March 16, 2021 2:30 am
Trinity fell behind early and never recovered, losing to Chartiers Valley in the WPIAL 5A Girls championship game, 62-40. The Colts sprinted to a 22-10 lead after one quarter and held off every challenge by the Hillers to win their 17th consecutive playoff game and a third straight championship. Kaylin Venick led Trinity with 15 points but Chartiers Valley got 19 from Aislin Malcolm, 18 from Perri Page and two other starters in double figures to cruise to the win, avenging a late January loss to Trinity.
West Greene suffered a similar fate in the Class 1A game against Rochester, though the hole didn’t open until later in the first half. The Rams, winners of three straight title games against the Pioneers, put up nine straight points over a two-minute stretch late in the first and early second, then added an 8-0 run late in the half to take a 10-point lead into the lockerroom at intermission. Alexis Robison, 1A Player of the Year, scored 29 for the Rams. Corynne Hauser added 23. Anna Durbin’s 13 points paced West Greene who lost in the championship game for the fourth straight year. The winners advance to the state playoffs while the losers saw their seasons end.
March 16, 2021 3:53 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) -Evgeni Malkin scored on a power play for his 1,100th career point and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Boston Bruins 4-1. Malkin is the third Russian-born player to reach 1,100 points in the NHL, joining Alex Ovechkin and Sergei Fedorov. Malkin has eight goals this season and also had an assist while extending his points streak to eight games. Tristan Jarry made a season-high 42 saves for Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby scored his 11th goal of the season and had two assists, and Jake Guentzel also scored his 11th – including four in the past four games. Evan Rodrigues also scored for the Penguins.
March 14, 2021 3:50 am
The WPIAL Basketball Championships conclude tonight with four more titles to be awarded. West Greene plays in its fourth straight 1A girls final. The Pioneers face Rochester, the team that’s won the last two crowns. Trinity and Chartiers Valley play for the 5A girls championship. Like West Greene, Trinity is seeking its first WPIAL title while Chartiers Valley is the two-time defending champion. On the boys side, Cinderella #11 Ellwood City faces defending champion South Allegheny for the 3A championship while #2 Lincoln Park takes on #5 North Catholic for the 5A title. Due to COVID restrictions, only the WPIAL champions advance to the PIAA quarterfinals beginning Friday/Saturday. We’ve got the West Greene & Trinity games for you on WJPA. Click for Girls Brackets, Boys Brackets.
WPIAL Finals
Monday, Mar. 15
4:45 pm 1A Girls #1 Rochester vs. #2 West Greene at Peters Township WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here
5:00 pm 3A Boys #1 South Allegheny vs. #11 Ellwood City at North Allegheny
7:45 pm 5A Girls #1 Trinity vs. #2 Chartiers Valley at Peters Township WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen Here
8:00 pm 4A Boys #5 North Catholic vs. #2 Lincoln Park at North Allegheny
March 15, 2021 4:00 am
UNDATED (AP) – Gonzaga, Illinois, Baylor and Michigan are the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, which begins first-round play on Friday. The Bulldogs have claimed the No. 1 overall seed and will head the West Regional. The Zags are the only unbeaten team in men’s Division I hoops and are trying to become the first squad to run the table on its entire schedule since Indiana in 1976. Iowa has the second seed in the West, followed by Kansas and Virginia. Gonzaga beat each of those teams by double-digits during the regular season, including a 23-point rout of the defending-champion Cavaliers. Baylor tops the South bracket and heads into the tourney with just two losses, including a setback in the Big 12 semifinals. The Bears spent most of the season as the No. 2 team in The Associated Press poll. Ohio State is No. 2 in the South, just ahead of Arkansas and Purdue. Big Ten rivals Illinois and Michigan took the other top seeds after competing in what arguably was the best and deepest conference. The Illini head the Midwest Region after winning the conference tournament, part of an eight-game winning streak. The Wolverines are tops in the East Region and own just four losses, although two of those defeats have come in their last three games. Houston earned the No. 2 seed in the Midwest and is followed by Big 12 standouts West Virginia and Oklahoma State. Alabama, Texas and Florida State round out the top four seeds in the East. Kansas and Virginia made it into the bracket released by the NCAA selection committee after being hit with COVID-19 breakouts during their conference tournaments. Kansas coach Bill Self says three Jayhawks players will not travel with the team to Indianapolis for the NCAA Tournament because of COVID-19. Louisville, Colorado State, St. Louis and Mississippi have been put on stand-by. They could find their way into the bracket if a team in the field notifies the NCAA by Tuesday night that it must withdraw because of health concerns.
March 15, 2021 4:03 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Saints record-setting quarterback Drew Brees has decided to retire after 20 NFL seasons, including his last 15 with New Orleans. It comes after Brees won nine of 12 regular-season starts while completing 70.5% of his passes in 2020. He came back from multiple rib fractures and won a wild-card round playoff game before New Orleans’ season ended with a divisional-round playoff loss Tampa Bay. Brees is the NFL’s all-time leader in yards passing with 80,358. His 571 career touchdown passes rank second behind Tom Brady’s 581.
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.
