January 30, 2020 2:28 am
Five Washington County schools have clinched spots in the WPIAL Boys Basketball playoffs. Four other teams are still alive with at least one of them assured of a berth while five teams are out of the running. Greene County has two schools still alive and three eliminated. With three game days remaining in the regular season, here’s what the picture looks like at the moment (section records):
Class 6A-Peters Township (4-4) has clinched a berth. Canon-McMillan (1-7) has been eliminated.
Class 5A-Trinity (6-5) is currently in third place and would be in if the playoffs started today, but the Hillers are behind the proverbial “eight ball” in tie-breakers at the moment. Trinity is 0-1 against Thomas Jefferson (8-3), South Fayette (6-5) and West Allegheny (5-6) and will play those three teams over the season’s final eight days. Trinity can finish anywhere from second to out of the playoffs depending on those games.
Class 4A-Ringgold (4-4) has clinched. Waynesburg (1-7) is out.
Class 3A-Charleroi (9-1), Washington (8-1) and McGuffey (7-3) have all clinched. The Cougars and Little Prexies share the lead in Section 4. Beth-Center (1-8) and Fort Cherry (1-9) have been eliminated from their section races.
Class 2A-California (5-4) and Chartiers-Houston (3-6) are both alive and at least one of them will qualify out of Section 2. The Trojans are in with any win or any Chartiers-Houston loss. The Bucs need California to lose at least twice in its final three games-vs. Brentwood (8-2), at Jeannette (8-1) vs. Bentworth (0-9)-while winning out themselves–vs. Jeannette, at Bentworth, vs. Carmichaels (1-9). If California and Chartiers-Houston tie in the standings, both make the tournament. Burgettstown (2-7) is still alive in Section 3, but must win out and get lots of help.
Class 1A-West Greene (5-4) and Jefferson-Morgan (3-6) are still alive with at least one making the tournament. Both qualify in a tie. Avella (1-8) and Mapletown (1-9) have been eliminated.
January 29, 2020 3:42 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Hall of Fame defensive end and Pitt standout Chris Doleman, who became one of the NFL’s most feared pass rushers during 15 seasons in the league, has died. He was 58. The Minnesota Vikings and Pro Football Hall of Fame president and CEO David Baker offered their condolences in separate statements. There was no word on the timing of Doleman’s death, but he had surgery in January 2018 to remove a brain tumor and Baker said he passed away “after a prolonged and courageous battle against cancer.”
January 27, 2020 12:47 pm
Canon-McMillan hosts the preliminary round matches in the 2020 WPIAL Triple-A Team Wrestling Tournament. The matches include the fourth and fifth place finishers from last week’s Section Team Championships. The four winners advance to Wednesday’s First Round, each to face one of the top seeds (#1 Waynesburg, #2 Seneca Valley, #3 Canon-McMillan, #4 Hempfield). We’ll have live coverage of the four prelims tonight starting at 5:55 pm on WJPA-AM (1450) and online.
WPIAL AAA Preliminary Round (winners advance to Wednesday’s First Round)
Monday, Jan. 27 (at Canon-McMillan)(WJPA-AM)
6:00 pm Peters Township vs. Pine-Richland. Winner to face #1 Waynesburg.
6:00 pm Chartiers Valley vs. Hampton. Winner to face #4 Hempfield.
7:15 pm Norwin vs. West Mifflin. Winner to face #3 Canon-McMillan
7:15 pm Trinity vs. Franklin Region. Winner to face #2 Seneca Valley.
WPIAL Wrestling Team Tournament Brackets — WPIAL AAA — WPIAL AA
January 26, 2020 8:10 am
AMHERST, Mass. — Freshman Tre Mitchell tossed in 25 points, Preston Santos and Samba Diallo posted double-doubles and Massachusetts upset Duquesne 73-64 on Saturday. Mitchell sank 8 of 15 shots from the floor, including two 3-pointers, and added eight rebounds before fouling out for the Minutemen (8-12, 2-5 Atlantic 10 Conference). Santos, a freshman, finished with career highs of 15 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double. Diallo, a sophomore, pitched in with 10 points and 12 boards for his third double-double in the last seven games. Duquesne trailed for most of the second half, but the Dukes used a Marcus Weathers layup to pull within 49-46 with 8 minutes remaining. But Diallo hit two free throws, Santos added a layup and a 3-pointer in a 7-0 run and UMass kept its lead from there. Sincere Carry totaled 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead the Dukes (15-4, 5-2), who began the day in a three-way tie for second place in conference play. Marcus Weathers had 13 points and nine rebounds.
