Swinney challenged at polls

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — It has been a rough few days for Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. First, his 19th-ranked Tigers lost to Louisville on Saturday night, then he was told he couldn’t vote Tuesday at his polling place.

Swinney, whose given name is William, explained that the voting system had locked him out, saying a “William Swinney” had already voted last week. Swinney said it was his oldest son, Will, and not him.

“They done voted me out of the state,” Swinney said. “We’re 6-2 and 5-1 (in the Atlantic Coast Conference), man. They done shipped me off.”

Dabo Swinney had to complete a paper ballot and was told there will be a hearing on Friday to resolve the issue.

“I was trying to do my best and be a good citizen and go vote,” he said. “Sometimes doing your best ain’t good enough. You have to keep going though, keep figuring it out.”

Lattimore goes to Commanders

Surprise buyers at the NFL trade deadline, the Washington Commanders made a major splash Tuesday by acquiring four-time Pro Bowl cornerback and Cleveland Glenville High School graduate Marshon Lattimore from the New Orleans Saints.

Washington sent third-, fourth- and sixth-round picks in the 2025 draft to New Orleans and got a fifth back along with Lattimore, pending him passing a physical.

Lattimore, 28, provides an instant upgrade on defense for the Commanders, who are off to a 7-2 start to the season and looked to add to augment their unexpected playoff aspirations. He should start alongside Benjamin St-Juste and rookie Mike Sainristil at cornerback in a secondary that also includes impressive safeties Jeremy Chinn and Quan Martin.

Trading Lattimore is the latest shakeup for the Saints after firing coach Dennis Allen following a seventh consecutive loss that dropped them to 2-7. The 2017 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year has been dogged by hamstring injuries that caused him to miss games and was the subject of trade rumors for quite some time.

Lattimore has not allowed a touchdown to be scored on him in coverage since 2021, a strength that makes up for having just two interceptions over that time. His restructured contract made him a low-cost addition for Washington, and he has no guaranteed money remaining.

First-year general manager Adam Peters also did not have to give up many assets the organization did not already have when he was hired in January. Peters got a third-round pick from Philadelphia in the August trade that sent receiver Jahan Dotson to the Eagles, and the sixth going to the Saints is their own from acquiring defensive tackle John Ridgeway from the Commanders just before the start of the season.

Lattimore also gives Peters and coach Dan Quinn options with young struggling cornerback Emmanuel Forbes, who did not play a snap Sunday at the New York Giants. Forbes, a 2023 first-round pick a year after Dotson in a succession of draft mistakes by Ron Rivera’s previous regime, has been benched multiple times as a pro.

To make room on the roster for Lattimore, the Commanders released defensive end Efe Obada.

Ohio State rips Cleveland State

COLUMBUS (AP) — Freshman Kennedy Cambridge scored 31 points in her debut, Cotie McMahon added 17 points and No. 14 Ohio State opened the season with a victory over Cleveland State.

Cambridge is a McDonald’s All-American and the highest ranked recruit in OSU program history at No. 2 overall. She was 12 of 14 from the field and 5 of 5 at the free-throw line. She also had six rebounds, six assists and just two turnovers in 26 minutes.

The Buckeyes went on a 20-3 run in the first quarter to go ahead by double figures for good. Cambridge made her first six field goals, including 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions early in the second quarter for a 19-point lead.

Cleveland State finished the first half with just nine field goals as Ohio State led 42-24. The Buckeyes scored 17 points off 17 Cleveland State turnovers in the first half.

OVAC All-Star game set

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Volleyball All-Star Game will be held at 5 p.m. on Nov. 17 at the ECO Center.

Oak Glen’s McKenzi Martin and Addison Smith will play for West Virginia, while Beaver Local’s Aleia Evanko and Adison Ketchum along with Wellsville’s Presley Stokes will play for Ohio.

Chippewa advances to state final

COPLEY — Doylestown Chippewa beat Columbus Grove 3-1 on Tuesday in a Div. V girls soccer state semifinal.

Cincinnati Madeira won the other semifinal 4-1 over Minford.

Madeira and Chippewa will meet at 1 p.m. on Friday in the state final at Historic Columbus Crew Stadium.

Islanders dump Penguins in OT

NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat scored the only goal in a shootout and the New York Islanders rallied past the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Tuesday night.

New York goalie Ilya Sorokin denied Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang in the tiebreaker and finished with 32 saves. Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who trailed 3-1 midway through the third period.

Simon Holmstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in the third for New York. Horvat had two assists.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist to lead Pittsburgh. Crosby got his 598th career goal, and Michael Bunting also scored. Rakell added two assists.

Alex Nedeljkovich stopped 23 shots for the Penguins, who have lost seven of nine. They won their previous two following a six-game skid.

Holmstrom and Pageau scored 3:07 apart to erase a two-goal deficit. Holmstrom deftly roofed a backhand from in close for his first career power-play goal and Pageau buried one-timer from the slot to even the score at 3.

Malkin scored in the second period on a power play to give the Penguins a 2-1 edge 1:16 after Palmieri tied it.

Crosby opened the scoring with a backhand from the slot 5:27 into the second.

Yankees to stick with Boone

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Yankees general manager Brian Cashman sounded as if he intends to bring back manager Aaron Boone for an eighth season and defended his team from criticism by Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly over New York’s sloppy World Series defensive play.

“I’m a big Aaron Boone fan. I think he’s a great manager and I think we’re lucky to have him,” Cashman said Tuesday at the general managers meetings.

Boone has led the Yankees to a 603-429 record, three AL East titles and one pennant in seven seasons. After the five-game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series last week, Boone said he hadn’t thought about his future.

Boone agreed in October 2021 to a three-year contract that includes a team option for 2025. Cashman said the deadline for the option is 10 days after the World Series and he envisioned discussing both the option and a new deal.

“I can’t put the cart ahead of the horse. We haven’t gotten there,” he said.

Cashman didn’t fault Boone for moves he made during the postseason.

“The manager’s job is so impossible, so you can play the game of second-guessing because you’re either going to make a move and it’ll be right, you make a move and it’ll be wrong and then have at it, right?” he said. “So I think he’s a really, really good manager. I think that we’re lucky to have him. He’s done a great job.”

Cashman acknowledged the World Series performance was a disappointment. The Yankees blew a 10th-inning lead in the opener when Freddie Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam off Nestor Cortes. After losing the first three games and winning Game 4, the Yankees wasted a 5-0 lead in Game 5 in a five-run fifth inning when center fielder Aaron Judge and shortstop Anthony Volpe made errors and pitcher Gerrit Cole failed to cover first on an infield grounder. The Dodgers won 7-6 to capture the title.

“First and foremost, I acknowledge that we played poorly in the World Series,” Cashman said. “We all saw that and unfortunately our `A’ game didn’t show up when it counted the most.”

Kelly was limited to 35 games this season because of right shoulder inflammation and didn’t pitch during the postseason. He criticized the Yankees on his ” Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast.

“They got bad ball. Yeah, sloppy. Everyone knows that,” Kelly said.