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AROUND THE HORN

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Branch flag football set to go BELOIT — West Branch’s flag football team will hold its first games on Sunday at Rayen Stadium in Youngstown. The Warriors will play Rootstown at 1 p.m. and Newton Falls at 3 p.m. West Branch will play 10 games on the season — all on the road — over five Sundays. Warriors on the roster include Tallie Muniz, Morgan Kurtz, Allison Kanagy, Abigail Janosik, Faith Hicks, Ciara Evans, Allie Brammer, Samantha Beatty, Erin Albert, Makenna Woost, Cambrie Nezbeth, Julia Egli, Nicole Deckard, Brianna Clark, Hayden Mulinix, Kaylee Hoops, Kelly Ewing, ...

AROUND THE HORN

Local Sports

Weir gets PAC honor A pair of former area standouts were named to the All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) men’s basketball team. Westminster College senior guard Drew Weir from Salem earned second-team honors, while Geneva College senior guard Jonathan Bertovich from Heartland Christian, Weir guided Westminster to a 19-9 record as he was 10th in the PAC in scoring (14.2), fifth in rebounding (a team-high 7.3) and fifth in field goal percentage (51.2%). He started all 28 games. Bertovich led Geneva in scoring (14.0) and assists (3.1) and added 4.9 rebounds a game. He also ...

Miami proves it belongs

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DAYTON (AP) — Eian Elmer scored 22 points and Miami (Ohio) beat SMU 89-79 on Wednesday night in the First Four for its first NCAA Tournament victory in 27 years. Elmer went 6 of 9 from 3-point range as the 11th-seeded RedHawks (32-1), undefeated during the regular season, advanced in the Midwest Region to play No. 6 seed Tennessee. Brant Byers added 19 points, including four 3s, and Luke Skaljac had 17 points for Miami, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007. The RedHawks finished 16 of 41 from 3-point range. “The message I gave our guys before the game was they ...

Akron has everything but an NCAA victory

Local Sports

AKRON (AP) — Akron has already reached a milestone, becoming the first team to win the Mid-American Conference Tournament three straight years. The Zips have their sights set on another goal — an NCAA Tournament victory. In seven previous March Madness appearances, Akron has yet to reach the second round. The Zips (29-5) are the 12th seed in the Midwest Region and will face Texas Tech on Friday in Tampa, Florida. “We’re ready to take that next step, and we take pride in that. We’re not going to back down from anybody. We want to make history again,” said senior forward ...

AROUND THE HORN

Local Sports

The heat is on for spring training PHOENIX (AP) — Bringing the heat in spring training is supposed to be about hard-throwing pitchers, not triple-digit temperatures like those that will impact Major League Baseball spring training games in Arizona for several days this week. Because of a forecasted heat wave in the Phoenix area, at least 10 Cactus League games at six different stadiums that had been scheduled for afternoon starts between Wednesday and Friday will instead begin just after 6 p.m. local time. A game Saturday between the Athletics and the Los Angeles Dodgers in ...

United Local’s Brown ends career as four-time placer

Local Sports

COLUMBUS — Rematches against the No. 1 ranked wrestlers in the state in their respective weight classes didn’t change course for two area girls wrestlers who reached the championship final on Sunday at the girls state wrestling tournament at the Schottenstein Center. United Local senior Auston Brown and East Liverpool junior Paige Cowan both had seen their finals opponents earlier in the season, but the overwhelming favorites did their job. At 125-pounds, Cowan (42-5) was pinned by Chippewa’s Kayla Moroschan in 1:59. Moroschan had a takedown at 1:37 before putting the ...