Hornets sting Lions

COLUMBIANA — Malvern topped Heartland Christian, 68-49, in girls basketball action Friday.

The Hornets finished the regular season at 14-8 after a 2-4 start.

The Lions lost for the fourth time in five games to finish 9-13 in the regular season.

Local athletes wear medals

GENEVA, Ohio — Three local masters athletes won awards last Sunday at the USA Track and Field Lake Erie Association Indoor Championship at the SPIRE Institute.

Southern Local coach and Hall of Fame member Kathy Randolph won gold medals in the women’s 60 60-meter dash (10.66 seconds), 200 meter dash (37.79) and shot put (22-feet-2 1/2).

Former Crestview standout Don Groubert took gold in the men’s 65 weight throw (23-feet-1) and super weight (12-11 1/2) throws as well as silver in the shot put (23-10).

Former Beaver Local athlete Sheri Liebschner captured silver in the women’s 55 shot put (17-8) and silver in the weight throw (15-9 3/4).

Triple-double by 41-year-old

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Deep in the 23rd season of the longest career in NBA history, LeBron James is still dropping triple-doubles — on the Dallas Mavericks and on Father Time.

James became the oldest player to have a triple-double Thursday night, accomplishing the feat at 41 years and 44 days old during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 124-104 victory over the Mavs.

James had 28 points and 12 assists when he grabbed his 10th rebound with 2:06 to play. He got a standing ovation from the Lakers’ crowd when he checked out moments later with his 123rd career triple-double, the fifth-most in NBA history.

James broke the record held for the past 22 years by Karl Malone, who recorded his final triple-double for the Lakers when he was 40 years and 127 days old.

“I guess I’m more appreciative of moments like this in my career, understanding where I’m at, at the later stage of my journey,” James said. “You definitely take it in a little bit more.”

While mere statistics and longevity records don’t do much for James at this stage in his historic career, he respects triple-doubles as a particularly good measure of the high level he is maintaining on the court.

Although he has missed 18 games this season due to injury, James was no charity case when he was chosen for his 22nd All-Star Game this weekend, and he proved it by dominating the Mavs while Luka Doncic was out with a hamstring strain.

“I think what it represents is pretty cool — the fact that you can go out and have an impact in three facets of the game,” James said. “Rebounding. The assists, obviously, are what I love the most. Being able to get my guys involved, throughout my career I’ve always loved that more than anything. And being able to put the ball in the basket, that’s part of this game as well. So I think what it means, to be able to have your hand in three facets of the game, making an impact in those three, that’s pretty cool.”

James’ play has remained largely outstanding when healthy this season, and he repeated his belief that he could continue almost indefinitely at this level. James entered this game averaging 21.8 points, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds, and the Lakers are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race despite playing only 10 games with James, Doncic and Austin Reaves simultaneously healthy.

But the top scorer in NBA history hadn’t had a triple-double since Feb. 1, 2025, in New York. That day is better remembered for the late-night breaking news of the seismic trade that brought Doncic to the Lakers.

Malone had held the record as the oldest player with a triple-double since he had 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists on Nov. 28, 2003, during his final NBA season. James recorded the next 15 triple-doubles on that list, and he repeatedly came close to setting the record over the past year, but didn’t quite reach it until the Lakers’ final game before the All-Star break.

With Doncic out when his former team visited, James was aggressive and active from the opening tip as he returned from his own injury absence during the Lakers’ loss to San Antonio on Tuesday.

After dancing gleefully in pregame warmups and screaming his way down the tunnel when he took the court, James put up 14 points and six assists in the first quarter alone against Dallas. He factored into the Lakers’ first 23 points of the game.

James had 18 points, eight assists and four rebounds by halftime. He topped double digits in assists during the third quarter, but he didn’t come out of the game during the fourth quarter before he grabbed the three rebounds necessary to get the triple-double.

He almost had it a few possessions earlier, but Reaves beat him to a board — and got an earful from the rest of the Lakers.

“Everybody on the team yelled at me,” Reaves said. “I don’t catch myself looking at the stats during the game, so we went to the bench and everybody let me know about it. He didn’t, but everybody (else), and I looked at him and said, ‘Shoot, my fault.'”

After his streak of 20 straight All-Star Game appearances ended due to injury last year, James will be back in the midseason showcase Sunday at Intuit Dome. James is ineligible for inclusion on his 22nd All-NBA team this season because of his missed games, including the first 14 of the season while dealing with sciatica.

James has 152 career triple-doubles when the playoffs are included.

McLeod makes Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — B.J. McLeod’s run at the Daytona 500 was done.

