February 15, 2022 2:36 am
The WPIAL Basketball Committee has set the pairings for the upcoming tournaments. Action starts Friday night and wraps up at the Petersen Events Center with the WPIAL Finals March 3-5. Following is the schedule for the 12 Washington County teams. Click for WPIAL brackets.
Friday, Feb. 18 (winners to Wednesday, Feb. 23)
6A Girls #9 Butler at #8 Peters Township, 8 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here
3A Girls #9 Charleroi at #8 Laurel, 7 pm
Monday, Feb. 21 (winners to Thursday, Feb. 24)
3A Boys #11 Beaver Falls at #6 Wash High, 7 pm, WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
2A Girls #11 California at #6 Burgettstown, 7 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here
2A Girls #13 Chartiers-Houston at #4 Greens. Central Catholic, 7 pm
2A Girls #9 Apollo-Ridge at #8 Fort Cherry, 7 pm
1A Girls #10 Avella at #7 Bishop Canevin, 7 pm
Tuesday, Feb. 22 (winners to Friday, Feb. 25)
5A Girls #14 Armstrong at #3 Trinity, 7 pm, WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
2A Boys #15 California at #2 Fort Cherry, 7 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here
2A Boys #16 Chartiers-Houston at #1 OLSH, 7 pm
February 15, 2022 3:44 am
UNDATED (AP) – Gonzaga has reclaimed the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll. The Bulldogs earned 56 of 60 first-place votes to swap places with Auburn, which had spent the past three weeks at No. 1. The Tigers fell to No. 2 after losing at Arkansas. This is the Zags’ third stint at No. 1 this season. Providence climbed to No. 8 for its highest ranking since January 2016. Wyoming, Arkansas and Alabama were the week’s new additions. The No. 22 Cowboys are in the poll for the first time since 2015.
February 15, 2022 3:43 am
BEIJING (AP) – One of sports’ fiercest and longest-running grudge-matches will resume Thursday when the American and Canadian women’s hockey teams faceoff at the Beijing Games with an Olympic gold medal on the line. The game will mark the sixth time out of seven Olympics the cross-border rivals will play for the title. Canada has won four times. The United States is the defending champion after a thrilling 3-2 shootout victory in 2018 in Pyeongchang. The test for the U.S. is finding a way to contain Canada’s dynamic offense. The Canadians are 6-0 and have outscored opponents by a margin of 54-8. Canada defeated the U.S. 4-2 in the preliminary round.
February 14, 2022 3:54 am
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) – Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald were two huge reasons why the Los Angeles Rams reached the Super Bowl, and they were responsible for the team’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Rams are Super Bowl champs for the second time in team history after Kupp grabbed a late touchdown pass and Donald came up with two big defensive plays in the waning moments of a 23-20 comeback win over the Bengals. Cincinnati’s defense had been the story much of the game, keeping the Rams out of the end zone in the second half until Matthew Stafford engineered a 15-play, 79-yard TD drive that ended with Kupp’s one-yard TD reception with 1:25 remaining. Kupp had four receptions for 39 yards on the championship drive. Donald closed out the win. On the Bengals’ final drive, he stopped Samaje Perine a yard short of a first down. Donald clinched it on the next play by wrapping up Joe Burrow on fourth down, forcing the Cincinnati quarterback to heave a soft, floating pass that fell incomplete. Donald had two sacks and Kupp hauled in eight passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns to earn Super Bowl MVP honors. Stafford atoned for his two interceptions by throwing for three scores, completing 26 of his 40 passes for 283 yards. Burrow was 22 of 33 for 263 yards, one TD and no interceptions. He also was sacked seven times, tying a Super Bowl record set by Roger Staubach in Super Bowl 10. It’s the first Super Bowl championship for a Rams team based in Los Angeles. Their other Super Bowl win came as the St. Louis Rams in 2000. The Bengals are now 0-3 in Super Bowls.
February 14, 2022 3:56 am
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Brian Boyle scored the tie-breaking goal early in the third period, Tristan Jarry made 28 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins kept rolling with a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. Mike Matheson, Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel also scored for the Penguins, who won their third straight overall and sixth straight on the road. Pittsburgh improved to 7-1-3 in its last 11 games. Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier scored for the Devils. New Jersey had scored seven goals in each of its last two games, both road wins. But the Devils nonetheless fell to 3-8-0 in their last 11.
February 13, 2022 1:14 am
The WPIAL Basketball regular season ended Saturday. The playoffs will include a dozen Washington County teams (8 girls, 4 boys) while Greene County is sending nine teams (four girls, five boys). Following is a breakdown of season records and expected seeding in the WPIAL tournaments for the Washington County teams The League will release official brackets Monday afternoon.
GIRLS
6A Peters Township (11-10). The Indians finished in fourth place in Section 2 and should expect to be the #7 seed, taking on the #2 North Allegheny or Mt. Lebanon in the quarterfinals.
5A Trinity (17-4). The Hillers have lost twice in the last three games to the third & fourth place teams in Section 1. Trinity will likely be seeded fourth after going unbeaten through Section 3. There are 16 teams in 5A bracket.
3A Charleroi (14-8). The Cougars finished third in Section 2 behind Waynesburg and South Park. Charleroi will likely be seeded 6th or 7th. The section leaders should receive byes to the quarterfinals in the 12-team field.
