Clippers take third at OVAC

WHEELING, W.Va. — Columbiana’s boys golf team finished fourth on Thursday at the OVAC Class 3A golf tournament on the Crispin Course at Oglebay.

For the Clippers, who shot 314 as a team, Trenton Hall had a 73, David Masters 78, Luke Struharik 81 and Geoffrey Malcolmson 82. Hall was sixth overall.

United shot a 388 as a team. For the Eagles, Adam Looman had an 89, Davin Ingold 96, Lukas Hamilton 101 and Gavin Coffee 102.

TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Wheeling Central 298, 2. Barnesville 300, 3. Martins Ferry 311, 4. Columbiana 314, 5. Fort Frye 321, 6. Shenandoah 346, 7. Monroe Central 362, 8. Buckeye Trail 371, 9. United 388.

Columbiana end up unbeaten

COLUMBIANA — Columbiana’s girls golf team capped an unbeaten regular season with a 178-188 win over Pymatuning Valley on Thursday at Valley.

The Clippers finished 13-0 behind Alyssa Kakavros’ medalist round of 38. Hannah Moffett shot a 43, Sydney Spaite a 47 and Nia Missos a 50.

For Pymatuning Valley, Kylie Luke carded a 42, Shelby Lautanen 43, McCamey Company 45 and Bailey Alexander 58.

Fever win series for first time since ’15

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) — Aliyah Boston made the go-ahead basket with 7.4 seconds left, Lexie Hull stole the ensuing inbounds pass and the Indiana Fever beat the No. 3-seeded Atlanta Dream 87-85 on Thursday night to advance to the WNBA semifinals.

Despite missing Caitlin Clark among its injured players, Indiana closed on a 7-0 run to win a playoff series for the first time since 2015. The sixth-seeded Fever will play on Sunday against the winner of Thursday’s other Game 3 between Seattle and Las Vegas.

Boston was left alone under the basket for an easy layup after Brionna Jones went to the ground going for a loose ball. It gave Indiana an 86-85 lead, its first since it was 33-30 in the second quarter.

Rhyne Howard twice had trouble inbounding the ball in the final seconds, with Hull coming from behind to poke it away from Jones. Indiana got it to Odyssey Sims, who went 1 of 2 at the free-throw line to give Atlanta another shot with 1.2 left. Jones’ off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.

Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 24 points and Boston had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Sims had 16 points and eight assists, and Natasha Howard added 12 points.

Allisha Gray had 19 points and 12 rebounds for her first playoff double-double to lead Atlanta. Jordin Canada also had a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists. Rhyne Howard scored 16 points and Jones had 12.

Atlanta, which was held to 60 points in a 17-point loss in Game 2 on Tuesday, reached 60 points with 6:09 left in the third quarter.

Shey Peddy made a 3-pointer with 6:06 remaining in the fourth to pull Indiana within 80-78. Neither team scored again until the 3:21 mark on Brianna Turner’s putback to tie it at 80-all.

Atlanta has not won a playoff series since 2016.

Kershaw will retire after season

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An emotional Clayton Kershaw said Thursday he will retire at the end of the season, having spent his entire 18-year career with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Wiping his eyes, his voice choking at times, Kershaw said he knew going into the season that it was likely going to be his last, but he didn’t want to say anything in case he changed his mind.

“I’m really not sad. I’m really at peace with this. It’s just emotional and I tried to hold it together,” he said at a Dodger Stadium news conference. “I told our guys not to make it weird today because I was going to get weird if you make it weird, and here I am making it weird.”

The three-time Cy Young Award winner had his wife, Ellen, and four children with him in the room crowded with his teammates, manager Dave Roberts and media.

“I’ve just never been around a greater competitor,” Roberts said. “Very accountable, very consistent. He’s made me better and I think we’ve both grown together so I feel fortunate to have been able to manage him and be around him for 10 years.”

The 37-year-old left-hander who got his 3,000th strikeout in July will make his final regular-season start at Dodger Stadium on Friday night against the San Francisco Giants.

“The game in and of itself I’m going to miss a lot, but I’ll be OK without that,” Kershaw said. “The hard thing will be the feeling after a win. That’s pretty special.”