Sports Digest: Maine Celtics fall in Fort Wayne, 133-119

BASKETBALL

Gabe York scored 36 and Justin Anderson added 32 to lead the Fort Wayne Mad Ants to a 133-119 win over the Maine Celtics in a G League game Wednesday in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Maine played without four key players: Mfiondu Kabengele and JD Davison are with the parent Boston Celtics, Luka Samanic is in health and safety protocol and Denzel Valentine has a finger injury.

Marial Shayok led the Celtics with 30 points. Kamar Baldwin set career highs with 28 points and 11 rebounds to go along with six assists, Eric Demers scored a career-high 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range and Scottie Lindsey had 18 points.

SKIING

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Mikaela Shiffrin didn’t wait long to add to her record total of World Cup wins.

A day after securing record victory No. 83, Shiffrin added her 84th win in another giant slalom on the same course at San Viglio di Marebbe, Italy.

And like how she did it a day earlier, Shiffrin led from start to finish, dominating the first run down the steep Erta course and then adding to her advantage in the second run.

Shiffrin finished a massive 0.82 seconds ahead of two-time Olympic silver medalist Ragnhild Mowinckel and 1.19 ahead of Olympic champion Sara Hector.

When Shiffrin reached the finish after her second run, she collapsed to the snow in apparent exhaustion – with her skis still attached to her boots – before Mowinckel and Hector came over to congratulate her and help her up.

The win moved Shiffrin within two of the overall record – between men and women – of 86 wins held by Ingemar Stenmark.

Vonn retired four years ago when injuries cut her career short, and Stenmark raced in the 1970s and 80s.

If Shiffrin wins two slaloms in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, this weekend, she could match Stenmark on Sunday.

SOCCER

MLS: Heather Davis has been hired as chief executive officer to lead Major League Soccer’s Portland Timbers and the National Women’s Soccer League’s Thorns amid the fallout from a series of scandals.

Davis, 46, served as CEO on an interim basis after club owner Merritt Paulson stepped away last fall. She is among five women in charge of team operations in MLS.

The club has been criticized following alleged misconduct by former Thorns coach Paul Riley. Missteps were detailed in a pair of investigations into coach abuse by the NWSL and the U.S. Soccer Federation.

The Timbers also were questioned over the re-signing of former player Andy Polo after an alleged domestic violence incident.

The club’s general manager and president of business operations were fired in October, and Paulson removed himself from an active role with the teams. The NWSL imposed a fine of $1 million on the club. Paulson announced in December that he is selling the Thorns.

OLYMPICS

PARIS: The IOC made clear it wants Russians to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics as neutral athletes, in defiance of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call to exclude them entirely.

Citing a “unifying mission” during a time of war, the International Olympic Committee said no athlete should face discrimination based only on the passport they held.

Russia was not directly condemned in the statement though athletes who have been “actively supporting the war in Ukraine” face being excluded from the Paris Olympics that open in 18 months’ time, the IOC said.

GOLF

EUROPEAN TOUR: Spectators will not be allowed to attend the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic on Thursday because of what organizers have described as “severe weather conditions” forecast at Emirates Golf Club.

The European tour said the decision had been made “with the safety of all in mind.”

TENNIS

WIMBLEDON: The men’s doubles format at Wimbledon has been changed to best-of-three sets to bring it in line with the other three Grand Slam tournaments.

The All England Club announced the switch from best-of-five sets and said the reduction could attract more players to enter the doubles competition at Wimbledon.

« Previous

Related Stories