THURSDAY SPORTS, MAY 15, 2025
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell Kernels boys tennis finished third at the ESD conference tournament on Tuesday in Watertown, led by a Flight 6 championship for Sutton Thompson. Mitchell ends the season at the state tennis tournament in Sioux Falls, May 22-23.
— Mitchell Kernels girls golf dominated Yankton on Tuesday, winning 18.5 to 1.5 in the Marchand Cup at Lakeview Golf Course in the match play event. All 10 Mitchell golfers won their individual matches. The Kernels will host the Mitchell Invitational on Friday at 10:30 am.
— Mitchell Kernels softball lost to No. 1 Harrisburg on Tuesday 18-2 in three innings. The Tigers scored four runs in the first inning, five in the second and nine in the third. Mitchell (5-9) will be at Brookings on Friday at 3 pm.
— Mitchell baseball will face Rapid City Stevens on Friday and Saturday in a best two-out-of-three series with the winner advancing to next week’s state tournament in Sioux Falls. First pitch on Friday in Rapid City is set for 9 pm CST, and the first game Saturday will be at 1:30 pm CST. A potential third game would be played at 4 pm CST. The winner of the series advances to the Class A state baseball tournament at Sioux Falls Stadium on Friday, May 23 and Saturday, May 24. Mitchell is the No. 9 seed and Rapid City Stevens the No. 8 seed. Mitchell just swept Stevens in a doubleheader at Drake Field on Saturday, 1-0 and 6-4.
— Mitchell High School and the Athletic Booster Club will host its annual Athletic Banquet at the Corn Palace on Wednesday at 6:30 pm. The event is for all Mitchell student-athletes in grades 9-12 who participated in a high school sport as well as students in grades 7-8 who participated in a high school varsity sport. Student-athletes need to check their school email to sign up for their free meal ticket. Parents, siblings, grandparents, and family are invited to attend the banquet. Sports Director Travis Kriens will present the KORN/Tom Maxwell Mitchell Coach of the Year.
— Mitchell track and field will compete at the ESD track and field meet takes place on Saturday in Harrisburg.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Dakota Wesleyan’s Allison Meyerink shot +6 through 14 holes on Tuesday during the first round of the NAIA Women’s Golf Championship to be in a tie for 37th overall. Meyerink will finish her first round later this morning before starting her second round.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State baseball ends the regular season with four games vs. Oral Roberts with a Thursday doubleheader at Noon.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD hosts the Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Vermillion starting on Thursday and running through Saturday. Qualifiers will compete at the NCAA West Regional at College Station, Texas May 28-31.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
— Hanson High School graduates Jenny Bridge and Craig Cheeseman will be inducted into the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame during the 15th annual banquet at the Ramkota Hotel in Sioux Falls on August 23. Bridge was named the 2003 South Dakota Miss Basketball. She finished her high school career with 1,834 points and finished with an 80-7 record during her four years of high school She played college basketball at Dakota Wesleyan University and the College of Saint Mary. Cheeseman led Hanson to its first Class A state championship in 1986, and was part of a 46-game winning streak. He finished his Hanson career with 1,558 points (second in program history) and a school record 383 assists. Cheeseman played basketball, football, baseball and track and field at Dakota Wesleyan University, where he was a 15-time letter winner.
NBA
— Tyrese Haliburton scored 31 points as the Indiana Pacers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 114-105 win over Cleveland on Tuesday night, eliminating the No. 1 seed Cavaliers in five games. Donovan Mitchell, who missed the second half of Sunday’s game due to a sprained left ankle, led Cleveland with 35 points. The fourth-seeded Pacers will now await the winner between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks.
— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half to beat the Denver Nuggets 112-105 to go up 3-2 in their Western Conference semifinal series. Oklahoma City overcame a 44-point, 15-rebound night from Denver’s Nikola Jokic. The Thunder can clinch the series on Thursday in Denver.
— Boston’s Jayson Tatum had surgery on Tuesday to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon that will sideline him for the remainder of the playoffs and most of next season. The Celtics announced news of the surgery a day after the six-time All-Star went down in the Celtics Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks on Monday. They did not give a timetable for his return, but said a full recovery was expected. When Kevin Durant tore his Achilles tendon during the 2019 NBA Finals, he wound up missing the entire next season.
