March 15, 2021 4:04 am
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Justin Thomas found the right time for a near-perfect performance to put a rough start to the year behind him, rallying from three shots behind with bold play to close with a 4-under 68 and win The Players Championship. Thomas becomes only the fourth player to win a major, The Players Championship, the FedEx Cup and a World Golf Championship, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. He called it as good as he has ever played tee-to-green, and he needed it to outlast Lee Westwood, a hard-luck runner-up for the second straight week. Westwood birdied the final hole for a 72 to finish one shot behind at 13 under. Bryson DeChambeau and Brian Harman tied for third at minus-12.
March 14, 2021 7:18 am
BUFFALO, N.Y. — With goals at a premium Saturday night, the prolific Pittsburgh Penguins proved they can win with a low-scoring, tight-checking approach. Casey DeSmith stopped 24 shots, and the Penguins handed Buffalo its 10th straight loss with a 3-0 victory over the lowly Sabres. Jake Guentzel scored the go-ahead goal by batting in his own rebound with 3:23 remaining in the second period. Sidney Crosby, deep from his own end, and Mark Jankowski added empty-netters in the final minute. The Penguins had scored four or more goals in five of their previous six games. It was DeSmith’s second shutout against Buffalo and No. 5 for his career. He made 26 stops for the Penguins in a 5-0 win over the Sabres on March 14, 2019. Pittsburgh completed a two-game sweep of Buffalo following a 5-2 win on Thursday night. The Penguins have won five in a row overall, matching the team’s longest win streak since Oct. 10-18, 2019.
March 13, 2021 3:57 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – B.J. Finney is back with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have signed Finney to a one-year contract a week after Finney was released by the Cincinnati Bengals. Finney spent his first five seasons in the NFL in Pittsburgh after the team signed him as an undrafted rookie free agent in the spring of 2015. The Steelers are in the midst of a significant reset along the offensive line. Nine-time Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey retired in February.
March 13, 2021 3:59 am
UNDATED (AP) – A pair of ranked men’s basketball teams has pulled out of their conference tournaments due to COVID-19 concerns. Eleventh-ranked Kansas had to drop out of Friday’s Big 12 semifinal game against No. 13 Texas, and 16th-rated Virginia was forced out of its ACC semifinal contest with Georgia Tech. It comes one day after Duke said its season was over due to COVID-19 issues, knocking the Blue Devils out of the ACC quarterfinals. The Jayhawks cite a positive test within the program, while the Cavaliers say a positive test, quarantining and contact tracing led to the cancellation of their game. Both teams hope to be able to participate in the NCAA Tournament, which begins late next week. The cancellations allowed Georgia Tech and 15th-ranked Texas to advance to their conference title games. The Yellow Jackets will face either 15th-ranked Florida State or North Carolina on Saturday. The Longhorns will play the winner of tonight’s Oklahoma St.-Baylor game.
March 13, 2021 2:00 am
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) – Right-hander Trevor Cahill and the Pittsburgh Pirates have finalized a $1.5 million, one-year contract, a deal that allows him to earn an additional $1 million in performance bonuses for innings. The 33-year-old was 1-2 with a 3.24 ERA in six starts and five relief appearances for San Francisco last season. He struck out 31 and walked 14 in 24 innings, holding opponents to a career-low .184 batting average. After moving to the bullpen, he pitched five shutout innings in five games. Cahill is 85-94 with a 4.20 ERA and one save with Oakland, Arizona, Atlanta, the Cubs, San Diego, Kansas City, the Angels and San Francisco.
March 12, 2021 3:56 am
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Evgeni Malkin had a goal and assist and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the free-falling Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Thursday night for their fourth straight victory. Jake Guentzel scored the go-ahead goal on the power play with 8:24 left in the second period. Brandon Tanev, Anthony Angelo and Bryan Rust, with an empty-netter, also scored. Tristan Jarry stopped 21 shots and was assisted on Rust’s goal. Pittsburgh has won 11 of its past 14. Pittsburgh’s Mike Sullivan became the NHL’s fourth U.S.-born coach to win 300 games, and 12th overall to have that many career victories and at least two Stanley Cup titles. The teams will complete the two-game series Saturday night.