2A Burgettstown (17-2), California (13-9), Chartiers-Houston (10-10), Fort Cherry (15-6). This bracket will have as many as 19 teams. Burgettstown should expect to be in the top 5 seeds, Fort Cherry in the 6-8 range. California will likely be in the 9-12 group while Chartiers-Houston should expect to play in a preliminary round game.
1A Avella (10-11). The Eagles finished tied for third with Mapletown with both likely in the 8-12 range and will play in first round games with the winners facing top 4 seeds in the quarterfinals.
BOYS
3A Wash High (15-2). The Little Prexies should be seeded 3rd or 4th though a loss to Monessen Saturday might have dropped them another notch or two. Wash High would host two rounds if seeded in the top 4 in the 16-team bracket.
2A California (6-14), Chartiers-Houston (9-13), Fort Cherry (19-2). Look for Fort Cherry to be seeded 2-4 and be set to host through the quarterfinals. The Trojans and Buccaneers will likely be seeded in the 12-16 range and face section champions in the first round of the 16-team field.
February 13, 2022 7:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — John Hugley had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Ithiel Horton scored four key points in the final 17 seconds to lead Pittsburgh to a 71-69 victory over NC State on Saturday. A layup by Horton gave Pitt a 67-63 lead with 17 seconds remaining then Thomas Allen hit a 3-pointer to draw the Wolfpack within one. NC State sent Horton to the line with nine seconds remaining and he hit both for a 69-66 lead. Both teams fouled on the ensuing possessions and time ran out on the Wolfpack. Horton and Jamarius Burton scored 17 points each for Pittsburgh. Hugley made 13 of 15 free throws, while Horton was 4 for 4 and Burton 6 for 6 from the line. They were the only Panthers to attempt a free throw, finishing a combined 23 of 25. NC State made 14 of 16 free throws and both teams shot 40% overall. Dereon Seabron led NC State (10-16, 3-12 ACC) with 17 points and Jericole Hellems added 10. Terquavion Smith, who averages 15.5 points per game, scored six on 2-of-12 shooting. The Panthers (10-16, 5-10) opened the second half with an extended 19-4 run in which Horton scored seven points and Mouhamadou Gueye added five points. Now trailing 45-35, the Wolfpack bounced back with eight straight points, including two 3-pointers by Smith. After that exchange, the teams stayed within five points of each other for the remainder of the game.
February 13, 2022 7:46 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The final blow has been dealt to an on-time start to spring training, with Major League Baseball making a new offer Saturday that the players’ association received as only scant progress in the drawn-out labor talks. On the 73rd day of a lockout that has become the second-longest work stoppage in baseball history, clubs gave the union 16 documents totaling 130 pages, encompassing all key areas in a mix of new offers and previous proposals. The one-hour session was just the fifth on core economics since the lockout began, and the first on a weekend. The sides remained far apart on luxury tax thresholds and rate, with major differences on revenue-sharing and how to address players’ allegations of service time manipulation. MLB said it remains opposed to any increase in salary arbitration eligibility or reduction in revenue sharing. The players’ union said it would analyze the offer before determining when and how to respond. Baseball’s ninth work stoppage — and first since 1995 — began Dec. 2 following the expiration of a five-year labor contract. Training camps will remain shuttered Wednesday, when pitchers and catchers had been scheduled to start workouts for a 2022 season that remains in doubt.
February 13, 2022 7:49 am
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Sam Ryder brought down the house with a hole-in-one on the stadium 16th hole Saturday in the WM Phoenix Open, where newcomer Sahith Theegala topped a leaderboard as crowded as the course. Ryder’s wedge shot on the 124-yard hole landed just right and short, bounced a couple of times, spun left and tumbled in. The rowdy fans on the 17,000-seat hole threw drinks in the air in celebration and littered the turf with bottles, cans and cups, leading to about a 15-minute delay. Ryder’s first tour ace was the 10th at No. 16 since the tournament moved to the course in 1997 and first since Francesco Molinari in the third round in 2015. Tiger Woods did it in 1997 before grandstands ringed the hole. With around 200,000 fans packing firm and fast TPC Scottsdale on another sunny, 80-degree day in the Valley of the Sun, Theegala overcame a double bogey on the par-4 second to shoot a 69. Making his event debut on a sponsor exemption, Theegala had a 14-under 199 total for a one-stroke lead over defending champion Brooks Koepka. FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and Talor Gooch were another stroke back. Theegala is trying to become the first player to win on a sponsor exemption since Martin Laird in the 2020 Shriners Children’s Open. The 24-year-old Indian-American grew up in Chino Hills, California, and starred at Pepperdine. In 2020, he swept the three major college player of the year awards.
February 11, 2022 1:17 am
The PIAA Team Wrestling Tournaments are underway in Hershey. The WPIAL sent a record seven teams for the two brackets: Class 2A Quaker Valley, Burrell & Burgettstown all lost in the first round. Class 3A Waynesburg, Connellsville and Latrobe were first round winners, Canon-McMillan dropped into the consolations. Click for Brackets: PIAA
Thursday, First Round
2A Brookville 31, Burgettstown 30
3A Bethlehem Catholic 51, Canon-McMillan 12
Friday, Consolation Round 1
2A Faith Christian 38, Burgettstown 24 (Burgettstown is eliminated)
3A Canon-McMillan 46, La Salle College 18
Friday, Consolation Round 2
3A Mifflin County 45, Canon-McMillan 23 (Canon-McMillan is eliminated)
