LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: Basketball: A strong second-half surge pushed the Acadia Axewomen past the X-Women 63–58 at Stu Aberdeen Court. It’s the first loss of the season for the X-Women after five straight wins. The X-Women were paced by Kristine Cooper and Mali Straker, who each finished with 12 points. Shannon Neita anchored the interior with nine rebounds and eight points, while Abby Mercer was strong off the bench with nine boards and four points.
Despite a strong performance from Koat Thomas, the X-Men couldn’t complete a late push as the Acadia Axemen protected home court with a 92–83 victory. Thomas was unstoppable for STFX, pouring in 26 points while adding four rebounds and three steals in 39 minutes. The X-Men also received strong contributions from the bench, outscoring Acadia’s reserves 30–19, and held a 19–11 edge in second-chance points.
Hockey: Gabriel Pizza Player of the Game Joanna Martinsen’s lone shootout goal and three straight saves from Brooklyn Oakes were the deciding factors in the X-Women’s 3-2 win over the Dalhousie Tigers at the Keating Centre. The X-Women return to home ice tonight at 7 when they host the Saint Mary’s Huskies.
STFX forward Dominik Godin scored a hat-trick and added an assist, leading the X-Men to a 7-4 win over the Saint Mary’s Huskies at the Dauphinee Centre. Godin was named Player of the Game for the X-Men with three goals and an assist, while Raegan Wiles (two goals, one assist), Logan Chisholm (one goal, one assist), Aaron Brown (two assists), and Antonino Pugliese (two assists) had multi-point nights for the X-Men. Their road trip continues with a 7 pm tilt in Wolfville against Acadia.
The X-Men football squad have a chance to win their third AUS title in four years as they take on the Huskies at the Loney Bowl in Halifax. Kickoff time is 2 pm.
The Cross Country Men’s & Women’s teams are at Nationals in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Races begin at 2pm Atlantic time.
Junior B: The Pictou County Scotians were dumped 6-3 by the Capstone Colts, while the Strait Pirates fell in OT 5-4 to the Eskasoni Junior Eagles. Tonight, the Colts are at the Antigonish Arena to face the Bulldogs at 7:30.
Maritime League: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers face the Ramblers in Amherst. Opening face-off is at 7 pm.
Seniors League: In Port Hood, the Blackstone Knights doubled the Glace Bay Miners 8-4. Tonight, the Pictou County Pipers host the Truro Bearcats at 7:30 at the Hector Arena.
U15: At 3 pm, the Wearwell Bombers are in the Valley to face the Wildcats. Tonight at 7:30, the Novas are on the road against the Harbour Rage.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders are on the road to face off with the Eastern Dukes at 8:10 this evening.
U18 Major: The Weeks Majors host the Halifax Macs at the Wellness Centre at 4 pm, then the Islanders take on the Mustangs in Port Hood at 6.
High School Boys: The Dr J H Gillis Royals are in Cape Breton competing in the annual Green and Gold Tournament hosted by the Memorial Marauders. On Friday, Royals beat the Marauders 5-3 in their first game, with goals by Ben Kavanaugh, and 2 each from Marlo King & Austin Landry. In the evening, the Royals couldn’t find the back of the net, losing to JL Ilsley Judges 3-0. This morning they play the Glace Bay Panthers at 10 am, and Auburn at 6pm. Playoffs are Sunday.
High School Soccer: Dr. JH Gillis Regional Boys host Provincials this weekend. Games began Friday, championships are today: Bronze at 10am, Gold at Noon.
Rural League: Heatherton 1 Pleasantdale 0, Outlaws 6 St. Croix 4
Maritime Major Girls U18 League: The Northern Subway Selects are at the Hector Arena to tangle with the Moncton Rockets at 4 pm.
At the National U18 Womens Hockey Championships in Newfoundland, Team Atlantic defeated Team Ontario Red 4-2 and goes on to the finals for the first time. They play Team Quebec tonight at 6:30 Atlantic time.
At the U17 World Challenge in Truro, Sam Berthiaume & Team Canada White will go for Gold today, after an 8-7 OT win over the US. They face Team Canada Red for the title at 7:30 at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre.
Antigonish is getting a new team. The Basketball League announced that a new franchise is coming to town for next season, joining clubs from across the US & Canada.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Teenage sensation Macklin Celebrini remains the N-H-L’s scoring leader after tallying a goal and an assist for the San Jose Sharks in a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets. Celebrini scored a beautiful goal before assisting on Will Smith’s winner to bring his season point total to 23 in 15 games.
Connor Bedard had a goal and three assists to move within one point of Celebrini’s scoring lead as the Chicago Blackhawks blanked the Calgary Flames 4-0. Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice and Andre Burakovsky had the other goal for Chicago. The Flames continued to struggle scoring and sit last in the N-H-L standings.
Elsewhere in the N-H-L, Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist in the Minnesota Wild’s 5-2 win over the New York Islanders. The New York Rangers, meanwhile, beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1. Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists while Jonathan Quick made 32 saves.
Brandon Ingram scored 20 points as the Toronto Raptors rallied to beat the Atlanta Hawks 109-97 for their fourth straight victory. Down 13 in the second quarter, Toronto took an 82-81 lead midway through the fourth and never looked back. R-J Barrett added 19 points for the Raptors in the opener of a five-game road trip.
Isaiah Hartenstein had a career-high 33 points along with 19 rebounds as the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Sacramento Kings 132-101. Canadian star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 30 points to help the 9-and-1 Thunder bounce back two nights after suffering their only loss of the season in Portland. Sacramento big man Domantas Sabonis sat out his second straight game with sore ribs.
Nikola Jokic scored 26 points, Canada’s Jamal Murray added 23 and the Denver Nuggets improved to 5-and-0 at home with a 129-104 win over the Golden State Warriors. Jokic sat out the entire fourth quarter and finished one rebound and one assist shy of his sixth triple-double of the season. Warriors star Stephen Curry missed a second consecutive game due to illness.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Minnesota 5 N.Y. Islanders 2
N.Y. Rangers 4 Detroit 1
Chicago 4 Calgary 0
San Jose 2 Winnipeg 1
NBA
Toronto 109 Atlanta 97
Orlando 123 Boston 110
Cleveland 148 Washington 114
Detroit 125 Brooklyn 107
San Antonio 121 Houston 110
Miami 126 Charlotte 108
Milwaukee 126 Chicago 110
Memphis 118 Dallas 104
Minnesota 137 Utah 97
Denver 129 Golden State 104
Oklahoma City 132 Sacramento 101
MLS Playoffs First Round | Best-of-three series
New York City 3 Charlotte 1 (NYCFC wins series 2-1)
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
CFL
East Final: Montreal at Hamilton, 3 p.m.
West Final: B.C. at Saskatchewan, 6:30 p.m.
NHL
Pittsburgh at New Jersey, 12:30 p.m.
Ottawa at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Dallas at Nashville, 3:30 p.m.
Utah at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Boston at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Washington at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.
Seattle at St. Louis, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Florida at San Jose, 10 p.m.
Columbus at Vancouver, 10 p.m.
NBA
Dallas at Washington, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at Cleveland, 8 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Atlanta, 8 p.m.
Portland at Miami, 8 p.m.
New Orleans at San Antonio, 8 p.m.
Indiana at Denver, 9 p.m.
Phoenix at L.A. Clippers, 10:30 p.m.
MLS Playoffs First Round | Best-of-three series
Seattle at Minnesota, 4 p.m. (Series tied 1-1)
Columbus at Cincinnati, 6 p.m. (Series tied 1-1)
Nashville at Miami, 8 p.m. (Series tied 1-1)