March 10, 2021 2:26 am
The WPIAL Basketball Tournaments have advanced to the semifinals with eight games remaining Thursday night. So far, the top seed has reached the final in all eight brackets completed with the #2 seed making it in seven of the eight. 6A Boys #6 Pine-Richland is the only finalist not with a #1 or #2 by its name. Thursday’s semifinals include #1 Trinity hosting Woodland Hills in the 5A Girls bracket. We’ll have that game for you on WJPA-FM (95.3) and online Listen Here. Click for Girls Brackets, Boys Brackets. Here’s the schedule for Washington & Greene County teams.
WPIAL Semifinals
Thursday, Mar. 11, 6:00 pm
Girls 5A #5 Woodland Hills at #1 Trinity WJPA-FM Listen Here (airtime 5:45 pm)
Girls 1A #3 Eden Christian at #2 West Greene
WPIAL Finals
Friday, Mar. 12
5:00 pm 2A Girls #1 Neshannock vs. #2 Serra Catholic at North Allegheny
5:00 pm 4A Girls #1 Beaver Area vs. #2 Quaker Valley at Peters Township
8:00 pm 1A Boys #1 Bishop Canevin vs. #2 Rochester at North Allegheny
8:00 pm 6A Boys #1 Upper St. Clair vs. #6 Pine-Richland at Peters Township WJPA-FM Listen Here
Saturday, Mar. 13
5:00 pm 3A Girls #1 North Catholic vs. #2 Mohawk at North Allegheny
5:00 pm 2A Boys #1 Our Lady/Sacred Heart vs. #2 Greens. Cent. Catholic at Peters Township
8:00 pm 5A Boys #1 Chartiers Valley vs. #2 New Castle at North Allegheny
8:00 pm 6A Girls #1 North Allegheny vs. #2 Upper St. Clair at Peters Township WJPA-FM Listen Here
Monday, Mar. 15
5:00 pm 3A Boys South Allegheny/Aliquippa vs. Neshannock/Ellwood City at North Allegheny
5:00 pm 1A Girls Rochester/Aquinas Academy vs. West Greene/Eden Christian at Peters Township
8:00 pm 4A Boys Belle Vernon/North Catholic vs. Lincoln Park/Montour at North Allegheny
8:00 pm 5A Girls Trinity/Woodland Hills vs. Chartiers Valley/Latrobe at Peters Township
March 11, 2021 3:49 am
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Jamari Wheeler scored a career-high 19 points, and No. 11 seed Penn State pulled away inside the last four minutes to beat No. 14 seed Nebraska 72-66 in the first round of the Big Ten Conference tournament. Penn State (11-13) has won four of its last five games and plays sixth-seeded Wisconsin in the second round Thursday. Tied at 59-all with 3:48 remaining, John Harrar made a free throw and Myles Dread hit a 3-pointer to spark a 13-7 closing run by the Nittany Lions, who trailed 37-23 at the break. Trey McGowens scored 13 points for Nebraska (7-20).
March 11, 2021 3:52 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NFL’s salary cap will be $182.5 million per team in the upcoming season, a drop of 8% from 2020. The league’s loss of revenues due to the coronavirus pandemic caused the first decrease in the cap since 2011, which followed an uncapped season. Free agency begins next Wednesday, though the “legal tampering” period starts Monday. The NFL is close to agreement on extensions of its broadcast contracts, but those deals won’t affect the 2021 season.
March 11, 2021 3:50 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Texas Rangers could be the first team to return to full attendance capacity. The team hopes to have a full house for its home opener next month after debuting a new 40,518-seat stadium without fans in the stands for its games last season. An order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took effect Wednesday allowing businesses to operate at 100% if they choose.