January 26, 2020 8:06 am
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — When the game was on the line, Marek Dolezaj stood tall for Syracuse. The slender 6-foot-10 native of Slovakia had 17 points and seven rebounds, Buddy Boeheim added 21 points, and the Orange held off Pittsburgh 69-61 on Saturday. The Orange won despite off nights for two of their leading scorers. Syracuse had surged at the start and led by as many as 20 points, but after Ryan Murphy’s 3-pointer from the top of the key moved Pittsburgh within 59-54 with 3:31 remaining in the game, Dolezaj stood tall. He hit a floater in the lane, put back a miss by Elijah Hughes, blocked a lob attempt, fed Hughes for a fast-break dunk, and sank two free throws in the final seconds to frustrate the Panthers.
January 24, 2020 2:56 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Chauncey Hawkins and Deniz Celen scored 15 points apiece as St. Francis (NY) easily beat Robert Morris 78-57. Unique McLean added 13 points, Rob Higgins scored 12 and Stevan Krtinic had 11 for the Terriers. AJ Bramah led the Colonials with 19 points and eight rebounds.
January 23, 2020 3:04 am
KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) – Fatts Russell had 23 points as Rhode Island routed Duquesne 77-55. Jeff Dowtin had 17 points for Rhode Island, which earned its fifth straight win. Tyrese Martin added 13 points and 11 rebounds and Cyril Langevine had five assists. Marcus Weathers had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Dukes, whose five-game win streak came to an end. Michael Hughes, ranked third nationally in blocked shots, had three blocks and Maceo Austin had 10 rebounds. Sincere Carry, who was second on the Dukes in scoring heading into the contest with 11 points per game, was held to three points.
January 23, 2020 1:58 am
Burgettstown won three of the final four bouts to down McGuffey, 41-34, winning its second straight Team Section Wrestling championship. Waynesburg and Canon-McMillan finished their championship match tied with the host Raiders winning on near fall points criteria, snapping the Big Macs 18-year section winning streak. The WPIAL Wrestling Committee will meet Thursday to set the pairings for the 2A & 3A Team Wrestling Tournaments with action getting underway Monday night.
Section 1-AA
1st Place Burgettstown 41, McGuffey 34
3rd Place Beth-Center 67, South Park 9
5th Place Fort Cherry 43, West Greene 33
Section 4-AAA
1st Place Waynesburg 31, Canon-McMillan 30 (Criteria J–most near fall points)
3rd Place South Fayette 40, Trinity 33
5th Place Chartiers Valley 52, West Allegheny 26
Section 2-AAA
1st Place Thomas Jefferson 38, Connellsville 34
3rd Place Mt. Lebanon 46, Peters Township 33
5th Place West Mifflin 38, Bethel Park 25
January 21, 2020 2:59 am
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) – AJ Bramah set career highs with 18 points and 20 rebounds, tying his school’s single-game rebound record, and Robert Morris beat Sacred Heart 67-55 on Monday. Bramah tied the 20 rebounds Mike Morton made against Baltimore on Jan. 12, 1980. Sayveon McEwen had 12 points for Robert Morris (9-10, 5-1 Northeast Conference). Dante Treacy added six assists. Sacred Heart scored 25 points in the first half, a season low for the team. E.J. Anosike had 20 points and 17 rebounds for the Pioneers (10-9, 3-3). Aaron Clarke added 16 points.
January 20, 2020 2:55 am
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) – Raheem Mostert rushed for 220 yards and four touchdowns to make quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo mostly a spectator, Nick Bosa harassed Aaron Rodgers from the start and the San Francisco 49ers beat the Green Bay Packers 37-20 for the NFC championship. The 49ers advanced to their first Super Bowl in seven years and will play the Kansas City Chiefs in two weeks in Miami for the championship. Aaron Rodgers threw for 326 yards but the Packers lost the NFC title game for the third time since their last Super Bowl trip following the 2010 season.