McLeod failed to qualify for NASCAR’s season opener — and biggest race — and retreated to his motorhome to debrief the effort with his wife and a co-owner of his race team. McLeod was unaware post-race inspection was still going on when he returned to the garage to talk with his crew chief about plans for next week’s race.

The conversation was interrupted when one Live Fast Motorsports crew member rushed by them and another trailed him until he was stopped by McLeod, who wanted to know: what the heck was going on?

Don’t pack for home quite yet. McLeod’s date with Daytona had new life.

Anthony Alfredo was in tears after he initially earned the final spot in the starting lineup in the second of Thursday night’s qualifying races. His joy was short-lived as NASCAR announced the Beard Motorsports entry was disqualified because it failed inspection.

That rushed McLeod’s No. 78 Chevrolet into the rigorous safety and performance exam.

McLeod watched the entire process — “I was never worried for a second” — and the Chevy was cleared. McLeod snatched Alfredo’s spot and would indeed race Sunday against two-time defending winner William Byron and the rest of the field in his sixth career Daytona 500, and first since 2023.

Just hold the hankies. Unlike Alfredo and fellow qualifier Casey Mears, who choked up immediately after crossing the finish line as they achieved their Daytona dream, enough time had passed that McLeod was nonplussed about the unexpected entry into the race.

“For me, the emotion wasn’t there like it would have been if I raced my way in on track,” McLeod said.

Plus, the hard work was ahead.

McLeod’s underfunded team hit the track without a primary sponsor on his Chevy, and he worked the phones all night trying to find the right fit for his car. McLeod silenced his mobile phone multiple times as he lounged in a T-shirt, ripped jeans and flip-flops inside his motorhome Friday during an interview with The Associated Press. There were deals to be made, and McLeod took a potential pitch about a sponsor as soon as the interview ended.

“It hasn’t stopped,” McLeod said. “Since we went into tech, it’s been non-stop.”

McLeod attempts Daytona each February these days as an open car, meaning he has to race into the field rather than have a guaranteed spot — and the guaranteed sponsorship needed to prop up a race team — as a charter team such as Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing.

“You’re fighting an uphill battle,” McLeod said. “But I chose the battle and I’m happy to do it.”

Without a full 36-race slate to pay and prepare for, a handful of teams each February bank their season on the financial spoils and prestige connected with making the Daytona 500.

Missing the race can often be a fatal blow to a small team’s race plans.

Beard Motorsports is one of those teams that anchors its season on Daytona. Its entry was disqualified because the transaxle cooling hose wasn’t properly attached in post-race inspection.

“It’s on all of us to make sure our cars are right,” McLeod said.

The Beard family wrote in a statement a review was underway and “our intent is to make races, contend for wins and race with integrity.”

Alfredo posted a video on social media where he explained the rule violation wasn’t intentional and had turned his attention to winning NASCAR’s second-tier race Saturday at Daytona. Because the races were considered qualifying attempts, Beard could not appeal the DQ.

McLeod fielded a car for Alfredo in NASCAR’s second-tier series in 2023 and had forged a friendship with both him and members of the Beard family. That left McLeod with some mixed feelings about making the 41-car field while Alfredo was left out.

“It was hard to enjoy it,” McLeod said.

McLeod wanted to race his way into the Daytona 500, but his qualifying race was initially spoiled because of a miscalculation with the fueler that stretched out a pit stop to 1.5 seconds longer than expected.

McLeod was a team owner in Cup for a brief period before he sold his charter for Live Fast Motorsports to Spire Motorsports for $40 million in 2023. McLeod expressed no regrets about the decision, even as he pegged the current value of that charter at about $100 million. He hasn’t ruled out a possible return to ownership in Cup, perhaps with a minority stake.

McLeod pressed on with his racing career. He’ll make his 150th career start in the Daytona 500 in hunt of his first career top-five finish.

“It’s just fun on Thursday night,” McLeod said. “Now the hard part, the 500, a very, very hard race.”

Indiana coach honored

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) — Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines has been honored with the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach.

Haines, who was a finalist last year, was awarded in a ceremony on Thursday night. He helped Indiana win the national title by leading a unit that ranked second nationally in scoring defense and fourth in total defense.

The other finalists were Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, Miami defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman, Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and Texas Tech defensive coordinator Shiel Wood. The five finalists were selected from 64 nominees representing approximately 1,500 assistant coaches.

It was the 30th year the award has been given out. It was created in 1996 to recognize former Arkansas coach Frank Broyles’ history of developing successful assistant coaches.

The selection committee is made up of Hall of Fame coaches, members of the Football Writers Association of America and broadcasters. For the first time, fans had a single collective vote.