LOCAL SPORTS
The X-Women Hockey team play the #1 ranked Alberta Pandas in the USports consolation semi-final at 11 this morning. If they win, they will play again tomorrow morning.
At The U13AAA Female Championships at the Antigonish Arena, the Quad County Whitecaps are undefeated after outscoring the Cape Breton Blizzards 7-3 and Metro West Force Blue 7-1. In other games, Metro West Force Blue & Metro East Inferno tied 2-2, Metro West Force Red beat the Blizzards 6-1, and Metro East Inferno lost 5-1 to Metro West Force Red. Play begins at 8:30 this morning with the Whitecaps taking on Metro West Force Red, and continues through the day. The championship final is Sunday morning at 11 am.
The provincial High School Curling Championship continues at the Bluenose Curling Club in New Glasgow. The semi-finals are at 11 am, with the Medal games at 3pm.
Maritime League: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers continue their playoff series against the Western Capitals at 7:30 tonight in Summerside. The Crushers lead 2-1 in the series.
U15: The Novas look to tie up their best-of-three series against the Western Hurricanes on the road tonight at 7.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders take on the Voyageurs in Port Hood at Noon. The Voyageurs won the first game of their playoff series last week.
U18 Major: The Weeks Majors won the first game of the league finals, defeating the Halifax Macs 4-1. Game 2 is at the Halifax Forum tonight at 7.
Rural League: The league championship continues tonight with the Heatherton Warriors playing the County Outlaws at 7 at the Antigonish Arena – the series is tied 1-1.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Sidney Crosby scored his 25th goal and added an assist and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3. Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust both had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who are 22-3-and-4 in their last 28 games against Columbus.
Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous Alexander scored 30 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder won their fifth in a row, 141-106 over the Charlotte Hornets. Gilgeous-Alexander, the N-B-A’s top scorer at 33.0 points per game, made 13 of 18 shots to go with six rebounds and nine assists before sitting out the fourth quarter.
Kevin Durant scored 42 points and the Phoenix Suns defeated the suddenly struggling Cleveland Cavaliers 123-112 on Friday night. Devin Booker scored 17 points and Tyus Jones scored 16. Royce O’Neale had 15 points on five three-pointers for Phoenix. Cleveland has now lost a season-high four in a row. Darius Garland scored 18 points for Cleveland.
Fred VanVleet scored 37 points and the surging Houston Rockets won their ninth straight, beating the Miami Heat 102-98. VanVleet shot 13 for 17 from the field and was nine for 11 on three-pointers as the Rockets extended the league’s longest active winning streak. Houston also snapped a nine-game skid against Miami, which lost its 10th straight.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 27 points and Jayson Tatum added 26 to lead the Boston Celtics to a 121-99 victory over the Utah Jazz. Porzingis added 10 rebounds and six assists, and Tatum chipped in six boards, six assists, and three steals as Boston won its four straight and ninth in its last 10 games.
The N-B-A fined Brooklyn Nets swingman Trendon Watford and Indiana Pacers forward Myles Turner 35-thousand dollars (U-S) each for an altercation in a game this week. Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard of Aurora, Ontario, also was fined 20-thousand dollars for his role in initiating the altercation in Thursday’s game. The tensions started with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter when Watford ran toward Nembhard after a made basket and hit him with a forearm to the chest.
Rachel Homan and Team Canada are off to the finals at the World Women’s Curling Championship in South Korea. In Friday’s Qualification Round, Homan defeated Scotland 10-4 after eight ends, while China upset Sweden 8-7 in the other qualification game. This morning, Canada defeated Korea 6-5 in an extra end, while Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland defeated China 4-2 – the Swiss and the Canadians play for the gold tomorrow.
Sarah Mitton won Canada’s first gold medal at the world indoor track and field championships capturing the women’s shot put title with a throw of 20.48 metres. The 28-year-old from Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, entered yesterday’s event in strong form, having set a Canadian indoor record of 20.68 metres last month in Germany. The winning throw came on Mitton’s sixth attempt. The world championships continue through tomorrow.
