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DeutschWarrenton Girls Win State Basketball Title
The Warrenton 8th grade girls basketball team claimed the state championship title on March 1, defeating Madras/Warm Springs 60-52 in the championship game in Salem. The team was down by nine points at halftime but battled back to secure the victory.
Warrenton had an impressive tournament run, winning 5 of 6 games during the weekend. The team consists of six 8th graders and four 7th graders, with six of the girls having played together for five years.
Maple Leafs fall to Devils in shootout for fifth-straight loss
NEWARK, N.J. — Paul Cotter scored the winner in the shootout, Connor Brown forced overtime with a tying goal with 2:21 left in the third period and the New Jersey Devils beat Toronto 4-3 on Wednesday night, sending the Maple Leafs to their first straight loss.
Timo Meier and Arseny Gritsyuk also scored in regulation for the Devils, who have won three in a row and improved to 25-8-1 when scoring at least three goals. Jacob Markstrom made 24 saves.
William Nylander, Matias Maccelli and Matthew Knies had goals for the Maple Leafs, who haven’t won since beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Feb. 3 — their last game before the Olympic break. Anthony Stolarz made 44 saves.
Cotter put a backhander past Stolarz to start the shootout for the Devils. After Nylander’s wrister was stopped, Jesper Bratt also scored on a backhander to put New Jersey up 2-0 in the shootout. Auston Matthews’ wrist shot was then stopped by Markstrom, giving the Devils the victory.
With the game tied at 2 in the third period, Knies batted in the rebound of John Tavares’ shot past Markstrom to put Toronto ahead with 6:10 left.
Brown took a pass from Gritsyuk on a rush toward the net and roofed a quick shot in tight past Stolarz to tie it at 3 with 2:21 remaining.
The Devils outshot the Maple Leafs 47 to 27 in regulation.
New Jersey was without defenseman Brett Pesce, who suffered a lower-body injury against Florida on Tuesday night. The Maple Leafs sat three players, Bobby McMann, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Scott Laughton, for roster management reasons ahead of Friday’s trade deadline.
Up next
Maple Leafs: Play at New York Rangers on Thursday night.
Devils: Host the Rangers on Saturday.
Northwestern falls 70-66 in heartbreaking fashion on Senior Night
On an emotional senior night, a crowd seemingly composed mostly of Northwestern students or Purdue alumni sold out Welsh-Ryan Arena for the ‘Cats’ last home game of the season. Northwestern (13-17, 5-14 BIG) gave 15th-ranked Purdue (23-7, 13-6) all they could handle but fell short in the last few possessions.
For NU, Nick Martinelli led the way with 28 points, and Jayden Reid also had a great game with 16.
For the Boilermakers, C.J. Cox finished with 27 points on 10-13 shooting overall and five triples. Trey Kaufman-Renn had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Fletcher Loyer had 10 points on 4-9 shooting from the floor.
With Jake West in street clothes due to an ankle injury, NU head coach Chris Collins added Justin Mullins to the Wildcats’ starting lineup along with Tre Singleton, Arrinten Page, Reid and Martinelli.
Despite Purdue’s immense frontcourt size, Page won the tip for the ‘Cats, and Reid knocked down a long-range two to get the scoring going. A Loyer layup on the other end immediately evened the score as, in large part due to a fiery and two-sided crowd, both teams came out with energy.
Yet that energy translated into nervousness for both teams, as after a series of turnovers by each squad, a Singleton midrange jumper and a layup by Purdue’s Oscar Cluff put the score at 4-4 with 16:43 remaining in the first half.
Coming out of the first timeout, Purdue’s Cox found himself open on the out-of-bounds play, netting an easy layup to break the tie. Yet, the response was quick, as a Jordan Clayton steal on one end led to an Angelo Ciaravino layup on the other.
Wildcat defense continued to provide opportunities for their offense, as Clayton knocked down the first three-pointer of the game off a Martinelli assist. Two Martinelli free throws later, his first points of the night, and Northwestern led 11-6 with 12:45 remaining.
