FRIDAY SPORTS, APRIL 24, 2026
MITCHELL KERNELS
— A big third inning led Brandon Valley to a 18-2 run-rule win over Mitchell softball on Thursday. The Lynx broke open a 6-2 game by scoring 12 runs in the third inning, all with two outs. Mitchell got RBIs from Rylee Jennings and Brooklyn Schlimgen. Mitchell, now 1-5, returns to action on Tuesday on the road at Yankton.
— Mitchell girls golf dominated the Yankton Quadrangular on Thursday, cruising to a team title at Fox Run Golf Course. The Kernels were led by Maddie Childs, who earned medalist honors with a 3-over 75, while teammate Mia Larson finished second with a 77 as Mitchell posted a winning team score of 325. The Kernels had seven of the top 10 golfers. Mitchell returns to the course on Tuesday at the Pierre Invitational.
— Mitchell senior Alexier Padilla led the way Thursday at the Pierre Legion Relays, winning both the 200- and 400-meter races. Padilla clocked in at 22.05 seconds in the 200, just shy of a school record, and took the 400 in 51.47 seconds. As a team, Mitchell finished fourth in both the boys and girls standings. Brandon Valley swept the team titles. The Kernels also had a second-place finish in the boys sprint medley relay and strong field-event performances from Audrey Miller and Taylor DeJong, each recording runner-up finishes. Mitchell returns to action Friday at the Greenway Relays in Mount Vernon.
— Mitchell baseball returns home to host Rapid City Stevens for a Friday doubleheader at 5 pm. The KORN pregame show starts at 4:45 pm.
— Mitchell Kernels boys tennis heads to the Rapid City Invitational this weekend.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Dakota Wesleyan softball was swept in a road doubleheader Thursday at Dordt, falling 6-1 and 11-3. The losses drop the Tigers to 16-4 in conference play, now tied for third place in the GPAC with Dordt. Midland and Morningside currently hold a one game lead for first place. The Tigers close the regular season Saturday on the road at Morningside, with conference tournament hosting spots still on the line.
— Dakota Wesleyan baseball will be at Mt. Marty on Friday for a doubleheader at 5 pm. The Tigers are tied with Mt. Marty for eighth place in the GPAC with an 8-16 conference record. DWU ends the regular season with two more games at Mt. Marty on Saturday.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State softball will face St. Thomas in a three-game series starting on Friday at 4 pm. SDSU is 5-7 in the Summit League, four in the conference, while St. Thomas is alone in second place with an 8-4 conference record.
— South Dakota State baseball hosts Northern Colorado for a three-game series starting on Friday at 3 pm. The Jacks are 6-9 in the Summit League, one game behind Northern Colorado for third.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD softball starts a three-game series at Kansas City on Friday at 5 pm.
MINNESOTA TWINS
— The New York Mets survived a ninth-inning bullpen mix-up when Huascar Brazobán went to the mound as closer Devin Williams started walking in, then hung on to beat the Minnesota Twins 10-8 behind Bo Bichette’s tiebreaking, three-run double. New York led 6-1 in the fourth, 7-2 in the sixth and 7-3 in the eighth before Ryan Jeffers hit a grand slam to tied it at 7-all. Brooks Lee singled and scored on Tristan Gray’s single in the ninth, and Bryon Buxton’s double put the tying run in scoring position. Williams then struck out Trevor Larnarch. Minnesota will be at Tampa Bay for a three-game series starting Friday at 6:10 pm.
NBA
— Jaden McDaniels and the Minnesota Timberwolves shutdown the Denver Nuggets offense, seizing a 2-1 series lead in with a 113-96 victory. McDaniels had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Ayo Dosunmu added 25 points and nine assists off the bench, and Donte DiVincenzo had 15 points and four steals as the Timberwolves built a 27-point lead in the third quarter and finished with a 68-34 advantage in points in the paint. The Timberwolves established a postseason franchise record by allowing the Nuggets just 11 points in the tone-setting first quarter. Nikola Jokic finished 27 points and 15 rebounds on 7-of-26 shooting for Denver. Game 4 is Saturday in Minnesota.
— CJ McCollum hit a fadeaway jumper with 12 seconds left, leading the Atlanta Hawks to a 109-108 victory and a 2-1 lead over the New York Knicks in their first-round playoff series on. McCollum finished with 23 points. The Hawks led nearly the entire game, building an 18-point lead in the first half. But New York rallied for a 108-105 advantage on Jalen Brunson’s three-point play with 1:03 remaining. OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 29 points, Brunson had 26 and Karl-Anthony Towns chipped in with 21. Game 4 is Saturday in Atlanta.