George Foreman has died, his family says. The fearsome heavyweight who lost the “Rumble in the Jungle” to Muhammad Ali before authoring an inspiring second act as a 45-year-old champion and a successful businessman was 76. A native Texan, Foreman began his boxing career as an Olympic gold medallist who inspired fear as he climbed to the peak of the heavyweight division by stopping Joe Frazier in 1973.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Pittsburgh 6 Columbus 3
NBA
Orlando 120 Washington 105
Oklahoma City 141 Charlotte 106
Houston 102 Miami 98
Minnesota 134 New Orleans 93
San Antonio 128 Philadelphia 120
Dallas 123 Detroit 117
Boston 121 Utah 99
Phoenix 123 Cleveland 112
Portland 128 Denver 109
L.A. Clippers 128 Memphis 108
NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship – First Round
At Raleigh, N.C.
Baylor 75 Mississippi St. 72
Duke 93 Mount St. Mary’s 49
Florida 95 Norfolk St. 69
UConn 67 Oklahoma 59
At Seattle
Colorado St. 78 Memphis 70
Maryland 81 Grand Canyon 49
Arizona 93 Akron 65
Oregon 81 Liberty 52
At Cleveland
Alabama 90 Robert Morris 81
Saint Mary’s (Cal.) 59 Vanderbilt 56
New Mexico 75 Marquette 66
Michigan St. 87 Bryant 62
At Milwaukee
Iowa St. 82 Lipscomb 55
Mississippi 71 North Carolina 64
Kentucky 76 Troy 57
Illinois 86 Xavier 73
NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship – First Round
At Los Angeles
Richmond 74 Georgia Tech 49
UCLA 84 Southern U. 46
At Waco, Texas
Baylor 73 Grand Canyon 60
Mississippi 83 Ball St. 65
At Lexington, Ky.
Kentucky 79 Liberty 78
Kansas St. 85 Fairfield 41
At Columbia, S.C.
Indiana 76 Utah 68
South Carolina 108 Tennessee Tech 48
At Durham, N.C.
Oregon 77 Vanderbilt 73 (OT)
Duke 86 Lehigh 25
At Columbus, Ohio
Ohio St. 71 Montana St. 51
Tennessee 101 South Florida 66
At South Bend, Ind.
Michigan 80 Iowa St. 74
Notre Dame 106 Stephen F. Austin 54
At Fort Worth, Texas
TCU 73 Fairleigh Dickinson 51
Louisville 63 Nebraska 58
MLB Pre-season
Toronto 11 Philadelphia (ss) 7
Philadelphia (ss) 6 Minnesota 3
Houston 3 St. Louis (ss) 2
Atlanta 7 Tampa Bay 3
N.Y. Mets 3 St. Louis (ss) 2
L.A. Angels (ss) 3 Texas 3
Athletics 10 Kansas City (ss) 1
Chicago White Sox 8 Cincinnati (ss) 5
Kansas City (ss) 8 Seattle (ss) 7
San Francisco 5 Cleveland 4
San Diego 5 Chicago Cubs 1
Colorado 4 L.A. Angels (ss) 3
Cincinnati (ss) 5 Seattle (ss) 3
Detroit (ss) 9 Baltimore 1
Boston 2 Pittsburgh 1
N.Y. Yankees 4 Detroit (ss) 0
Miami 6 Washington 0
Arizona 16 Milwaukee 9
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Vancouver at N.Y. Rangers, 1 p.m.
Buffalo at Minnesota, 2 p.m.
Philadelphia at Dallas, 2 p.m.
Chicago at St. Louis, 3 p.m.
Calgary at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m.
Carolina at Los Angeles, 4 p.m.
Florida at Washington, 5 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Utah, 5 p.m.
Colorado at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Ottawa at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Nashville, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Vegas, 8 p.m.
Seattle at Edmonton, 10 p.m.
Boston at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
PWHL
Ottawa at New York, noon
NBA
Brooklyn at Indiana, 5 p.m.
Golden State at Atlanta, 7 p.m.
