LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: On Coach K Court, hard work, stifling defense, and solid shooting pushed the X-Women basketball team to a 79-66 victory over the visiting Cape Breton Capers. The X-Women are 7-7 on the season, avenging a loss from earlier in the week with the victory over CBU. Krissy Cooper, who picked up Gabriel Pizza Player of the game honors, had 18 points, 12 boards, and four assists on the night, while Ekaterina Karchevskaya also had 18 points, and Jaya D’Souza netted 12.
The X-Men also roared back into the win column with a convincing 99-67 victory over the visiting Capers. The win avenged Wednesday’s loss to CBU, who remain the only AUS team to defeat STFX this season. DJ Jackson continued his stellar season with the Blue and White, scoring 32 points with 9 boards. Jackson shared Gabriel Pizza Player of the Game honors with Gatulak James who also had a big night, with 24 points, 9 rebounds, and six assists.
In hockey, the X-Men dropped their second consecutive game on the road, falling 5-2 to the first place UNB REDS. Scoring for the X-Men were Cole Stewart & Ethan Burroughs.
Junior B: Local teams both got road wins Saturday night: the Antigonish Bulldogs won 7-6 in overtime against the Membertou Junior Miners, while the Pictou County Scotians shut out the Eskasoni Junior Eagles 2-0.
Maritime League: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers fell 9-5 to the Ramblers in Amherst. The Crushers are back at the Wellness Centre, hosting Fredericton at 4 pm.
U15: The Wearwell Bombers couldn’t catch up to the Wildcats, falling 6-5 at the Wellness Centre. The Novas scored the only goal in a 1-0 shutout of the Cole Harbour Rage. This morning, the Bombers are on the road to take on the Cougars at 11:15, while the Novas host the Rangers at the Arena at 11:30.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders are in East Hants to face off with the Kings at 11 am.
U18 Major: The CB West Islanders were defeated 4-2 by the Halifax Macs, while the Weeks Majors trounced the Rush 9-1. All four teams will play again at Noon: the Islanders & Mac in Port Hood, the Majors & Rush in Sydney.
High School Boys: The Northumberland Nighthawks kept the goal light on through the match, finishing 11-0 over the Tatamagouche Mustangs.
Maritime Major Female League: The Northern Selects slid to third place in the standings following a 3-2 loss to the Surge. The team can go back to a second-place tie with a win against the Surge at the Hector Arena in Pictou: game time is 12:30.
Rural League: It was the opening round of the playoffs last night at the Arena, where the Outlaws defeated St. Croix 4-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series. Heatherton won the opener of their series, beating Pleasantdale 5-2. Game 2 is Friday night at the Arena.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Captain Quinn Hughes scored twice, Filip Hronek added two assists and Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves as the Vancouver Canucks edged the visiting Washington Capitals 2-1. The Canucks, who held Alex Ovechkin off the scoresheet, snapped a two-game losing skid. Pierre-Luc Dubois (doo-BWAH’) scored for the Caps, who had their six-game win streak halted.
Jayson Tatum scored 24 points, Derrick White added 23, including Boston’s first 11 of the third quarter, and the visiting Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 122-107 in the first meeting between the teams since the N-B-A Finals. Kyrie Irving scored 22 points for the Mavericks, who are 5-and-11 since superstar Luka Doncic was sidelined with a calf strain on Christmas Day.
Amen Thompson had his second career triple-double, Alperin Sengun and Jeff Green scored 26 points apiece and the visiting Houston Rockets beat the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers 135-131. Thompson finished with 23 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for the Rockets, who beat the Cavs for the second time in four days. Darius Garland scored 39 points for the Cavs.
Zach Ertz spent the first eight-and-a-half years of his N-F-L career with the Philadelphia Eagles. He even helped them win a Super Bowl. Now the veteran tight end returns for Sunday’s N-F-C championship game as a member of the Washington Commanders’ offence. Ertz has rediscovered his love of football playing for coach Dan Quinn. Now either Ertz or the team he spent the bulk of his career with is heading to the Super Bowl.
American Madison Keys upset two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-3, 2-6 and 7-5 in the Australian Open women’s singles final. The victory Saturday allowed Keys to collect her first Grand Slam title at the age of 29. Keys prevented Sabalenka from becoming the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1997 to 1999 with three straight Australian Open titles.
Novak Djokovic posted a scan of his injured left hamstring on social media more than 24 hours after being booed at the Australian Open when he quit playing one set into his semifinal match because of what he said was a torn muscle. The 24-time Grand Slam champion put the picture of the M-R-I taken Saturday on X and wrote: “Thought I’d leave this here for all the sports injury ‘experts’ out there.”
Saturday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Vancouver 2 Washington 1
Edmonton 3 Buffalo 2
Ottawa 2 Toronto 1
Calgary 5 Minnesota 4
New Jersey 4 Montreal 3 (OT)
Boston 3 Colorado 1
Seattle 4 Pittsburgh 1
Dallas 2 St. Louis 0
Detroit 2 Tampa Bay 0
Florida 7 San Jose 2
Anaheim 5 Nashville 2
Columbus 3 Los Angeles 2 (OT)
N.Y. Islanders 3 Carolina 2 (OT)
PWHL
Toronto 4 New York 2
NBA
Toronto 117 Atlanta 94
Indiana 136 San Antonio 98
Minnesota 133 Denver 104
Boston 122 Dallas 107
Miami 106 Brooklyn 97
Charlotte 123 New Orleans 92
Orlando 121 Detroit 113
Houston 135 Cleveland 131
New York 143 Sacramento 120
Philadelphia 109 Chicago 97
Memphis 125 Utah 103
L.A. Lakers 118 Golden State 108
Phoenix 119 Washington 109
L.A. Clippers 127 Milwaukee 117
Sunday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Colorado at N.Y. Rangers, 1 p.m.
Utah at Ottawa, 5 p.m.
Calgary at Winnipeg, 6 p.m.
Minnesota at Chicago, 7 p.m.
Florida at Vegas, 8 p.m.
PWHL
Boston at Minnesota, 3 p.m.
NFL Conference Championships
NFC: Washington at Philadelphia, 3 p.m.
AFC: Buffalo at Kansas City, 6:30 p.m.
NBA
Oklahoma City at Portland, 6 p.m.