January 23, 2020 3:02 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Ryan Murphy hit a pull-up jumper from the top of the key with 4 seconds remaining to lift Pittsburgh to a 74-72 victory over Boston College. The Eagles trailed by 10 with less than 5 minutes to go but drew even on a Derryck Thornton lay-up with 12 seconds to go. The Panthers opted not to call time-out and Murphy delivered to give Pitt back-to-back Atlantic Coast Conference wins for the first time in nearly three years. Murphy finished with 11 points for the Panthers. Jay Heath paced Boston College with 16 points.
January 23, 2020 2:04 am
The WPIAL Board of Directors today approved the six-classification alignment for football for the next two school years. There were very few changes to what had been presented to the League membership at a meeting several weeks ago. Here’s the alignment for Washington & Greene County Schools.
6A (8 teams, one section):
Canon-McMillan, Baldwin, Central Catholic, Hempfield, Mt. Lebanon, North Allegheny, Norwin, Seneca Valley
5A (18 teams, three sections of six teams):
Section 1: Peters Township, Bethel Park, Moon Area, South Fayette, Upper St. Clair, West Allegheny
4A (22 teams, two sections of eight teams, one section of six):
Section 3: Ringgold, Trinity, Belle Vernon, Laurel Highlands, McKeesport, Thomas Jefferson, Uniontown, West Mifflin
3A (20 teams, two section of seven teams, one section of six):
No Washington/Greene County teams
2A (27 teams, one section of eight teams, one section of seven teams, two sections of six teams):
Section 3: Beth-Center, Chartiers-Houston, Charleroi, Frazier, McGuffey, Washington, Waynesburg
1A (24 teams, three sections of eight teams):
Section 2: Avella, Bentworth, California, Carmichaels, Jeff-Morgan, Mapletown, Monessen, West Greene
Section 3: Burgettstown, Fort Cherry, Cornell, Northgate, Our Lady/Sacred Heart, Rochester, Shenango, Union
Schedules grids will likely be out within a few days. Playoff formats will have to wait at least until the PIAA Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday, possibly until later in February.
January 22, 2020 3:13 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Derek Jeter came within one vote of being a unanimous pick for the Hall of Fame while Larry Walker also earned baseball’s highest honor on Tuesday. The longtime New York Yankees captain appeared on 396 of 397 ballots cast by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, falling just shy of the standard set when longtime Yankees teammate Mariano Rivera became the first unanimous selection last year. It was not immediately known which voter didn’t choose Jeter. Walker made it by six votes in his 10th and final appearance on the BBWAA ballot, up from 54.6% last year.
January 21, 2020 2:58 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Oscar Tshiebwe had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Derek Culver scored 13 points, No. 14 West Virginia jumped to a big early lead and coasted to a 97-59 victory over Texas. It was the fifth-worst loss in Texas history and the worst under coach Shaka Smart. Jermaine Haley added 12 points and Jordan McCabe scored 10 for the Mountaineers. West Virginia improved to 9-0 at home and bounced back from a lopsided loss at Kansas State that cost them a spot in the top 10 this week. Jase Febres led the Longhorns with 18 points and Matt Coleman scored 15.
January 20, 2020 2:54 am
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Patrick Mahomes tip-toed down the sideline for a game-turning touchdown, added three TD passes, and the Kansas City Chiefs made their first Super Bowl in a half-century by beating the Tennessee Titans 35-24 for the AFC championship. In two weeks in Miami, they will play the winner of the NFC title game between Green Bay and San Francisco. Mahomes did his usual superb job passing, but it was his 27-yard tap dance down the left sideline late in the first half that gave the Chiefs their first lead. From there, they outran the run-oriented Titans and star back Derrick Henry.
January 19, 2020 7:28 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Xavier Johnson could have chosen a cliche, something about how no one game is more important than any other. Instead, the Pittsburgh point guard went the other way. Two years ago, the Panthers went winless in the Atlantic Coast Conference. On Saturday they completed their first-ever season sweep of North Carolina by using a dominant first half en route to a 66-52 victory. And while the reeling and injury ravaged Tar Heels are a bit of a mess at the moment, they’re still one of college basketball’s blue bloods. North Carolina (8-9, 1-5) has dropped four straight and is just 2-6 without freshman star Cole Anthony, who is nearing the end of his rehab after undergoing knee surgery last month. Despite having a week to get ready, the Tar Heels fell behind by double digits before the game was 10 minutes old and never really recovered. Williams remains stuck on 879 career wins, still tied with mentor Dean Smith for fourth all-time among men’s Division I coaches. If North Carolina can’t develop an offensive identity soon, Williams might have to wait a while before moving ahead of Smith. The Tar Heels committed 16 turnovers and shot just 32% (19 of 60) from the field. Pitt’s defense had something to do with it. The Panthers (12-6, 3-4) swarmed the Tar Heels from the opening tip, cutting off passing lanes and harassing North Carolina into a series of sloppy mistakes. Three times in the first half the Tar Heels were called for traveling, which Williams attributed Pitt’s relentless and a raucous student section that surrounds the court at Petersen Events Center.
January 18, 2020 4:07 am
UNDATED (AP) – Two-time Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year Travis Etienne is returning to Clemson for his senior season. Etienne became Clemson’s all-time rushing leader Monday night when he surpassed the old mark after gaining 78 yards in his team’s 42-25 loss to LSU for the national championship. He gained 1,614 yards and 19 touchdowns this season and holds the ACC career mark with 56 rushing TDs this year. Etienne was projected as a second-round selection if he chose to turn pro.
January 18, 2020 4:04 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Pittsburgh Penguins won for the 13th time in their last 17 games, but they needed overtime to get by the NHL’s worst team. Sidney Crosby scored a power-play goal 1:33 into overtime to complete the Penguins’ 2-1 victory at Detroit. The Red Wings led 1-0 early in the third period until Bryan Rust notched his 20th goal of the season. Rust also set up the game-winner and Evgeni Malkin had two assists as the Penguins pulled within four points of the first-place Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan Division. Filip Zadina had the long goal for the Wings, who lost for the 22nd time in their last 27 games.
January 17, 2020 3:57 am
The Mets say new manager Carlos Beltran and the team have agreed to part ways in the latest fallout from the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal. Thursday’s announcement came two days after Boston cut ties with manager Alex Cora, who was Houston’s bench coach in 2017 when Beltran played for the Astros.
January 17, 2020 3:40 am
UNDATED (AP) – Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans is the first AFC championship since 2002 that doesn’t feature Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Ben Roethlisberger. Brady and the New England Patriots are missing from the conference championship weekend for the first time since 2010. Brady has been to 13 AFC title games and won nine of them. John Elway’s Denver Broncos defeated the Cleveland Browns in two of the most famous AFC title game showdowns and the Cincinnati Bengals beat the San Diego Chargers in 1982 in minus-59 degrees wind chill that left Dan Fouts with icicles hanging from his beard.
