UNDATED (AP) – The standings have separated out a handful of notable sellers ahead of the NHL trade deadline. The New York Rangers, New Jersey, Ottawa, Detroit and Los Angeles Kings are among those expected to have varying degrees of fire sales. Rangers forward Chris Kreider is the biggest name available. But there’s no shortage of talent available among forwards and defensemen. Interested contenders can also look for someone like Senators forward Anthony Duclair or Kings defenseman Alec Martinez. L.A.’s Trevor Lewis could also be the prototypical deadline pickup as a low-risk move. The trade deadline is Feb. 24.
The WPIAL Basketball Playoff brackets are set, including the paths for a dozen Washington County teams. California and Charleroi advanced both their boys and girls teams to the post-season. Girls squads from Avella, Burgettstown, Chartiers-Houston and Trinity plus boys teams from McGuffey, Peters Township, Ringgold and Wash High have also made it to the playoffs. West Greene (boys & girls) is the only Greene County school to qualify. First-round games (Sweet 16) will be played Friday through Wednesday with quarterfinals scheduled for Feb. 20-22. The WPIAL Basketball Championship games are scheduled for Feb. 27-29 at the Petersen Events Center on the University of Pittsburgh campus. Opening round games for teams from the two-county area are listed below along with WPIAL Bracket links.
Friday, Feb. 14–First Round
2A Girls #7 Burgettstown vs. #10 Riverview, 6:30 pm at Northgate
2A Girls #8 Chartiers-Houston vs. #9 Winchester Thurston, 6:30 pm at Peters Township
3A Boys #8 Wash High vs. #9 Neshannock, 6:30 pm at West Allegheny WJPA-FM (95.3)
3A Boys #13 McGuffey vs. #4 Seton-La Salle, 8:00 pm at Trinity WJPA-FM (95.3)
3A Boys #7 Charleroi vs. #10 Carlynton, 8:00 pm at Peters Township
Saturday, Feb. 15–First Round
1A Boys #11 West Greene vs. #6 Imani Christian, 1:00 pm at Peters Township
2A Boys #11 California vs. #6 Shenango, 2:30 pm at North Hills
Tuesday, Feb. 18–First Round
1A Girls #7 Avella vs. #10 Propel Andrew Street, 6:30 pm at Peters Township WJPA-AM (1450)
1A Girls #12 California vs. #5 Greensburg Central Catholic, 8:00 pm at Peters Township WJPA-AM (1450)
6A Boys #9 Peters Township vs. #8 Hempfield, Class 6A Sweet 16, Tuesday, 8 pm, at Mt. Lebanon WJPA-FM (95.3)
Wednesday, Feb. 19–First Round
3A Girls #10 Charleroi vs. #7 East Allegheny, 6:30 pm at Peters Township WJPA-FM (95.3)
4A Boys #9 Ringgold vs. #8 Ambridge, 8:00 pm at Peters Township WJPA-FM (95.3)
Friday, Feb. 21–Quarterfinals
1A Girls #2 West Greene vs. Avella/Propel Andrew Street winner, site/time to be determined
Saturday, Feb. 22–Quarterfinals
5A Girls #3 Trinity vs. Gateway/Penn-Trafford winners, site/time to be determined
UNDATED (AP) – Philip Rivers has played his final down for the Los Angeles Chargers. The team says Rivers will enter free agency and not return for the upcoming season, ending his 16-year run with the franchise. The fourth player taken in the 2004 NFL draft owns 30 franchise records and has thrown for over 4,000 yards in 11 of his last 12 seasons. Rivers has completed 64.7% of his passes for 59,271 yards, 397 touchdowns and 198 interceptions. His 224 consecutive regular-season starts are second-most among quarterbacks in NFL history and his 123 wins are ninth.
UNDATED (AP) – The Red Sox and Dodgers have reworked a deal that is sending outfielder Mookie Betts and pitcher David Price to Los Angeles. A person with knowledge of the negotiations tells The Associated Press that the Red Sox are receiving outfielder Alex Verdugo and prospects Jeter Downs and Connor Wong for Betts and Price. Boston was to send cash to the Dodgers to offset Price’s salary, reportedly half of the $96 million still owed to the 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner. The Red Sox, Dodgers and Twins had a tentative deal in place last week that included Minnesota prospect Brusdar Graterol to Boston. The trade fell apart when Boston had issues over Graterol’s arm health. Instead the Twins are sending Graterol to Los Angeles for Kenta Maeda.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored his 10th goal in the second period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins held off the Florida Panthers for a 3-2 win Saturday night. Kris Letang had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who improved to 9-3-0 in their past 12 games. Teddy Blueger also scored, and Tristan Jarry stopped 33 shots. Florida dropped to 1-3-1 since returning from the All-Star break. Mike Hoffman had a goal and an assist for the Panthers, and Brett Connolly also scored. Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves. Pittsburgh had a 2-1 lead before Crosby’s power-play goal 3:50 into the second. Crosby deflected a shot from Jared McCann past Bobrovsky.
