March 2, 2022 3:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Freshman guard Trevor Keels scored a career-high 27 points, Paolo Banchero added 21 and Duke clinched at least a share of its 13th Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title under Mike Krzyzewski with an 86-56 win over Pittsburgh. The Blue Devils (26-4, 16-3) wasted little time making sure Krzyzewski would pick up his ACC-record 201st road win, taking a 13-point lead before the game was four minutes old and cruising. John Hugley led Pitt with 19 points. The Panthers were never in it while losing their third straight.
March 2, 2022 2:45 am
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) – The upcoming Major League Baseball season just got a little shorter. Commissioner Rob Manfred says the sport will lose regular-season games over a labor dispute for the first time in 27 years after acrimonious lockout talks collapsed in the hours before management’s deadline. Manfred said he is canceling the first two series of a season that was set to begin March 31, dropping the schedule from 162 games to likely 156 games at most. Manfred said the league and union have not made plans for future negotiations with the lockout in its 90th day.
February 28, 2022 10:51 pm
Wash High and West Greene fans were finally able to exhale having picked up PIAA basketball playoff bids. The Little Prexies lost a quarterfinal matchup to Shady Side Academy but earned a trip to states when the Bulldogs downed Aliquippa, 56-51, in the semifinals. Wash High will visit either the District 10 champion or the winner of the District 5-8-9 regional. The #2 Pioneers had a first-round bye, then were upset by #7 Bishop Canevin in the quarterfinals. The Crusaders dragged West Greene into the PIAA playoffs by beating #3 Union, 49-43, in the semifinals.
The Fort Cherry boys and Waynesburg girls already held tickets to the state tournaments. The Rangers are still alive in the WPIAL 2A boys bracket, facing Section 2 foe Carlynton Tuesday night in the semifinals. The two split their home-and-home regular season series. We’ll have that game on WJPA-FM (95.3) Tuesday. Airtime is 7:45 pm. Waynesburg reached the semifinals of the 3A girls bracket before falling to perennial power North Catholic. The Raiders either visit the District 10 runner-up or the District 5-8 winner.
Two other Washington County teams are still alive, but need some help to reach the state playoffs. The Trinity girls qualify one of two ways: a McKeesport win over South Fayette in the semifinals or a South Fayette win in the WPIAL championship game. Burgettstown’s girls team makes the state tourney if #2 Neshannock beats #1 OLSH Friday afternoon in the WPIAL Final. Click for WPIAL brackets.
Tuesday, Mar. 1 (winner to 2A Boys Championship game)
2A Boys #2 Fort Cherry vs. #3 Carlynton at West Allegheny, 7:45 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here
February 28, 2022 10:54 pm
California University of Pennsylvania will host PSAC basketball tournament action tonight and Wednesday. The Cal U men, seeded 4th in the west, downed #5 Slippery Rock, 72-55, and will face IUP, the top seed in the west, Wednesday evening. The Vulcan women, the top seed in the west, will host a quarterfinal game Wednesday against IUP. The semifinals/finals will be held Saturday & Sunday–the men playing at the highest remaining west seed, the women hosted by the highest seed in the east.
February 28, 2022 10:37 pm
The NCAA released brackets for the Division III Women’s & Men’s basketball championship tournaments Monday. Washington & Jefferson College is sending teams to both thanks to Saturday’s wins in the Presidents Athletic Conference championship games.
The Wash-Jeff women (23-4) travel to Lexington, KY to face host Transylvania (24-0), one of three unbeaten teams in the 64-team field. The winner of Friday’s game will face the Southern Virginia (24-4) / Shenandoah (22-5) winner Saturday at Transylvania.
W&J’s men (24-4) head to Chicago where they take on host Elmhurst (22-6) Friday. The winner will meet the Pomona-Pitzer (21-4) / Norwestern-St. Paul (22-6) winner in Saturday’s second round.
March 1, 2022 3:47 am
Derek Jeter announced a surprise departure from the Miami Marlins after 4 1/2 mostly unsuccessful years that didn’t come remotely close to matching his success as a player for the New York Yankees. Jeter became CEO of the Marlins in September 2017 when Bruce Sherman bought the team from Jeffrey Loria. Miami went 218-327 during his four seasons at the helm, finishing with a winning record only once at 31-29 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
March 1, 2022 3:49 am
GENEVA (AP) – The International Olympic Committee has made a sweeping move to isolate and condemn Russia over the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The IOC has urged others to exclude Russian athletes and officials from international events. The IOC says the move is needed to “protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants.” It opens the way for FIFA to exclude Russia from a World Cup soccer qualifying playoff match on March 24. Poland already has refused to play the scheduled game against Russia. The IOC’s call also applied to athletes and officials from Belarus because that country has abetted Russia’s invasion.
February 28, 2022 3:56 am
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Sidney Crosby scored with 2:14 left to rally Pittsburgh over the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 and bolster their hold on second place in the Metropolitan Division. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist, Chad Ruhwedel also scored, and Bryan Rust added two assists in Pittsburgh’s second straight win. Casey DeSmith stopped 32 shots to improve to 3-0 against Columbus. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jack Roslovic scored for Columbus, and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 37 shots as the Blue Jackets lost their second straight.
February 28, 2022 3:59 am
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) – Negotiators for locked-out major league players and owners recessed their talks until Monday, the day management has set as a deadline to salvage March 31 openers. The sides held a series of short and more frequent meetings that stretched into Sunday night before saying they would resume in the morning. MLB says that if there is not a deal by the end of Monday, there will not be enough training time to start the season as scheduled and play 162 games. Entering the 88th day of the work stoppage they were still far apart on big issues that include luxury tax thresholds and rates, the size of the new bonus pool for pre-arbitration players and minimum salaries.
February 26, 2022 8:45 pm
Washington & Jefferson swept the Presidents Athletic Conference basketball championships Saturday. The W&J women rolled past Westminster to start the afternoon. The W&J men rallied from nine points down with 14 minutes to play to beat Chatham for the second time in 10 days. The sweep is the first in the school’s history.
Aleena McDaniel came off the bench to score 11 points for the the top-seeded women. Sarah Berardelli also had 11 for W&J. Victoria Koeck added 10. The Presidents led for all but three minutes in the middle of the second quarter, a stretch that was answered by a 6-0 run to close the half. W&J rattled off a dozen straight points in the middle of the third to put the game away then nailed seven of 8 free throws in the fourth to close it out. The PAC championship is the 5th for the women’s basketball program at W&J, the first since 2006.
Plagued by turnovers and poor shot selection, the W&J men found themselves down 10 points with 13 minutes to play in the first half but rallied back late to close to within six at the break. Chatham pushed the lead back to nine points with 14 minutes to play but W&J held the Cougars to 13 points the rest of the way. Five Presidents finished the game in double figures, led by Okikola Agbale 18 off the bench. Kyran Mitchell, who was called for four offense fouls, measured himself enough to stay in the game and finish with 13 points. JR Mazza scored 12, all in the second half. Nick Gearhart added 11 and Isaiah Langston had 10 including a pair of foul shots in the final minute to clinch the win. The title is the W&J men’s first since 1995 and their 10th overall. Only Bethany (14) has more.
Both teams have earned the League’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The brackets will be released Monday afternoon with first-round games due to be played Friday at campus sites.
