January 27, 2023 3:53 am
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Billy Packer, an Emmy award-winning college basketball broadcaster who covered 34 Final Fours for NBC and CBS, has died at 82. Packer’s son, Mark, told The Associated Press on Thursday night that his father had been hospitalized for the past three weeks and had several medical issues, and ultimately succumbed to kidney failure. Packer’s broadcasting career coincided with the growth of college basketball. He worked as analyst or color commentator on every Final Four from 1975 to 2008.
January 27, 2023 2:16 am
The WPIAL Team Tournament pairings were released by the League Thursday afternoon, including top seeds for #1 Waynesburg & #2 Canon-McMillan in Class 3A, #1 Burgettstown in Class 2A. Action starts Monday night with two preliminary matches in each class including Jeff-Morgan taking on Valley at 6 pm at Carlynton. The top four seeds in each bracket host four-team groups in Wednesday for first round and quarterfinals. We’ll have the Canon-McMillan matches on WJPA-AM (1450) with the Trinity and Peters Township matches from Butler on WJPA-FM (95.3). The survivors of each of those groups moves to the WPIAL Semifinals/Finals, Saturday, Feb. 4, at Peters Township (Class 3A starting at 10 am) and Chartiers-Houston (Class 2A starting at 12 noon). WPIAL Brackets CLICK HERE
Schedule for Washington/Greene County teams:
Monday, Jan. 30
Class 2A Preliminary Round (6 pm at Carlynton)
#15 Jeff-Morgan vs. #18 Valley (winner to first round Wednesday at #2 Quaker Valley)
Wednesday, Feb. 1
Class 2A First Round (all at 6 pm)
#16 Carlynton/#17 Southmoreland winner AT #1 Burgettstown
#7 McGuffey vs. #10 Freedom at Quaker Valley
Class 2A Quarterfinals (all at 7:30 pm)
Burgettstown winner vs. Mt. Pleasant/Montour winner at Burgettstown
McGuffey/Freedom winner vs. Quaker Valley winner at Quaker Valley
Class 3A First Round (all at 6 pm)
Bethel Park/Fox Chapel winner AT #1 Waynesburg
Penn-Trafford/Kiski winner AT #2 Canon-McMillan
#6 Trinity vs. #11 Hempfield at Butler
#14 Peters Township AT #3 Butler
Class 3A Quarterfinals (all at 7:30 pm)
Waynesburg winner vs. North Allegheny/Plum winner at Waynesburg
Canon-McMillan winner vs. Latrobe/Norwin winner at Canon-McMillan
Trinity/Hempfield winner vs. Peters Township/Butler winner at Butler
January 25, 2023 10:23 pm
The final WPIAL Team Tournament berths were decided Wednesday night as the section dual meet season ended. The top three finishers in each section make the team tournament. Waynesburg won the Section 5-AAA title with a 39-27 win over Trinity, dropping the Hillers to third place in the section. Section 6-AAA went to Canon-McMillan with a 45-18 win at Peters Township. Burgettstown had already clinched the Section 1-AA title, going unbeaten. The Blue Devils are expected to be the 2A top seed when brackets are released Thursday. Waynesburg, Canon-McMillan and Burgettstown are expected to host 4-team pods on Wednesday. When the brackets are released, we’ll list the match-ups with bracket links.
Following is a breakdown of Washington & Greene County teams:
Section 5-AAA: Waynesburg is first, Trinity third.
Section 6-AAA: Canon-McMillan is first, Peters Township second.
Section 1-AA: Burgettstown is first, McGuffey second. Jeff-Morgan topped Beth-Center to claim the third spot.
January 26, 2023 4:00 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Blake Hinson scored 24 points on a program-record tying eight 3-pointers and Pittsburgh held on to defeat Wake Forest 81-79 after blowing a 13-point second-half lead. After Wake Forest took its only lead of the second half at 74-73 with 4:34 remaining, Pitt got consecutive 3-pointers from Greg Elliott and Hinson to go back up by five. Tyree Appleby hit a 3-pointer and later added two free throws to get Wake Forest within 81-79 with 1:05 to go but neither team would score again. Hinson made 8 of 14 from 3-point range and Elliott made 6 of 9 for 18 points. The Panthers buried a program-record 18 3-pointers in 37 attempts.
January 26, 2023 2:37 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry’s on-again, off-again season is now off again. Coach Mike Sullivan says the two-time All-Star will miss at least two games with an upper-body injury. Jarry was scheduled to start against Florida on Tuesday night but reported an upper-body issue when he arrived at PPG Paints Arena. Casey DeSmith got the last-second start as the Penguins pulled out a wild 7-6 victory over the Panthers.
January 26, 2023 3:47 am
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes went through a morning walkthrough Wednesday and intends to practice as usual, raising expectations that the All-Pro quarterback will not be slowed by his sprained right ankle in this weekend’s AFC title game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Mahomes said the injury is similar to one he played through early in the 2019 season, when he came back the following week to throw four touchdown passes in a win over the Raiders. The only difference is it’s the opposite ankle. The Chiefs and Bengals play Sunday night for a spot in the Super Bowl.
January 26, 2023 3:48 am
Jalen Hurts, Justin Jefferson and Patrick Mahomes are finalists for The Associated Press 2022 NFL Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year awards. The winners will be announced at NFL Honors on Feb. 9. A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league completed voting before the start of the playoffs. Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Bengals QB Joe Burrow also are finalists for MVP. San Francisco 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa, Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones and Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons are the finalists for AP Defensive Player of the Year.
January 25, 2023 3:47 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Kris Letang scored his second goal of the game with 54 seconds left in overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 7-6 victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. Letang, who hadn’t played since Dec. 28 due to a lower-body injury, also added two assists for Pittsburgh. His power-play blast from above the left gave the Penguins just their fourth overtime victory of the season as Pittsburgh, currently in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, opened up a small bit of breathing room over the ninth-place Panthers. Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Danton Heinen each had a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh. Rickard Rakell and Drew O’Connor also scored for the Penguins. Carter Verhaeghe scored twice for Florida.
January 25, 2023 3:49 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Slick-fielding third baseman Scott Rolen has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with five votes to spare above the 75% needed. The seven-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove winner appeared on 297 of 389 ballots cast by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for 76.3%. He becomes the 18th third baseman elected to the Hall, the fewest of any position. First baseman Todd Helton was second with 281 votes for 72.2%, falling 11 votes short, and reliever Billy Wagner third with 265 for 68.1%. Rolen had a .281 batting average with 316 homers and 1,287 RBIs with the Phillies, Cardinals, Blue Jays and Reds from 1996-2012.
January 24, 2023 4:08 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Former Notre Dame and Boston College quarterback Phil Jurkovec has come home to Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh native transferred to the Panthers in December after spending the last three years with the Eagles. Jurkovec says he wants to help Pitt take another step forward after winning a combined 20 games over the last two seasons. Jurkovec is one of three high-profile transfers with Pittsburgh ties who joined the Panthers in the transfer portal. Running back Derrick Davis came over from LSU and safety Donovan McMillon transferred from Florida. Both are from Western Pennsylvania.
