Allen, Del Negro, Montgomery honored with award

Ray Allen, Vinny Del Negro and Renee Montgomery were awarded the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Mannie Jackson Human Spirit Award on Monday for outstanding humanitarian efforts and will be recognized at the Hall of Fame enshrinement weekend in September in Springfield.

Allen, the former Uconn star and NBA Hall of Famer, was honored for his “Ray of Hope Foundation,” which was established in 1997 and provides opportunities for children from underserved communities. Del Negro, an NBA player, coach and broadcaster who is from Springfield and played at Suffield Academy, established the Vinny Del Negro Endowment Fund in 1991 to support Brightside for Families and Children, a Springfield organization dedicated to transforming the lives of children and their families. Montgomery, a two-time WNBA champion and NCAA champion at Uconn, started the Renee Montgomery Foundation in 2019, which helped programs such as The Last Yard, a partnership with Morris Brown College to help students with financial assistance to finish college, among other initiatives. She is part owner and vice president of the Atlanta Dream.

Manchester wins Little League regional opener: Three Manchester pitchers combined on a one-hitter as Manchester beat Vermont 3-0 in its Little League World Series New England Regional opener at Breen Field in Bristol. Manchester will play Massachusetts or Maine in a winners bracket game Thursday at 1 p.m. Starter

Eli Bucko struck out 10, walked two and allowed the lone hit in four innings. Arien Peyman and Jacob Budarz combined for four strikeouts to close out the game. Peyman walked to open the fifth inning for Manchester and reached third on a double by Budarz, but was tagged out at home on a fielder’s choice hit by Bucko. Ryan Gorman followed with a line drive to right that scored Budarz and Bucko, who reached second on a passed ball. Alex Rastelli scored Manchester’s first run on a passed ball in the third.