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CLIPPERS EDGE BEAVERS
COLUMBIANA -- In a battle of two of Columbiana County’s best boys golf teams, Columbiana edged Beaver Local 146-147 on Thursday at Valley.
For the Clippers, Luke Struharik had a 34, David Masters 36, Trenton Hall 38 and Nick Klindworth 38.
Beaver Local freshman Eli Stewart was the medalist with a 30. Britton Hickman had a 36. Brady McNear added a 39 and Andre Weigand 42.
Columbiana is 6-0 and will play at West Branch on Monday.
MINERVA TOPPLES ALLIANCE
ALLIANCE -- Minerva’s girls golf team beat Alliance 169-195 on Thursday at Sleepy Hollow.
Minerva is 6-0.
For the Lions, Peyton Beaumariage and Emery Sell had 39s. Delaney Sell had a 40 and Savanna Bartley had a 51.
POTTERS TAKE TRI-MATCH
GLENMOOR -- East Liverpool topped Wellsville and East Liverpool Christian 162-217 in a boys golf tri-match Thursday at Historic Highlands Golf Course.
The Potters had 162 to Wellsville’s 204 and East Liverpool Christian’s 217.
Donovan Shallcross led East Liverpool with a 39. Kam Engle shot 40, Garrett Cooper 41 and Cooper Klein and Carstin Suznevich each carded 42. Celly Roach added a 44.
Darell Roe led the Tigers with a 48, followed by Cooper Frank at 49, Gage Vance 51 and Maximus Crabtree 56.
Lucas Balser led East Liverpool Christian with a 49, followed by Noah Williams at 53, Tristan Jones 56 and Kinsey Smith 59.
ALLIANCE TAKES TRI
ALLIANCE -- Alliance defeated Salem and Heartland Christian in a boys golf tri-match Thursday at Sleepy Hollow.
The Aviators had 167 to Salem’s 187 and Heartland’s 195.
Jaymes Smith led Alliance with a 35, followed by Brock Runion at 42, Hudson Woods 43, and Ethan Jackson and Charles Jackson each at 47. Charles Ekey also shot 47.
Salem was led by Donald Blackburn and Eli James, who each shot 45. Caden Arcuri added a 47 and Gabe Leek 50.
Heartland Christian was paced by Jacob Vande-Kappelle with a 43. Jak Morgan shot 49, Richard Green 50, and Brady DeSantis and Jack Muckridge each finished with 53.
Salem fell to 2-4. The Quakers will play Marlington today at Tannenhauf.
BEAVERS SWEEP TRI
YOUNGSTOWN -- Beaver Local defeated Heartland Christian and Liberty in a girls golf tri-match Wednesday at Stambaugh Golf Course.
Mya Anderson led the Beavers, who shot179 as a team, with a 42, the low score among all three teams. McKenzie Ash followed with a 44, Addie Hoppel shot 45 and Brenna Jones 48.
Heartland Christian totaled 245.
Liberty finished with a 262. Olivia Dixon led the Leopards with a 64.
STEELERS SIGN ROBERTS
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Elandon Roberts is back in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers signed the veteran linebacker to a one-year deal on Thursday, reuniting him with the club he spent two seasons with in 2023 and 2024.
The 32-year-old Roberts had been a free agent after playing for the Las Vegas Raiders last season.
Roberts has 694 tackles, with 14 1/2 sacks and one interception during his 10-year career. He won a pair of Super Bowls with New England in 2016 and 2018 before moving on to Miami and then Pittsburgh.
Roberts, whom former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin described as a “tooth chipper” for his physical style of play against the run, started 29 games across his two seasons in Pittsburgh. He joins an inside linebacker group that includes Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson and Cole Holcomb.
SPIETH FEELS BETTER
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Jordan Spieth believes he’s playing better golf and he finally got a score to show for it Thursday. He was bogey-free for a 5-under 65 that gave him a four-way share of the lead in the FedEx St. Jude Championship and boosted his hopes of extending his season.
Rocket Classic champion Michael Thorbjornsen, Jake Knapp, Michael Kim and Kurt Kitayama also opened with 65s in the sweltering heat at the TPC Southwind. Spieth and Kim are outside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup who advance to the BMW Championship next week.
This is the second straight year Spieth, at No. 54 and winless in more than four years, has been on the bubble going into the postseason. He was at No. 48 a year ago and fell out of the top 50.
He said the difference is the way he feels he is playing, even though he is the only player from the top 70 who qualified who has yet to register a top 10 this year.
"I’m just in a very different place about the game of golf than I was the last couple seasons heading into this event," Spieth said. "Again, if it's going to work out, great. If it doesn't, I know next year is going to be an awesome year for me. So it takes a lot of the stress off of this week."
M&M THEME WILL RETURN
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Ty Gibbs’ car will be adorned in the multicolored M&M’s paint scheme made famous by former teammate Kyle Busch during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway next month, Busch’s widow announced Thursday.
“Bristol was always one of Kyle’s favorite tracks,” Samantha Busch wrote on X. “He loved racing under the lights, found so much success there, and the iconic M&M’S car holds some of the best memories of his career and our life together.”
Busch, 41, died May 21 after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming complications.
Busch and the No. 18 Toyota M&M’s car were synonymous when he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing from 2008-22. He moved to Richard Childress Racing in 2023.
Busch won nine Cup Series races and a total of 23 NASCAR races at Bristol.
Ty Gibbs, 23, is coming off his second win of the season at the Cup Series race in Iowa.
He posted pictures of the M&M’s car on Instagram and wrote, “Excited for Bristol. Gonna be a cool (one)… So honored to drive this.”
Samantha Busch wrote it would be “heartbreaking” to be at Bristol without Kyle. The race is Sept. 19.
“He should be there,” she wrote. “But I’m so grateful to be able to tell you that those iconic M&M’S colors will be coming back to Bristol, one last time, on the 54 car. It’s a chance to honor him at a place he loved so much, surrounded by our NASCAR family and the fans who loved him too. I know Kyle would want us to be there, to keep showing up, keep racing, and keep carrying his legacy forward.”
NBA REVEALS SCHEDULE
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jaylen Brown and Giannis Antetokounmpo will play homecoming games a week apart in January.
The 2026-27 NBA schedule was released Thursday, setting the dates for the two former NBA Finals MVPs to return to face the teams that traded them this summer.
The schedules for opening night and Christmas had already been unveiled earlier this week, so those two games were among the most intriguing matchups not yet known. Brown, who was dealt from the Celtics to the rival Philadelphia 76ers in a stunning move, will play his first game back in Boston on Jan. 21.
Antetokounmpo was expected to be traded by Milwaukee this offseason -- at one point speculation was that he might be swapped for Brown -- and was eventually dealt to Miami. The Heat will travel to face the Bucks for the first time on Jan. 28.
Both of those games, which will be on Thursday nights, will stream on Prime Video.
The season will open Oct. 20 with a tripleheader, highlighted by LeBron James, Brown and the 76ers visiting the Knicks, who will receive their rings after winning the franchise’s first championship since 1973.
The regular season ends April 11. All-Star weekend is set for Feb. 19-21 in Phoenix.