The 38th Annual 3-Class Shootout basketball All-Star games were played on Saturday at the McCook Central Auditorium in Salem. In the girls’ games, Class AA girls defeated Class A 100-92 in the first game. Addie Siemsen scored 11 points to help Class AA beat Class B 103-72. Sanborn Central/Woonsocket’s Liz Boschee had 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists while Corsica-Stickney’s Sophie DeLange had 11 points in the loss. In the boys’ games, Class AA beat Class A 127-110. Mitchell’s Colton Smith had 15 points and nine rebounds. Class AA then beat Class B 124-117. Bridgewater-Emery’s Holden Wollmann earned Class B MVP for the game with 20 points, six assists and four rebounds.
MITCHELL KERNELS
Mitchell Kernels softball is scheduled to start its season on Tuesday at Watertown at 5 pm.
Mitchell Kernels track and field starts its season on Tuesday at a meet host at Dakota Wesleyan starting at 11 a.m.
The Mitchell Spring baseball team opens the season on Thursday when they host Douglas for a doubleheader starting at 5 p.m.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
Dakota Wesleyan softball went 4-0 in GPAC games over the weekend. The Tigers swept Concordia on Saturday winning by scores of 6-3 and 15-0. Eight different batters had a hit for the Tigers in game one highlighted by Avery Perkins’ three-run home run to tie the game in the top of the fourth. Allison Ernsberger went the distance for the win striking out eight. In game two, Macy Moore had a grand slam and a three-run home run in DWU’s 11-run third inning. The Tigers swept College of Saint Mary on Friday in Omaha. Avery Perkins had three hits and five RBIs in the Tigers’ 19-18 game one win in eight innings. In game two, Alison Ernberger and Ivy Woolwine combined on a five hitter in the Tigers’ 8-0 win. Perkins had two hits and three RBIs to lead the offense. DWU, 24-11 overall and 7-1 in the GPAC, hosts Briar Cliff for a doubleheader today starting at 3 p.m. The games were originally scheduled to be played on Wednesday but were moved up due expected inclement weather conditions.
The DWU baseball team swept a home doubleheader against Waldorf on Sunday. In game one, Brett Groebner hit a grand slam on an 0-2 pitch to cap off a six-run bottom the sixth in the Tigers’ 6-5 win. Alex Mizsak pitched all seven innings allowing three earned runs and striking out seven for the win. Lane Darrow had three of DWU’s six hits. In the second game, DWU scored seven runs in the first inning and held on for a 12-11 win. Jackson Jarding had three hits including a three-run home run and drove in four runs. Joseph Tharaldson had three hits and three RBIs and Darrow had three hits to lead the offense. DWU was swept by Doane 18-0 and 22-2 on Friday. Ean Laird had a two-run home run for DWU. Dakota Wesleyan, 14-14 on the season and 5-7 in the GPAC, hosts Dakota State for one game today at 3 p.m. at Drake Field. The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was moved up due expected inclement weather conditions.
Dakota Wesleyan Men’s & Women’s Golf competed in the Bethel Spring Invitational over the weekend. Allison Meyerink earned her fourth individual tournament win of the season with a two-day total of 158 (+14). Sara Sudenga finished in fifth place with a 169 total. The Tigers placed sixth as a team. The men’s roster saw Peyton Bettcher placed third individually with a 152 which was just three strokes out of first. The team finished in 10th place out of 14 squads. The DWU golf teams have a match play event against Briar Cliff on Monday and Tuesday in Sioux City.
DWU Track & Field will be back in action at the USD Early Bird meet starting on Friday.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
After scoring a total of 18 runs over the final three innings of a 21-10 victory on Saturday, the Jackrabbits picked up right where they left off in Sunday’s matchup with a 21-2 series-clinching victory in seven innings against Northern Colorado in Summit League baseball action. The Jackrabbits, 9-19 overall and 4-5 in league play, are scheduled to host Briar Cliff on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
South Dakota State softball clinched it’s Summit League series with North Dakota with an 8-0 victory in five innings on Sunday in Brookings. In the series opener on Saturday, South Dakota State produced 16 hits and recorded 14 runs as the Jackrabbits came away with a 14-6 victory. South Dakota State closes out its series against North Dakota on Monday. The Jackrabbits and Fighting Hawks are slated for a 2:30 p.m. first pitch.
SOUTH DAKOTA
Molly Joyce poured in 31 points to lift the South Dakota women’s basketball team to a 65-56 win over Montana State in the Great 8 of the WNIT Sunday in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion. Joyce’s 31 came on 10-of-19 shooting and 10-of-13 from the free throw line. She was just 1-for-3 from three, but her three-pointer with a minute to play made it 62-56 in favor of the Coyotes, all but sealing the victory for South Dakota. The Coyotes await the winner of the Illinois State and George Washington game that is being played Monday at Illinois State. It will be South Dakota’s second WNIT semifinal appearance. The first came in 2016 when the Coyotes won the championship in the final basketball game played in the DakotaDome.
South Dakota dropped a tight 4-1 contest to St. Thomas on Sunday to close out a three game Summit League softball series in St. Paul. The teams split the two games on Saturday with St. Thomas winning 9-0 and South Dakota winning the second game 6-3. South Dakota softball is off until next Tuesday when they travel to Omaha to play Creighton at 6 p.m.
NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL
Braylon Mullins sank a desperation 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to give UConn an astonishing 73-72 victory over top-seeded Duke, earning the Huskies a spot in the Final Four after they rallied from a 19-point first-half deficit. The Blue Devils led by three before UConn’s Silas Demary Jr. made one of two free throws with 10 seconds left. With Duke playing keep-away to prevent the Huskies from fouling, Cayden Boozer’s pass near midcourt was deflected, and after UConn came up with the ball, Mullins made a shot from well behind the 3-point line. It’s the second straight season to end in a huge collapse for Duke, which was the top overall seed in this year’s tournament.
Yaxel Lendeborg scored 27 points, Elliot Cadeau had 10 assists and Michigan rolled into the Final Four by overwhelming Tennessee for a 95-62 victory in the NCAA Tournament. Morez Johnson Jr. added 12 points as top-seeded Michigan posted its 11th victory this season by at least 30 points. Aday Mara had 11 points and blocked two shots in the Midwest Region final. Michigan advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 2018 and ninth time overall. Next up is a national semifinal against Arizona on Saturday.
The Final Four is set. Illinois will face UConn and Michigan will take on Arizona next Saturday, with the winners squaring off two nights later for the national title. The Arizona-Michigan game is a matchup of top seeds. UConn is seeded second and will play No. 3 seed Illinois. Arizona is the early favorite to take the title next Monday night in Indianapolis, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by Michigan.
PGA
Gary Woodland is a winner again just 30 months after brain surgery. Woodland produced a moment as big as his U.S. Open title at Pebble Beach when he won the Houston Open. He led by as many as seven shots and shot 67 to win by four. Woodland had surgery in September 2023 to remove a lesion on a part of the brain that caused unfounded fears of dying. And then two weeks ago he chose to go public with his harrowing struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder in an emotional Golf Channel interview. The win gets him in the Masters.
NHL
Bruce Cassidy is out as coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, who fired him Sunday and replaced him with John Tortorella. General manager Kelly McCrimmon announced the move a day after the team lost three in a row and six of its past seven games. Tortorella joins Vegas for his 24th NHL season as a head coach. He was not in the league this year and was an assistant for the U.S. at the Milan Cortina Olympics when it won gold. He coached Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup in 2004. Cassidy led the Golden Knights to the Cup in 2023 and was fired less than three years later.
NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Geno Auriemma and defending national champion UConn are going to their 25th Final Four in the women’s NCAA Tournament. All-America forward Sarah Strong scored 21 points and Blanca Quiñonez added 20 for the 38-0 Huskies in a 70-52 win over Notre Dame on Sunday in the Fort Worth Regional 1 final. UConn has won 54 games in a row, and is going for its 13th national championship. Azzi Fudd, UConn’s other first-team AP All-America pick, had 13 points. Hannah Hidalgo had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the 25-11 Fighting Irish.
Lauren Betts had 23 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks to help UCLA rally from a rare halftime deficit and beat Duke 70-58, advancing to the women’s Final Four for the second straight season. The top-seeded Bruins will play either Texas or Michigan in Phoenix on Friday in the national semifinals. UCLA is two wins away from the program’s first NCAA title. Third-seeded Duke tested UCLA like few teams had done this season. Taina Mair scored 21 points to lead Duke, which also lost in a regional final last year.
NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT ELITE EIGHT – MONDAY
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 1 Texas 6 pm on ESPN
No. 1 South Carolina vs No. 3 TCU 8 pm on ESPN
NASCAR
Chase Elliott has outdueled Denny Hamlin at Martinsville Speedway to earn his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season. Elliott capitalized on a shrewd gamble by crew chief Alan Gustafson to pit the No. 9 Chevrolet earlier than the other contenders. When the caution flew on the 312th lap on Sunday, Elliott was in the lead and pitted with the rest of the lead-lap drivers aside from Ross Chastain. Elliott took first from Chastain after a restart and led the final 69 laps to win by 0.565 seconds over Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota. Joey Logano finished third, followed by Ty Gibbs and William Byron.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Joey Browner, a three-time All-Pro defensive back who played nine of his 10 NFL seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, has died. He was 65. The Vikings announced Browner’s death on Sunday, saying the team received the news from his family. The team did not announce a cause. Browner was born in Ohio and played in college at Southern California. He was drafted in the first round in 1983 and finished his career with 37 interceptions, fifth most in Vikings history. He was a first-team AP All-Pro in 1987, 1988 and 1990.
MINNESOTA TWINS
Pete Alonso singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, Tyler O’Neill hit a three-run homer and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins 8-6. After the Twins bolted to a 4-0 lead against Orioles newcomer Shane Baz, Baltimore bounced back to win the deciding matchup of the season-opening, three-game series. Alonso snapped a 5-all tie with a soft single to center off Mack Abel. It was Alonso’s first RBI with the Orioles since leaving the Mets in December as a free agent. Adley Rustchman followed with a run-scoring double and Coby Mayo tacked on an RBI single. Royce Lewis homered for the Twins, and Tristan Gray drove in three runs. Twins: RHP Simeon Woods Richardson faces Kansas City in the Royals’ home opener Monday afternoon.