The weather seemed to travel into Welsh-Ryan Arena as Clayton and Tyler Kropp rained down buckets of their own on the following possessions to put the ‘Cats up 15-6 and on an 11-0 run. Through the first eight minutes of the game, the ‘Cats forced five Boilermaker turnovers as Purdue seemed like a shell of itself.
Boilermaker point guard Braden Smith was unable to find his shot early as Reid dominated the point guard matchup, draining another long two to put the ‘Cats up 11. Purdue’s Gicarri Harris ended the 13-0 run with a three-pointer from the top of the arc, but a Page hook shot on the other end revitalized the NU crowd. Kaufman-Renn finally got on the board for the Boilermakers with a layup, but it was 19-11 with 7:53 remaining in the half.
Out of the timeout, Jack Benter swished another Purdue triple as its offense seemed to find its footing, but Page countered immediately with a long ball of his own. Another Kaufman-Renn layup tightened the margin to six as NU led 22-16 with 5:18 left in the half.
After a Reid layup, Martinelli made his most meaningful impact 15 minutes into the game as he drew a charge that gave Kaufman-Renn his second foul of the night and sent the crowd into a frenzy. However, the following lackluster Wildcat defense provided Loyer a wide-open three-pointer.
The next possession, Reid once again strolled down the court aggressively and knocked down a counterpunch three. Martinelli’s offense finally got going towards the end of the first as his first three-pointer of the night was sandwiched between a pair of Boilermaker layups, giving NU the 30-23 lead with 1:15 in the half.
After an NU timeout, Martinelli hooked in a layup and then knocked down two free throws, Northwestern up 34-25 going into half with dreams of a court storm floating through students’ heads.
At the half, Martinelli and Reid led the way for Northwestern with nine points apiece. Page and Clayton also chipped in with five points each. As a team, the ‘Cats were shooting 56.5% from the field and 50% from three. The defense was very strong, forcing nine turnovers and holding the Boilermakers to 44% shooting overall and 27.3% from distance.
A pair of Reid free throws extended the ‘Cats’ lead to ten coming out of the break but C.J. Cox extended his hot-shooting night by knocking down a three pointer from the wing. Martinelli broke into double digits on the other end, bullying the undersized Smith in the paint.
A Kaufman-Renn layup and Cox triple for Purdue inspired the loudest cheers of the night from Boilermaker fans as their team pulled within four. However, as he’s done his whole career, Martinelli played the role of silencer and his personal 5-0 run emblazoned the home crowd. A Loyer triple on the other end represented the response that Purdue desperately needed, and it was 43-37 ‘Cats with 15:32 to go.
The size of Purdue seemed to begin to wear down the ‘Cats as Kaufman-Renn and Cluff layups pulled the Boilermakers to within one possession. NU’s offense couldn’t get out of its own way, coughing the ball up whenever it felt any pressure, and a series of Purdue offensive rebounds resulted in a Cox layup to tie the game at 43.
Coach Collins calmed his team down via calling a timeout, and Reid immediately got back in the scoring column with a corner three to put the ‘Cats up 46-43 with 11:52 remaining in the game. After an extended official review, Smith scored his first points in response to a Martinelli dunk. Martinelli broke the 20-point threshold for the 22nd time this season via a circus-worthy hook shot but a Cluff layup kept the NU lead at two with under eight minutes left.
A pair of Purdue free throws and then a wide open Cluff dunk gave the Boilermakers a 52-51 lead, motivating half of the arena to rise to their feet. Reid, Kaufmann-Renn and Martinelli traded layups for the two teams before yet another Cox corner triple swished through the net to put the Boilermakers up 57-55 with 4:29 remaining.
A pair of Martinelli free throws tied the game, but Cox, Purdue’s savior of the night, made yet another heavily contested three point shot. Martinelli converted a floater from the paint on the other end but Cox responded with an elbow jumper, his 23rd and 24th points of the night which set and broke his career high. Martinelli then connected on both free throws of his one and one and Purdue up 62-61 with just over two remaining.
