Washington & Jefferson outscored host St. Vincent in each quarter, upsetting the #1 seed in the PAC Women’s Basketball semifinals. #2 Grove City jumped in front, then held off a Westminster second half rally as the Wolverines beat the Titans. Friday’s winners meet in Saturday’s PAC Championship game. On the men’s side, the final is set: #5 Geneva, winners of two straight road playoff games, will take on top-seeded Grove City.
The winners of Saturday’s PAC Championship games earn the League’s automatic bids to the NCAA Division III tournaments.
PAC Women’s Basketball Championship Semifinals (Friday at St. Vincent) #2 Grove City over #3 Westminster, 70-58
#4 Wash & Jeff over #1 St. Vincent, 74-53
Finals (Saturday, 5 pm at St. Vincent)
#4 Washington & Jefferson vs. #2 Grove City
PAC Men’s Basketball Championship Finals (Saturday, 7:30 pm)
#5 Geneva at #1 Grove City
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – John Gibson made 28 saves, Brendan Guhle scored the winning goal in the second period and the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. Danton Heinen and Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Ducks, who have won two straight for the first time in over three weeks. Anaheim was missing its top three defensemen. Jason Zucker scored both of Pittsburgh’s goals. The left wing has 19 goals, with five coming in nine games with Pittsburgh since he was acquired from Minnesota. The Penguins have five straight regulation losses for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
Trinity closed the first half with an 8-0 run, rolling to a comfortable win over Woodland Hills and a berth in Saturday’s 5A Girls championship game. The Hillers will face defending WPIAL/PIAA champion Chartiers Valley. The Colts scored the first 19 points of the game against Thomas Jefferson and were never threatened. Elsewhere, 6A Mt. Lebanon shut down Central Catholic while #1 Butler needed overtime to advance for the second straight game. The Golden Tornado’s win over Upper St. Clair keeps Peters Township’s PIAA playoff hopes alive. Belle Vernon knocked off 4A New Castle to reach the finals, The Leopards will face #1 Highlands who beat Blackhawk, extending Ringgold’s state playoff hopes for a few more days. We’re working on our Saturday broadcast plans and could bring you as many as four championship games. Bracket & Listen links and the complete schedule for our coverage follow.
WPIAL Basketball Championships at Petersen Events Center Thursday, Feb. 27
5 pm 2A Girls #2 Biship Canevin vs. #4 Laurel
7 pm 1A Boys #1 Vincentian vs. #3 Cornell
9 pm 3A Boys #1 Lincoln Park vs. #2 North Catholic
Friday, Feb. 28
3 pm 1A Girls #2 West Greene vs. #1 Rochester
5 pm 2A Boys #1 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart vs. #2 Sto-Rox
7 pm 4A Girls #1 North Catholic vs. #2 Southmoreland
9 pm 5A Boys #3 Mars Area vs. #8 Laurel Highlands
Saturday, Feb. 29
11 am 3A Girls #1 Beaver vs. #2 Mohawk
1 pm 4A Boys #6 Belle Vernon vs. #1 Highlands 2:50 pm 5A Girls #3 Trinity vs. #1 Chartiers Valley — WJPA-FM (95.3)
7 pm 6A Girls #1 Bethel Park vs. #2 North Allegheny
9 pm 6A Boys #3 Mt. Lebanon vs. #1 Butler
Geneva continued its upset run through the PAC Men’s Basketball tournament. The #5 Golden Tornado followed up a road win at #4 W&J with an impressive rout at #2 Chatham. Now, top-seeded Grove City awaits in the championship game Saturday following the Wolverines’ one-point win over St. Vincent. On the women’s side, the top four seeds are headed for #1 St. Vincent for their final four weekend.
The winners of Saturday’s PAC Championship games earn the League’s automatic bids to the NCAA Division III tournaments.
PAC Women’s Basketball Championship Semifinals (Friday at St. Vincent)
#3 Westminster vs. #2 Grove City
#4 Wash & Jeff vs. #1 St. Vincent
Finals (Saturday at St. Vincent)
Semifinal winners
PAC Men’s Basketball Championship Semifinals (Thursday)
SF 1 Grove City 70, St. Vincent 69
SF 2 Geneva 91, Chatham 63
Maria Sharapova says she is retiring from professional tennis at the age of 32. The five-time Grand Slam title champion and former No. 1-ranked player has been dealing with shoulder problems for years. She played only two matches this season and lost both. Sharapova burst onto the tennis scene at 17 when she won Wimbledon in 2004. She would go on to complete a career Grand Slam with two titles at the French Open and one each at the U.S. Open and Australian Open. She served a 15-month ban after failing a doping test in 2016.
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Patrick Reed closed with a 4-under 67 to take the Mexico Championship. Reed was two shots back with four to play before reeling off three straight birdies to overtake Bryan DeChambeau for his second World Golf Championship title. He recovered from a wild tee shot into the trees on 18 to two-putt from 35 feet to wrap up his eighth PGA title at 18 under. DeChambeau appeared to seize control with five birdies in a six-hole stretch starting at No. 9. He settled for second after completing a 65. Jon Rahm and Erik Van Rooyen were three off the pace and one ahead of Rory McIlroy.
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Ryan Newman has said through a statement that he suffered a head injury in his crash on the last lap of the Daytona 500 but did not disclose details. Roush team president Steve Newmark opened a news conference before Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by reading a lengthy statement from Newman. Newman wrote that he was fortunate to avoid any internal organ damage or broken bones, and that the doctors have been pleased with his progress over the last few days. He said he is looking forward to getting behind the wheel again. However, there’s no timetable for his return to competitive racing. Newmark said it is Newman’s intent to race for the 2020 Cup championship this season, and the driver plans to ask NASCAR for an exemption to qualify for the playoffs once he’s medically cleared to return.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Braden Holtby made 33 saves to help the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 and end their losing streak at four. The Capitals vaulted over their archrivals into first place in the Metropolitan Division. T.J. Oshie scored the go-ahead goal with 9:20 left in the third period to give Washington just its second victory in eight games. Former Penguins winger Carl Hagelin scored twice in the third period for the Capitals. Sidney Crosby, Patric Hornqvist and Evgeni Malkin scored for Pittsburgh. The Penguins lost their third in a row to cool off and fall into second place.
TORONTO (AP) – Jake Muzzin had a goal and two assists, Frederik Andersen made 24 saves and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-0. Toronto bounced back nicely after dropping three of four, including a 5-2 loss at Pittsburgh on Tuesday. It was Andersen’s second shutout of the season and No. 18 for his career. Matt Murray made 26 stops for Pittsburgh, which suffered its most lopsided loss of the season.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – The University of Pittsburgh football and men’s basketball programs have been placed on probation for three years by the NCAA. The organization says both programs committed a series of violations between 2015 and 2018. The violations centered around both programs exceeding the number of allotted practices during that time. Former men’s basketball coach Kevin Stallings was given a three-year show-cause order, meaning he must sit out 30% of his new team’s games if he is hired during the three-year window of the show-cause order. Stallings is currently out of coaching. Former director of basketball operations Dan Cage also faces a three-year show-cause order.
Washington & Jefferson outscored host St. Vincent in each quarter, upsetting the #1 seed in the PAC Women’s Basketball semifinals. #2 Grove City jumped in front, then held off a Westminster second half rally as the Wolverines beat the Titans. Friday’s winners meet in Saturday’s PAC Championship game. On the men’s side, the final is set: #5 Geneva, winners of two straight road playoff games, will take on top-seeded Grove City.
