LOCAL SPORTS
The U14 Division 2 female basketball provincials are being held at STFX Oland Centre this weekend. On Friday, the host Jr. X Women defeated SLAM 46-24. Dartmouth defeated North Preston 40-38. Piranaha defeated South Shore 40-32. Valley Panthers defeated Cape Breton Magic 31-28. Next game for the Jr. X Women will be Saturday at 1:30. They will take on South Shore Surf at the Oland Centre.
The Provincials for Female Midget AA are being held in Port Hood this weekend. Yesterday, Cape Breton West Islanders Quad Counties tied Subway Selects 1-1. The Islanders then defeated Halifax Metro West 5-1. This morning they lost to Halifax Metro East 3-1. Next game is at 12:30 against Colchester. The West Islanders are made up of girls from Antigonish, Judique, Port Hood, Inverness, Cheticamp, Whycogamagh, and Port Hawkesbury.
Rural league Playoff Finals Game 1: Antigonish Arena tonight at 7 – Pleasantdale vs Heatherton
The Strait Pirates will face the Sackville Blazers for the Junior B Title. The Blazers defeated the East Hants Penguins 5-3 last night to take their series in six games.
It’s Round 2 of Boxing Night in Canada at the Pictou County Wellness Centre. There are six pro bouts tonight, with the headline match featuring local fighter Brody Blair facing Eduardo Canjas of Mexico. Doors open at 6.
NATIONAL SPORTS
The Flames are inching closer to clinching the Western Conference title. Sean Monahan scored twice to set a new career high in goals and also added two assists, leading Calgary to a 6-1 home win over the Anaheim Ducks. The Flames extend their lead atop the West to eight points over San Jose. The Sharks have five games remaining including a home date with Calgary on Sunday.
Devan Dubnyk stopped 32 shots and the Wild beat the Golden Knights 3-2 to stay in the playoff hunt. Minnesota is four points back of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, since a 10-and-1 run, Vegas is 0-3-and-1 in its last four games.
NHL
N.Y. Rangers 4 St. Louis 2
Nashville 3 Pittsburgh 1
Detroit 4 New Jersey 0
Calgary 6 Anaheim 1
Colorado 3 Arizona 2 (SO)
Minnesota 3 Vegas 2
Matt Shoemaker pitched seven sharp innings to win his Toronto debut. The Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 6-0 at Rogers Centre, giving Charlie Montoyo his first victory as a major league manager. Justin Smoak and Freddy Galvis each drove in two runs, a day after the Blue Jays were blanked in a 10-inning loss.
MLB
American League
Toronto 6 Detroit 0
Tampa Bay 4 Houston 2
L.A. Angels 6 Oakland 2
Boston 7 Seattle 6
National League
Colorado 6 Miami 1
St. Louis 9 Milwaukee 5
Arizona 5 L.A. Dodgers 4 (13)
San Diego 4 San Francisco 1
Duke pulled out another March Madness thriller. Canada’s R-J Barrett had 18 and a career-high 11 assists to help Number-1 overall seed Duke avoid an N-C-double-A Tournament upset and edge Number 4-seeded Virginia Tech 75-73. Zion Wlliamson added 23 points for the Blue Devils.
NBA
Boston 114 Indiana 112
Portland 118 Atlanta 98
Denver 115 Oklahoma City 105
Minnesota 131 Golden State 130 (OT)
Utah 128 Washington 124
L.A. Lakers 129 Charlotte 115
MLS
Toronto FC 4 New York City FC 0
NCAA Men’s Basketball
Michigan State 80 LSU 63
Duke 75 Virginia Tech 73
Auburn 97 North Carolina 80
Kentucky 62 Houston 58
NCAA Women’s Basketball
UConn 69 UCLA 61
Mississippi St. 76 Arizona St. 53
Louisville 61 Oregon St. 44
Oregon 63 South Dakota St. 53