Mt. Pleasant while beating Charleroi and Brownsville the first time through section play. Waynesburg (1-8) is three back with three to play.
Class 2A Ft. Cherry (9-0). The Rangers have clinched a playoff berth and can wrap up a share of the section championship with a home win against Chartiers-Houston (8-1) Friday (WJPA-AM, airtime 7:20 pm). The Bucs have also clinched a post-season spot. Burgettstown (5-3) is comfortably in third place having lost only to the leaders. Bentworth (4-5) holds the fourth spot at the moment, with games left against Carmichaels (3-5), Burgettstown and Beth-Center (0-9). Carmichaels also has games with Frazier and the section leaders. Beth-Center has been eliminated.
Class 1A Section 1 Avella (2-4). The Eagles put themselves in position to make the playoffs with Friday night’s win over Western Beaver, 77-63. The Eagles lost two earlier meetings with the Golden Beavers, 54-41 & 76-37. The teams are tied for fourth place, each having games against the other league teams. Barring upsets, both will go into the tournament as fourth-place finishers
Class 1A Section 2 Jeff-Morgan (4-2). The Rockets are in third place with four games left. J-M is two games ahead of fourth-place Mapletown (2-4), three better than California and West Greene, both 1-5. California visits Mapletown Tuesday (Jan. 31) while West Greene hosts the Maples to close the season.
January 28, 2023 3:24 am
Two weeks (4 play dates) remain in the girls basketball regular season. The top four teams in each section qualify for the playoffs plus any unbreakable ties. Here’s a look at the Washington & Greene County girls teams (section records):
Class 6A Peters Township (3-5) tied for the final playoff spot with Baldwin and Bethel Park. The Indians split with the Highlanders and beat the Blackhawks in their first meeting. Canon-McMillan (0-8) needs to win out and get lots of help.
Class 5A Trinity (5-1) has clinched a playoff spot and sits one game behind South Fayette. Trinity plays three of its final four section games at home.
Class 4A Ringgold (2-7) trails Laurel Highland and West Mifflin by 3.5 games. The Rams have three games left and must win out plus have Laurel Highlands lose its remaining four games.
Class 3A Waynesburg (5-1), Charleroi (3-3), McGuffey (2-4). Waynesburg leads the section by one game over Yough & South Park. Charleroi sits fourth, one game ahead of McGuffey but the Cougars lost to the Highlanders the first time through. McGuffey plays three of its last four section games on the road.
Class 2A Section 2 Burgettstown (6-) has clinched a playoff spot and leads the standings, one game better than Brentwood, two up on Ft. Cherry (4-2). The Rangers clinch a berth with any win or with a Sto-Rox loss.
Class 2A Section 4 Wash High (8-0), Chartiers-Houston (8-1) and California (5-3) have all clinched. The Little Prexies visit the Bucs Monday night with at least a share of the section title on the line. WHS won the first meeting, 34-26, right after the holiday break. Carmichaels (4-4) is 2.5 games up on Frazier and Bentworth (2-7), clinching with any win or with losses by both the Commodores and Bearcats. Beth-Center (1-8) can not qualify.
Class 1A West Greene (5-1) is in a virtual tie for first place with Monessen (4-1). The Pioneers’ 70+ game section winning streak was snapped Thursday by Avella (3-3). The Eagles currently hold the final playoff spot, one game up on Mapletown (2-4), three better than Jeff-Morgan (0-6).
January 29, 2023 7:50 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Blake Hinson tipped in a Jamarius Burton miss with 31 seconds remaining and Pittsburgh rallied past No. 20 Miami 71-68. The Panthers held the Hurricanes scoreless over the final 2:26 while closing on an 11-0 run to beat a ranked team for the third time this season. Hinson finished with 21 points for Pitt. Jordan Miller led the Hurricanes with 18 points. Isaiah Wong added 14 but the Hurricanes committed three of their 12 turnovers in the final 35 seconds as the Panthers stormed back.
January 29, 2023 7:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Logan Couture had two goals and three assists as the San Jose Sharks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-4 to snap a four-game skid. Alexander Barabanov had a goal and two assists, Erik Karlsson added a goal and an assist, and Michael Eyssimont and Noah Gregor also scored for the Sharks, who are 4-5-4 in their last 13 games. Marc-Edouard Vlasic had two assists and Kaapo Kahkonen made 37 saves. Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist, and Ryan Poehling added a short-handed goal for Pittsburgh, which watched its six-game point streak (3-0-3) snapped. Casey DeSmith stopped 26 shots.
January 29, 2023 7:49 am
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Damar Hamlin released a video Saturday in which he says he’s thankful for the outpouring of support and vows to pay it back, marking the first time the Buffalo Bills safety has spoken publicly since he went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated on the field in Cincinnati on Jan. 2. Hamlin said now was “the right time” to speak after the Bills’ season ended and because he needed time to recover and gather his thoughts. The 5 1/2-minute video was posted on Hamlin’s social media accounts.
January 28, 2023 3:52 am
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Patrick Mahomes finished a full week of practice on his ailing right ankle Friday. Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid pronounced his All-Pro quarterback ready to go for Sunday night’s the AFC championship game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Mahomes sustained a high ankle sprain in the first quarter of last week’s divisional-round win over Jacksonville, returning after halftime to polish off the victory. That sent the Chiefs to their fifth consecutive AFC championship game. They will face the AFC North champions on Sunday night in a rematch of last year’s overtime loss to the Bengals.
January 28, 2023 3:53 am
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) – The San Francisco 49ers got a jolt offensively when they made the bold decision in October to trade four draft picks to add Christian McCaffrey to an already deep group of playmakers. The Philadelphia Eagles made an aggressive trade of their own to supercharge their offense when they added game-breaking receiver A.J. Brown in a draft-day trade. The two moves by the NFC powerhouses are big reasons why the Niners and Eagles are set to meet in the conference title game in Philadelphia on Sunday with a spot in the Super Bowl on the line.
