December 14, 2021 3:47 am
UNDATED (AP) – The defending champs are the new No. 1 team in the latest Associated Press men’s basketball poll. Baylor is the fourth team in as many weeks to take the top spot, moving up a spot after previous No. 1 Purdue fell to Rutgers last Thursday. The Bears earned every vote from a 61-member national media panel Monday to reach the top spot in the poll for the first time since a four-week run ended on Feb. 17, 2020. Second-ranked Duke is followed by Purdue, UCLA and Gonzaga. Alabama, Kansas, Arizona, Villanova and Southern Cal round out the top 10.
December 11, 2021 11:45 pm
The WPIAL had teams in five of the six PIAA Football Championship games this weekend in Hershey, the most ever for District 7. The League had never won more than three state football titles in any single year until this year with the WPIAL winning the four largest classifications. Mt. Lebanon capped the weekend Saturday night, winning its first-ever football state title, beating three-time defending champion St. Joseph’s Prep of the Philadelphia Catholic League. PIAA Brackets
Thursday scores
Class 1A D6 Bishop Guilfoyle 21, D9 Redbank Valley 14
Class 4A D7 Aliquippa 34, D3 Bishop McDevitt 27
Friday scores
Class 2A D4 Southern Columbia 62, D7 Serra Catholic 25
Class 5A D7 Penn-Trafford 17, D12 Imhotep Charter 14, OT
Saturday scores
Class 3A D7 Central Valley 7, D3 Wyomissing 0
Class 6A D7 Mt. Lebanon 35, D12 St. Joseph’s Prep 17
December 13, 2021 3:05 am
Postseason chances are slipping away for the Steelers, who find themselves in last place in the AFC North with a 6-6-1 record. The Browns beat the Ravens at home on Sunday afternoon 24-22, so Cleveland jumps Pittsburgh and Cincinnati to move into 2nd place with a 7-6 record. The Bengals lost to the 49ers in overtime at home, which gives Cincinnati an identical record with Cleveland. Despite the loss, Baltimore still remains in the top spot in the division with an 8-5 record. There is not much breathing room in the standings with just four games left. If the playoffs started today, Baltimore would be in, Cleveland and Cincinnati would be the first two teams out, and Pittsburgh would be behind Denver, four spots out of the postseason.
December 13, 2021 1:56 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Bryce Young didn’t just meet the standard set by the star quarterbacks who preceded him at Alabama, he exceeded it and gave the Crimson Tide a rare Heisman back-to-back. Young became the first Tide quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, making Alabama the fifth school with consecutive winners of college football’s most prestigious player of the year award. Young received 684 first-place votes and 2,311 points to easily outdistance Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (78, 954), who became the third defensive player to be Heisman runner-up and first since Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o in 2012. Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett (28, 631) finished third and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud (12, 399) was fourth. Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. (31, 325) was fifth, putting two defensive players in the top five for the first time since 1962.
December 13, 2021 2:57 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – George Papas had 17 points, six rebounds and five assists, Shavar Reynolds added 14 points and Monmouth beat Pittsburgh 56-52. Papas scored 14 points, including four 3-pointers, in the first half. He made back-to-back 3s to take the lead for good and spark a 17-2 run that he capped with a layup and then a 3-pointer that gave the Hawks a 13-point lead midway through the first half. Jamarious Burton scored 13 of 15 points in the second half for Pitt (3-7). John Hugley and Femi Odukale added 14 points apiece. The Hawks (8-2) are off to their best start since winning 8 of 10 games to start the 2015-16 season
December 13, 2021 2:59 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Taz Sherman scored 27 points to lead West Virginia to a 63-50 victory over Kent State on Sunday. Sean McNeil added 19 points for West Virginia, which won its sixth straight. The Mountaineers continue to have problems getting production from anyone besides Sherman and McNeil. No other West Virginia player scored more than four. After Kent State coach Rob Senderoff was ejected with 7:54 left, McNeil sank four free throws and capped a 14-0 run with a layup for a 54-37 lead. West Virginia shot poorly from the free-throw line for the second straight game, shooting 54%. Sincere Carry scored 18 points to lead Kent State.
December 12, 2021 7:57 am
PITTSBURGH — Goaltender Casey DeSmith found his confidence and it helped the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins to another win on Saturday night. DeSmith stopped all 33 shots he faced, and Brock McGinn gave the Pittsburgh Penguins the only goal they needed for a 1-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks. It was DeSmith’s seventh career shutout and first of the season, and his second straight win in his sixth appearance. DeSmith played four times in the team’s first 24 games and didn’t record a win. But in his last two, he has stopped 61 of 62 shots. McGinn scored his seventh of the season on Pittsburgh’s first shot of the game, 5:12 into the first period. He beat Ducks goalie John Gibson with a one-timer from the right faceoff dot off the rush, set up by Zach Aston-Reese with a backhand pass to the blueline. Sidney Crosby’s seven-game point streak ended, but Pittsburgh won its fourth straight game and ninth in 12 games.
December 12, 2021 4:05 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves running in place as the season winds down. A 36-28 loss to Minnesota dropped Pittsburgh to 6-6-1 with four games to play. The Vikings pushed around the Steelers on both sides of the ball for long stretches. Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin substituted liberally in search of a spark but couldn’t stop his team from failing to win for the fourth time in the last five games. The Steelers have 10 days to recover before hosting Tennessee on Dec. 19.
December 11, 2021 4:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Danton Heinen, Brock McGinn and Kasperi Kapanen scored, Sidney Crosby had two assists and the Pittsburgh Penguins held on to beat the rival Washington Capitals 4-2. The Penguins controlled the play for the first two periods before the Capitals mounted a comeback in the third. Pittsburgh extended its winning streak to three. Washington’s brief two-game streak came to an end. It was the 85th NHL meeting between Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller scored for Washington.
December 11, 2021 4:04 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Raina Perez and Camille Hobby scored 15 points each to lead No. 2 North Carolina State over Pittsburgh 89-54 in the ACC opener for both teams. Perez made three 3-pointers, and the Wolfpack shot 47% from beyond the arc. Hobby scored all of her points in 12 minutes. NC State has won nine straight since opening the season with a loss to top-ranked South Carolina. Diamond Johnson scored 10 points for the Wolfpack. Elissa Cunane finished with nine points and 12 rebounds as NC State held a 51-37 advantage on the boards.