— Scottie Barnes set career playoff highs with 33 points and 11 assists, while RJ Barrett added a career playoff-high 33 points as the Toronto Raptors beat Cleveland 126-104, snapping a 12-game playoff losing streak against the Cavaliers. James Harden scored 18 points for the Cavs as the Raptors cut Cleveland’s series lead to 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday afternoon in Toronto.
— Austin Reaves has been upgraded to questionable for Game 3 of the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets. Los Angeles has a 2-0 series lead despite playing without Luka Doncic and Reaves, its top two scorers. Reaves hasn’t played since he strained his oblique muscles at Oklahoma City on April 2.
— The Milwaukee Bucks are finalizing a deal with Taylor Jenkins to fill their head-coaching position that became vacant after Doc Rivers’ retirement. Jenkins coached the Memphis Grizzlies from 2019-25 that included three straight playoff appearances from 2021-23. The Grizzlies fired him with nine games left last season. The Bucks announced Rivers’ departure as coach on April 13, the day after their season ended. The 64-year-old Rivers had mentioned during the final stages of the season that he wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren.
— Phoenix Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker was fined $35,000 for public criticism of officiating following the team’s Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. James Jones, the NBA’s Head of Basketball Operations, made the announcement on Thursday. The league said it found “no basis to any claim of bias or misconduct by game officials” despite Booker’s pointed criticism of official James Williams. The NBA also said that Booker’s technical foul at 2:05 in the third quarter was “improperly assessed and it has therefore been rescinded.”
NBA PLAYOFFS – FRIDAY
No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers vs. No. 2 Boston Celtics, 6 pm on Amazon Prime Video – Series tied 1-1
No. 5 Houston Rockets vs. No. 4 Los Angeles Lakers, 7 pm on Amazon Prime Video – Lakers lead 2-0
No. 7 Portland Trail Blazers vs. No. 2 San Antonio Spurs, 9:30 pm on Amazon Prime Video – Series tied 1-1
NHL – THURSDAY
Buffalo Sabres 3, Boston Bruins 1 – Buffalo leads 2-1
Carolina Hurricanes 2, Ottawa Senators 1 – Carolina leads 3-0
Colorado Avalanche 4, Los Angeles Kings 2 – Colorado leads 3-0
NHL – FRIDAY
Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, 6 pm on TNT – Series tied 1-1
Utah Mammoth vs. Vegas Golden Knights, 8:30 pm on TBS – Series tied 1-1
Anaheim Ducks vs. Edmonton Oilers, 9 pm on TNT – Series tied 1-1
MLB
— Atlanta rookie JR Ritchie allowed a home run to James Wood on his first major league pitch, then rebounded to allow one more run over seven innings to lead the Braves over the Washington Nationals 7-2 on Thursday for their eighth win in nine games. Ozzie Albies homered and had four RBIs for the Braves, who broke a 2-2 tie with four runs in the seventh.
— Dansby Swanson had his first game-ending hit in five years as the Chicago Cubs rebounded from a pair of blown leads to beat Philadelphia 8-7 in 10 innings for their ninth straight win and the Phillies’ ninth loss in a row. Chicago led 6-2 before Philadelphia closed with three runs in the seventh.
— Tyer Glasnow and Tanner Scott combined on a one-hitter as the Los Angeles Dodgers avoided a three-game series sweep with a 3-0 win over the San Francisco Giants. Shohei Ohtani finished 0 for 5 with two strikeouts. Glasnow, who has never thrown a complete game in the majors, struck out nine and allowed one hit and a walk in eight innings. The 32-year-old right-hander threw 105 pitches and retired the final 14 batters he faced.
— Spencer Torkelson hit a walk-off home run to rally the Detroit Tigers to a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Detroit tied the game at 4 in the eighth inning off of Jahmai Jones’ second home run of the year. Tarik Skubal ended up with a no decision, retiring the first 11 batters. He allowed four runs on seven hits with five strike outs.
— Cam Schlittler gave up just four hits over eight innings as the New York Yankees rallied twice to beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 for a three-game sweep and a season-high six-game winning streak.
— Gavin Sheets hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the ninth inning as the San Diego Padres rallied to beat the Colorado Rockies 10-8. The Padres trailed 8-5 entering the ninth inning.
— Andrew Benintendi hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the ninth inning that lifted the Chicago White Sox over the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1.
— Jacob deGrom struck out 10 over 5 2/3 innings, Evan Carter hit an inside-the-park home run while Corey Seager went deep as the Texas Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1.
— All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor was put on a the 10-day injured list by the New York Mets on Thursday, a day after straining his left calf, as manager Carlos Mendoza said “he’s going to be down for quite a bit here.”. Left fielder Juan Soto returned from a strained right calf that had sidelined him since April 3. Soto had missed 15 games. An MRI Thursday determined the stain was more severe than Soto’s.