Saturday afternoon, Waynesburg fell to District 11 champion Nazareth, 38-21, in the PIAA Triple-A Team Wrestling finals. Wyatt Henson had a technical fall and Rocco Welsh scored a major decision for the Raiders, making their first-ever trip to the state team tournament.
Canon-McMillan built a 10-point lead with five bouts to go but couldn’t hold off District 10 champion Cathedral Prep in the Triple-A consolations. The Big Macs have been eliminated.
Triple-A Seneca Valley and Double-A Burrell won Round III consolations but were eliminated in the consolation semifinals. Links to our coverage, on-air and online, as well as bracket updates will be available on our dedicated Wrestling Page WJPA Wrestling 2020
Here’s Saturday’s schedule/results for the WPIAL teams:
2A Round III Consolation Burrell 35, Hamburg 29
3A Round III Consolation Seneca Valley 34, Spring-Ford 27 3A Round III Consolation Cathedral Prep 29, Canon-McMillan 26 (Big Macs eliminated)
2A Round IV Consolation Chestnut Ridge 44, Burrell 10 (Burrell eliminated)
3A Round IV Consolation Bethlehem Catholic 33, Seneca Valley 31 (Seneca Valley eliminated)
Burgettstown’s first-ever trip to the PIAA tournament ended with a loss to Hamburg Friday morning. The Blue Devils got pins from Riley Kemper, Shane Ilgenfritz and Hunter Guiddy to pull to within four points before Hamburg won a major decision, a technical fall and a pin in the final three bouts. Also, in Class 2A, Burrell lost in the quarterfinals, dropping to the Round II Consolations.
Waynesburg picked up four pins, a forfeit and a technical fall to defeat Cathedral Prep in the quarterfinals, the followed with a win over Bethlehem Catholic in the semifinals. The Raiders used three pins, a technical fall, a major decision and a pair of decisions to reach the state finals in their first-ever trip to the PIAA Team Tournament. Waynesburg will face District 11 champion Nazareth in Saturday afternoon’s championship match.
Canon-McMillan and Seneca Valley both lost in the quarterfinals but rebounded in their first consolation matches to advance to Saturday’s Round III elimination bouts. Links to our coverage, on-air and online, as well as bracket updates will be available on our dedicated Wrestling Page WJPA Wrestling 2020
UNDATED (AP) – Six-time Pro Bowl safety Eric Weddle says he is leaving the NFL after 13 seasons. Weddle made his long-expected retirement announcement on Twitter, although the hard-hitting safety with the big beard didn’t use the specific word. Weddle played nine seasons for the San Diego Chargers and three more for the Baltimore Ravens before spending last season with the Los Angeles Rams. He said in December that he didn’t expect to return for the second season of his contract with the club. The 35-year-old Weddle became one of the NFL’s toughest and most durable safeties after San Diego drafted him out of Utah in the second round in 2007. Weddle was a Pro Bowl selection in 2011, 2013 and 2014 for the Chargers. He joined Baltimore in 2016 and earned three straight Pro Bowl selections.
UNDATED (AP) – The Boston Red Sox have parted with Mookie Betts by sending him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a blockbuster deal. Two people with knowledge of the deal say the Bosox have agreed to send the 2018 AL MVP to Los Angeles. The Red Sox would also send away left-hander David Price in a salary dump designed to save Boston tens of millions of dollars and help them dip below baseball’s luxury tax threshold. The Dodgers are sending outfielder Alex Verdugo back to the Red Sox in a deal that also involves the Minnesota Twins, who are getting right-hander Kenta Maeda (mah-EH’-dah) from Los Angeles and sending pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol to Boston.
Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Willie Wood has died. He was 83. Wood won five NFL championships with the Green Bay Packers under coach Vince Lombardi and made the first interception in Super Bowl history. He rose from undrafted rookie to play safety in eight Pro Bowls. Longtime friend Robert Schmidt says Wood died of natural causes in Washington. Wood had suffered from advanced dementia for several years.
