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Unbeaten no more: Pittsburg falls to Folsom in a tense NorCal championship game

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:24 GMT

FOLSOM — What had been a perfect season for Pittsburg under new head coach Charlie Ramirez, one that included league and section championships and 13 victories, ended on a damp and cool Saturday night at the edge of the Sierra foothills.One of the oldest cliches about the sport of football is it’s a game of inches.For the visitors from the Bay Area, the axiom rung true as they watched Folsom celebrate a Northern California Division 1-A regional championship they thought would be theirs.The home team prevailed 28-25 behind its star quarterback, sophomore Ryder Lyons, who ran for three touchdowns and passed for another.“We knew what they were going to do; they did it,” Ramirez said. “We just shot ourselves in the foot too many times with unnecessary penalties. It was a pretty clean game overall. We forced some turnovers. We did the things we needed to do.“When it came down the end, we couldn’t get off the field when we needed to and we had a c...

San Francisco "Fan Expo" pop culture convention draws celebrities, major crowds

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:24 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The largest pop culture convention in Northern California returned to San Francisco. For a massive celebration of comics, anime, gaming and Sci-Fi, drawing big crowds and celebrity power.KRON4 takes us inside the action. For the second year in a row, fans of all things geek gathered. For a three-day event attracting 35,000 characters, from shape-shifting robots to Pokemon masters to San Francisco’s Moscone Center."This is world peace through geek," said one attendee. Fans like Sandra Daigneault are part of a welcome wave of tourism for the city by the bay."I would definitely come back. San Francisco is wonderful," Daigneault said. "Look around you. You've got people of all different age groups, all different colors, religions. All we care about is uplifting each other."Voice actors showing off their superpowers. "I love San Francisco," said Sarah Natochenny who is the voice of Ash Ketchum, the star of Pokémon. "I've been here three times already this year and...

Mikheyev and Lafferty lead Canucks to 4-3 win over Flames

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:24 GMT

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Ilya Mikheyev and Sam Lafferty each had a goal and an assist as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 Saturday night. Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson also scored for the Canucks, and Filip Hronek had three assists. Thatcher Demko stopped 19 shots.Elias Lindholm scored twice and Mikael Backlund also had a goal for the Flames, who snapped a two-game win streak. Jacob Markstrom finished with 18 saves.Vancouver led 2-1 after the first period and 3-1 heading into the third.The Canucks maintained that lead until Lindholm pulled the Flames within one with 4:21 remaining. Nikita Zadorov then shot at an empty Flames net, but teammate Pettersson touched it before it went in the net to make it 4-2 with 1:20 left.Lindholm then scored again with 54 seconds to go to make it 4-3 and the Canucks held on for the road win.UP NEXTCanucks: Host New Jersey on Tuesday night.Flames: Host Minnesota on Tuesday night.___AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhlSource

Sexton has season-high 25 points, Jazz beat Trail Blazers 118-113 in OT

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:24 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Collin Sexton scored a season-high 25 points, Keyonte George had a career-high 21 points to go with six rebounds and six assists and the Utah Jazz beat the Portland Trail Blazers 118-113 in overtime Saturday night. John Collins added 17 points, and Omer Yurtseven had a season-high 15 rebounds. Utah beat Portland at home for the second time this season.Malcolm Brogdon and Shaedon Sharpe had 25 points each for Portland. Scoot Henderson added a career-high 17.“Tonight, I felt like we had to buckle down and help one another, especially when Sharpe and Brogdon got it going in that overtime as well as before overtime,” Sexton said. Brogdon bookended a 9-0 run with a layup and 3-pointer to cut Utah’s lead to 96-94 midway through the fourth quarter. Sexton stopped the spurt with three free throws. Portland made another push and tied it at 106 on Brogdon’s 3-pointer with 41 seconds left in regulation. “We gave ourselves so many chances to win the game,” Trail Blazers co...

3 teams, 2 spots: Florida State, Texas, Alabama leave CFP selection committee difficult choice

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:24 GMT

One of these three teams will not make the College Football Playoff: Alabama, Florida State and Texas.Whichever is left out Sunday will have every right to be angry, and in the case of two, their absence in the CFP would be unprecedented.No. 8 Alabama was the agent of chaos Saturday, upsetting No. 1 Georgia for the Southeastern Conference title and ending the two-time defending national champ’s 29-game winning streak.“Georgia was No. 1, right? You beat the No. 1 team, what does that make us?” Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe told reporters. If only it was so simple.The final four-team College Football Playoff is poised to be the most controversial yet. Is it too late to fast forward to next year’s expansion and implement the 12-team format? The CFP selection committee might wish that was possible right about now as its sorts through a crowded field of contenders at a resort hotel in Grapevine, Texas.Safely in at 13-0: No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Washington.That leaves two s...