Northwestern’s defense then took the spotlight as its ball pressure on Smith forced an errant pass which resulted in an emphatic Page slam. A Boo Bouie cameo almost put the NU crowd over the top but overaggressiveness by the Wildcat defense gave Smith three free throws and Purdue the 65-63 lead with 1:33 remaining.
What seemed to be a discombobulated offensive possession coming out of the timeout turned out to be a stroke of genius by Coach Collins as Clayton nailed a fall-away three point shot with less than a second on the shot clock to give NU the 66-65 lead with 1:03 left in the game.
However, a defensive lapse by the ‘Cats left Cox, who’s hands might have been on fire, wide open in the corner for Purdue who didn’t hesitate and knocked down his fifth three of the night. An NU turnover on the other end gave the Boilermakers control of the game, yet Loyer shot and missed a three pointer with 18 seconds on the clock, giving the ‘Cats the ball back…or so one thought. Reid stepped out of bounds while tracking down the loose ball and the ‘Cats were forced to foul. Smith calmly converted both free throws of the one-and-one, putting Purdue up four with 13 seconds left.
Martinelli’s three fell short in the final seconds and the final horn blew, Purdue scraping out a 70-66 victory to avoid the upset
The ‘Cats will be back in action on Saturday, March 7 against Minnesota in the regular season finale.
Puck luck finally falls in Golden Knights’ favor in dramatic OT win over Red Wings
After a few games where nothing seemed to go right for the Vegas Golden Knights, it was refreshing to see the narrative finally change.
On Wednesday, the Golden Knights snapped a three-game losing streak in improbable fashion, coming from behind to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in overtime.
Within the first two minutes, the Golden Knights were able to break the script that had defined their previous efforts. Coming off of a Pavel Dorofeyev forecheck, Mitch Marner was able to find Reilly Smith in a good position by the net. The veteran forward was able to beat Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot on the short side to give the Golden Knights the first goal for the first time in four games.
Unfortunately, the same story would play out in a different way. Just a few minutes later, Red Wings rookie Emmitt Finnie beat a screened Adin Hill from a shot in the slot to tie the game. Another unfortunate bounce would see a Braeden Bowman backcheck be negated by Simon Edvinsson, who got a shot past Hill to give Detroit their first lead.
Disaster would soon strike for Hill later in the first period.
On a shot from Alex DeBrincat, Hill would misread the trajectory and move his glove low. The puck would wind up going over his shoulder and into the top left corner of the net to make it another first period where the Golden Knights surrendered three goals and continuing what has been a difficult campaign.
The second period would see the Golden Knights continue to be outplayed, but the Red Wings could not capitalize to keep the game at a two-goal deficit.
In the final ten minutes of the third, the push from the Golden Knights would finally come. A shot from Noah Hanifin would pinball towards the front of the net, deflecting off of Rasmus Andersson en route to Ivan Barbashev’s stick. The Russian winger would have a wide open net to fire the puck into, and the Golden Knights suddenly had hope.
Five minutes later, a shot from Shea Theodore would cause chaos in front of the net. An energized Golden Knights team would get the edge on the ensuing puck battle, with Tomas Hertl swinging around the net to find Mitch Marner in the slot. Marner, who was easily the best Golden Knight on the ice in this game, would score his 17th goal on the season to tie the game up and force overtime.
Hill would also bounce back after the DeBrincat goal, preventing the Red Wings from extending the lead on power plays and giving the Golden Knights the chance to regroup and charge back.
In overtime, Hertl redeemed himself from a pair of penalties in regulation by hitting an excellent shot from the slot during a power play to secure the comeback victory for the Golden Knights.
The successful comeback gave Vegas their first win over a playoff opponent since Nov. 20 against the Utah Mammoth, giving them plenty of momentum moving forward.
With the results finally going their way, the Golden Knights now hope to keep the momentum going back in Vegas when they face the Minnesota Wild on Friday.