NBA PLAYOFFS – WEDNESDAY
Boston Celtics vs. New York Knicks, 6 pm on TNT – New York leads the series 3-1
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Golden State Warriors, 8:30 pm on TNT, Minnesota leads the series 3-1
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – TUESDAY
Dallas Stars 3, Winnipeg Jets 1 – Dallas leads the series 3-1
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – WEDNESDAY
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Florida Panthers, 6 pm on ESPN – Series tied 2-2
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Edmonton Oilers, 8:30 pm on ESPN – Edmonton leads the series 3-1
NFL
— The Minnesota Vikings will become the first team in NFL history to play consecutive international games in different countries this season. As part of its NFL’s 2025 international games unveiled Tuesday, the Vikings will play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 28 in Dublin, marking the league’s first regular-season game in Ireland. The Vikings will then travel to England, where they will face the Cleveland Browns in London on Oct. 5. The Vikings will be the road team for both international games. Minnesota has played four previous regular-season games in London and have won all four, including last season’s win against the New York Jets.
— After the Vikings-Browns matchup on Oct. 5, the NFL will have two more London games in consecutive weeks: the Jets will face the Denver Broncos on Oct. 12, and the Los Angeles Rams will play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 19.. The NFL will also return to Germany on Nov. 9, when the Atlanta Falcons play the Indianapolis Colts in the league’s first regular-season game in Berlin.
COLLEGE
— Illinois has locked in its football and men’s basketball coaches for the long term, agreeing to six-year contracts with Bret Bielema and Brad Underwood. Illinois rewarded Bielema for turning around its struggling football program, and Underwood for an eight-year run that includes five NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the Elite Eight. Bielema’s annual salary would begin at $7.7 million, while Underwood’s would start at $4.4 million.
WNBA
— The Connecticut Sun WNBA team are looking at all options for the franchise’s future, including a potential sale. The team is owned by the Mohegan Tribe, which runs the casino where the team has played since 2003. The Tribe bought the franchise for $10 million and relocated it from Orlando that year. The Connecticut franchise was the first in the league to be run by a non-NBA owner and also became the first to turn a profit.
MLB
— Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson were reinstated by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday, making both eligible for the sport’s Hall of Fame after their careers were tarnished by gambling scandals. Rose’s permanent ban was lifted eight months after his death. Manfred announced Tuesday he was changing the league’s policy on permanent ineligibility, saying bans would expire at death. MLB said 17 individuals had their status changed by the decision, including all eight banned members of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox.
— Clayton Kershaw will make his season debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels. The 37-year-old left-hander began his 18th season with the team on the injured list while recovering from toe and knee surgeries. Kershaw struck out two and allowed a pair of runs on two hits in his final rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday. He threw 57 pitches over four innings.
— The Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles were rained out on Tuesday. The teams will play a doubleheader on Wednesday with game one at 11:05 am, followed by game two at 2:35 pm.
— José Ramírez hit his seventh homer and Logan Allen allowed three hits in six innings, as the Cleveland Guardians beat Milwaukee 2-0, their second consecutive shutout of the Brewers.
— Rookie Jacob Wilson hit a pair of two-run homers as the Athletics had a season-high 18 hits in beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-1. Wilson went 4 for 5 and had four RBIs.
— J.P. Crawford hit an RBI single down the left-field line in the 11th inning as the Seattle Mariners ended their four-game losing streak by beating the New York Yankees 2-1.
— Nico Hoerner had an RBI single and Justin Turner followed with a two-run double, all in the ninth inning, as the Chicago Cubs rallied to beat the Miami Marlins 5-4.
— Brett Baty hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning as the New York Mets defeated Pittsburgh 2-1.
— Atlanta’s Drake Baldwin hit a two-run homer and Spencer Schwellenbach pitched seven innings as the Braves improved to .500 for the first time this season with a 5-2 win over Washington. The Braves are now 21-21 on the season after starting 0-7.
— Isaac Paredes hit a game winning solo homer in the ninth inning to give the Houston Astros to a 2-1 win over the Kansas City Royals.
— Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a two-run 430-foot walk-off homer to centerfield to give the San Diego Padres a 6-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
— Javier Baez hit his second go-ahead, three-run homer in the 11th inning, lifting the Detroit Tigers to a 10-9 win over the Boston Red Sox in extra innings.
— Junior Caminero hit a tiebreaking grand slam during a five-run ninth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 11-9.
— Josh Jung hit a first-inning three-run home run and an eighth-inning solo shot as the Texas Rangers beat the Colorado Rockies 4-1.
— Miguel Vargas hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning as the Chicago White Sox beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-1 in a game delayed nearly two hours at the start because of rain.
— Christian Koss hit a grand slam for his first home run in the majors as the San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-6.