Leo Carlsson has goal, shootout winner as Ducks beat Avs to snap 8-game skid

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:24 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Anaheim rookie Leo Carlsson had a goal and an assist and added the shootout winner as the Ducks snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.Carlsson, the second overall pick in June’s draft, skated in and deked Colorado goalie Ivan Prosvetov to have a clear shot at the net for the only goal in the shootout round. Carlsson has seven goals, which is second among rookies and four behind Chicago’s Connor Bedard.John Gibson, who played in his 448th game and surpassed Jean-Sebastien Giguere for most games played by a goaltender in Ducks history, stopped 34 shots and all three in the shootout.Anaheim’s Alex Killorn scored his 200th career goal and became the second player selected in the third round or later of the 2007 draft to reach that milestone. Kilorn also had an assist for his second multipoint game of the season.Adam Henrique also scored for the Ducks.Bowen Byram had a pair of first-period goals f...

Anthony Davis has double-double in Lakers’ 107-97 win over Houston to keep Rockets winless on road

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:24 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anthony Davis had 27 points and 14 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat Houston 107-97 on Saturday night, keeping the Rockets winless on the road.Austin Reaves added 18 points off the bench and LeBron James had 16 points and seven assists.Fred VanVleet scored 22 points and Alperen Sengun had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets, who dropped their third in a row overall while falling to 0-8 away from home. Houston coach Ime Udoka was ejected with 8:35 remaining in the game after picking up his second technical. James and Cam Reddish got techs at the same time. The Lakers dominated the paint, 54-34, and their bench outscored Houston’s reserves 33-24. Sengun scored 12 in the third, when the Rockets outscored the Lakers 28-20 and trailed 86-72 going into the fourth.After allowing Houston to shoot 60% from the floor in the first quarter, the Lakers took over in the second. Reaves scored 15 points and keyed a 29-4 run, with Davis adding eight points, tha...

Balanced scoring lifts No. 11 Gonzaga over USC 89-76

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:24 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ryan Nembhard and Dusty Stromer each scored 15 points and No. 11 Gonzaga defeated Southern Cal 89-76 on Saturday night in the Las Vegas Invitational.The Bulldogs led wire-to-wire to extend their win streak to four since dropping a 73-63 decision to No. 1 Purdue on Nov. 20 at the Maui Invitational.Graham Ike and Ben Gregg each added 14 for the Bulldogs (6-1). Gregg, who also grabbed eight rebounds, came off the bench to score 12 of his points in the second half when Ike was whistled for his fourth foul. Reserve Braden Huff added 12 points while Nolan Hickman chipped in with 10.“We know what we’re capable of, and we’re still kind of gelling together but we’re super talented in all aspects on the court,” Gregg said. “We got guys who just love to win, love to compete. That’s kind of the culture at Gonzaga. We love to win and that’s what we want to do and we’re going to try and do every game.”USC’s Boogie Ellis led all scorers with 28 points and added seven rebounds. Fre...

Carcone scores again as Arizona wins its fourth straight with a 4-1 victory over St. Louis

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:24 GMT

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Michael Carcone scored for the fourth time in three games, and the Arizona Coyotes beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.Alex Kerfoot had a goal and two assists for Arizona, which had a 3-0 lead after one period. Nick Schmaltz and Matias Maccelli also scored, and Connor Ingram made 31 saves for his fourth straight win.The Coyotes’ season-best win streak has come against the last four Stanley Cup champions — Colorado (2022), Tampa Bay (2020-21), Vegas (2023) and St. Louis (2019).“We wanted to show the league we can compete with anybody,” said second-year defenseman Michael Kesselring, who had an assist for the third straight game.Kerfoot got an empty-netter with 1:15 remaining. He has five assists in the last three games.Brandon Saad scored in the third period for the Blues, who had won four of six. Joel Hofer made 18 stops.“We want to win games,” Arizona coach Andrew Tourigny said. “We want to be in it....

No. 2 Michigan beats No. 18 Iowa 26-0 for Big Ten title, likely to claim top playoff seed

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:24 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh celebrated his return to the sideline Saturday by hugging players and evasively running to avoid a Gatorade bath.Blake Corum and J.J. McCarthy were already reflecting on bigger goals.And when the confetti came streaming down over the Wolverines, they made sure everyone knew they were no longer the nation’s second-best team.Corum scored twice and the defense pitched a rare shutout as No. 2 Michigan routed No. 18 Iowa 26-0 for its third straight Big Ten title game, a third straight playoff berth and likely the top seed in the College Football Playoff.“We set our goals earlier this year and this is another one we checked off,” Corum said after rushing for 52 yards on 16 carries and tying Anthony Thomas’ career record for TD runs with 55.And with No. 1 Georgia falling to No. 8 Alabama in the Southeastern Conference title game, Michigan (13-0, No. 2 CFP) is finally poised to reach No. 1 after spending 13 of 14 weeks at No. 2. Michigan lost ...