Trending
BIG MAC
SPRINGFIELD -- Unbeaten South Range is going to have to contend with the Midwest Athletic Conference in the state volleyball tournament this weekend.
The Mighty MAC will be represented in the state semifinals by four teams -- top-ranked Coldwater (24-4) and sixth-ranked Versailles (21-6) in Division V and third-ranked Parkway (23-3) and fourth-ranked St. Henry (23-4) in Division VI.
The Division V semifinals will be held Friday at Wittenberg University with Coldwater vs. second-ranked Byesville Meadowbrook (25-1) at 11:30 a.m., followed by fifth-ranked South Range (27-0) vs. sixth-ranked Versailles at 1:30 p.m.
The winners will play for the state title at 3 p.m. Saturday at Wright State University.
Coldwater won the league title with its only league loss coming to St. Henry. St. Henry, Versailles and New Bremen were one game back in the league standings.
Versailles has won 10 straight matches, dropping only three sets during that streak.
Parkway and St. Henry play in a Division VI semifinal at 8 p.m. Thursday at Wittenberg University. St. Henry won the regular-season match in four games.
State tournament tickets are $17 for adults and $10 for students.
PLUM PICKS RMU
EAST PALESTINE -- East Palestine senior Braydon Plum will continue his academic and track career at NCAA Div. I Robert Morris University. Plum qualified for the state track meet in the spring in the 400-meter dash with a school-record 49.74 seconds. He also recorded a best time of 22.47 in the 200 meters and 2:00 in the 800 meters. Plum was also a member of the East Palestine football team where he was All-Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference the past two seasons.
SMYTH IN DEBUT
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. -- Lisbon High School graduate Jayden Smyth made her college debut for the Geneva College women’s basketball team on Wednesday night
Smyth was 2-of-2 from the foul line in seven minutes of action during the Golden Tornadoes’ season-opening 71-40 loss to Mount Union at Metheny Fieldhouse.
Geneva sophomore Averi Marshall from had two points, five rebounds and one assist in 15 minutes. She played in 20 games last season.
Senior Elizabeth Mason from Marlington led Mount Union (3-0) with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting and a game-high six rebounds in 19 minutes.
A total of 38 players saw action, including 22 from Mount Union.
FLORES WILL ATTEND YSU
BOARDMAN -- Boardman senior Maya Flores, whose father Stephen starred in basketball at East Liverpool and Youngstown State, signed to continue her academic and volleyball careers at Youngstown State on Wednesday.
Maya Flores is Boardman’s all-time kills leader with 1,572.
SUPERSTAR STAMPS
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays and longtime Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt will be honored with stamps next year, the U.S. Postal Service announced Monday.
Mays, who died in 2024 at age 93, was a 24-time All-Star and two-time National League Most Valuable Player.
His stamp, designed to look like a baseball card, will feature a portrait of Mays with the New York Giants and an inset image of the outfielder making his famous, over-the-shoulder catch of a drive by Cleveland’s Vic Wertz in the 1954 World Series opener. Mays batted .301 with 660 homers and 1,909 RBIs from 1951-73.
The orange background refers to a color of Mays’ teams, the New York and San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets. It will be the 50th stamp of the USPS’s Black Heritage series.
Summitt, who died in 2016 at age 64, led Tennessee to eight NCAA championships and compiled a career record of 1,098-208 from 1974-2012. Her stamp features an oil-on-primed-linen portrait. Summitt is in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
CAUGHT IN MIDDLE
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Actor and race car driver Frankie Muniz was hospitalized Wednesday following a practice-lap crash at Daytona International Speedway, according to his racing team.
Team Reaume said the “Malcolm in the Middle” star was “awake and alert.”
The 40-year-old Muniz was practicing for a Proud to Honor Veterans Day Classic event, a benefit race set for Wednesday night at Daytona’s road course.
“We’ll share updates as they become available,” Team Reaume posted on X that it would provide updates when available while thanking followers for “respecting Frankie’s privacy at this time.”
Muniz and NASCAR driver Austin Cindric were set to represent Team Air Force in an exhibition race that benefits six nonprofits that support military and veteran communities through the Proud to Honor Fund, according to a NASCAR release.
Muniz has driven in 117 trucks series races over the last three years, with one top-10 finish at Daytona in 2025.
MENDOZA STARTS
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) -- The eyes of Las Vegas Raiders fans now turn to Fernando Mendoza -- finally.
He became the Raiders’ starting quarterback after the club traded Kirk Cousins to Minnesota just ahead of Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline. Fourth-year pro Aidan O’Connell, who has 17 career starts, also is on the roster.
“Thank you Raider Nation!” Cousins posted on social media along with a photo of him and Mendoza walking together. “Go get em @fernandomendoza.”
Raiders fans have been looking forward to this moment since it became clear at the end of last season Las Vegas would get the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft. Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy and led Indiana to a national championship.
The Raiders (4-5) ranked eighth with 26.4 points per game with Cousins at QB. That despite a run game that is second worst with a 71.3-yard average.
HARDEN LEADS CAVS
NEW YORK (AP) -- James Harden scored a season-high 32 points, more than double his average during a tough start to 2026-27, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the New York Knicks 115-107 on Wednesday night.
Donovan Mitchell added 23 for the Cavaliers in their first trip to Madison Square Garden since the Eastern Conference finals, when the Knicks erased a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter of Game 1 to win in overtime, then took Game 2 en route to a four-game sweep.
This time the Cavaliers were better down the stretch, with Harden hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer to snap a 101-all tie with 4:21 remaining. The three-time NBA scoring champion came in averaging 15.3 points for the season and shooting just 36.4% from the floor.
Jalen Brunson scored 27 for the Knicks, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, tying Willis Reed’s franchise record with his 11th straight double-double to begin a season.