Washington at New York, 8 p.m.
Milwaukee at Sacramento, 10 p.m.
Chicago at L.A. Lakers, 10:30 p.m.
NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship – Second Round
At Denver
Texas A&M vs. Michigan, 5:15 p.m.
Wisconsin vs. BYU, 7:45 p.m.
At Lexington, Ky.
Auburn vs. Creighton, 7:10 p.m.
Tennessee vs. UCLA, 9:40 p.m.
At Wichita, Kan.
Texas Tech vs. Drake, 6:10 p.m.
Houston vs. Gonzaga, 8:40 p.m.
At Providence, R.I.
Purdue vs. McNeese St., 12:10 p.m.
St. John’s vs. Arkansas, 2:40 p.m.
NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship – First Round
At Baton Rouge, La.
Florida St. (23-8) vs. George Mason (27-5), 7:45 p.m.
LSU (28-5) vs. San Diego St. (25-9), 10:15 p.m.
At Raleigh, N.C.
NC State (26-6) vs. Vermont (21-12), 2 p.m.
Michigan St. (21-9) vs. Harvard (24-4), 4:30 p.m.
At Los Angeles
Southern Cal (28-3) vs. UNC-Greensboro (25-6), 3 p.m.
California (25-8) vs. Mississippi St. (21-11), 5:30 p.m.
At Norman, Okla.
Iowa (22-10) vs. Murray St. (25-7), Noon
Oklahoma (25-7) vs. Florida Gulf Coast (30-3), 2:30 p.m.
At Storrs, Conn.
UConn (31-3) vs. Arkansas St. (21-10), 1 p.m.
Oklahoma St. (25-6) vs. S. Dakota St. (29-3), 3:30 p.m.
At College Park, Md.
Alabama (23-8) vs. Green Bay (29-5), 1:30 p.m.
Maryland (23-7) vs. Norfolk St. (30-4), 4 p.m.
At Chapel Hill, N.C.
West Virginia (24-7) vs. Columbia, 2 p.m.
North Carolina (27-7) vs. Oregon St. (19-15), 4:30 p.m.
At Austin, Texas
Illinois (21-9) vs. Creighton (26-6), 7:15 p.m.
Texas (31-3) vs. William & Mary, 9:45 p.m.
MLS
Atlanta at Cincinnati, 2:30 p.m.
LA Galaxy at Minnesota, 4:30 p.m.
Toronto FC at New York, 7:30 p.m.
San Jose at Charlotte FC, 7:30 p.m.
New York City FC at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
D.C. United at Orlando City, 7:30 p.m.
St Louis City at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
CF Montréal at Nashville, 8:30 p.m.
Los Angeles FC at Sporting Kansas City, 8:30 p.m.
Portland at Colorado, 9:30 p.m.
FC Dallas at Real Salt Lake, 9:30 p.m.
Chicago at Vancouver, 10:30 p.m.
Houston at Seattle, 10:30 p.m.
MLB Pre-season
Minnesota vs Toronto at Fort Myers, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Detroit vs Atlanta at Lakeland, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees vs Philadelphia at Tampa, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Pittsburgh vs Baltimore at Bradenton, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Tampa Bay vs Boston at Port Charlotte, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Miami (ss) vs St. Louis at Jupiter, Fla., 1:10 p.m.
N.Y. Mets vs Washington at Port St Lucie, Fla., 1:10 p.m.
Texas vs Kansas City at Surprise, Ariz., 3:05 p.m.
Athletics vs Milwaukee at Mesa, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (ss) vs Seattle at Phoenix, 4:05 p.m.
Cleveland vs San Diego (ss) at Goodyear, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Chicago Cubs vs Colorado (ss) at Mesa, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
San Francisco vs Arizona at Scottsdale, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Colorado (ss) vs Chicago White Sox (ss) at Scottsdale, Ariz., 4:10 p.m.
San Diego (ss) vs Cincinnati at Peoria, Ariz., 4:10 p.m.
Houston vs Miami (ss) at West Palm Beach, Fla., 6:05 p.m.