University School pulls upset at City of Palms
BASEBALL: The Indians signed free agent 1B Yonder Alonso to a two-year, $16 million contract, giving them a replacement for Carlos Santana. Alonso, 30, hit a career-high 28 HRs and drove in 67 runs last season with the A’s and Mariners.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Tyre McCants caught a 26-yard TD pass from Quinton Flowers with 16 seconds left to lift No. 23 South Florida (10-2) to a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech (6-7) in the Birmingham Bowl. ... Darnell Woolfolk scored on a 1-yard run with 18 seconds left, Kell Walker converted a go-ahead 2-point run and Army (10-3) added a last-play defensive TD for a 42-35 victory over San Diego State (10-3) in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas . ... Dubuque DB Michael Joseph won the Cliff Harris Award, which honors the nation’s top small-college defensive player. Joseph is the first Division III player to win the award. He led the Iowa Conference with eight INTs and twice had three INTs in a game.
NFL: Joe Flacco threw for 237 yards and two TDs, Justin Tucker kicked three FGs and the Ravens moved a step closer to securing a playoff berth by beating the Colts 23-16 in Baltimore. The Ravens (9-6) scored on their first two possessions and held off the skidding Colts (3-12) in a windy, rain-soaked second half . ... The Steelers cut five-time Pro Bowl LB and 2008 NFL defensive player of the year James Harrison to make room for RT Marcus Gilbert, who’s returning from a suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy. Harrison, 39, is the franchise’s all-time leader in sacks, piling up 80.5 during his 14 seasons with the Steelers and 82.5 during his career . ... Coach Jack Del Rio said there’s a “good chance” the Raiders will have WR Amari Cooper back after he missed last week’s game with a sprained ankle. Cooper was listed as questionable for the game Monday night against the Eagles in Philadelphia . ... The Saints added leading WR Michael Thomas (hamstring) to their injury report for their game Sunday against the Falcons . ... The Broncos ruled out two of their top three WRs for their game against the Redskins on Sunday. Emmanuel Sanders (sprained ankle) and Cody Latimer (bruised thigh) didn’t make the trip to Washington . ... The Texans put QB Tom Savage (concussion) on IR.
SOCCER: Sergio Aguero scored twice to take Manchester City’s Premier League goal total for 2017 to more than 100 as the runaway leaders beat Bournemouth 4-0. Raheem Sterling also claimed his 16th goal of the season and Danilo grabbed his first for Manchester City in the club’s 17th straight win . ... Manchester United’s faint title hopes further imploded when 10-man Leicester scored a late goal for a 2-2 tie in the English Premier League . ... Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez left Madrid staring at a 14-point deficit after leading Barcelona to a 3-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu . ... Marek Hamsik became Napoli’s all-time record scorer after he scored his 116th goal for the Serie A club to surpass Argentine great Diego Maradona. Hamsik took the record outright by scoring after the record of 39 minutes in Napoli’s league game against Sampdoria. It has taken Hamsik 11 seasons and 478 appearances to reach that tally. Maradona set the 115-goal mark in 259 games in seven seasons with Napoli.
FORT MYERS University School made a strong pitch to jump to the top of the national high school basketball rankings Saturday, upsetting No. 1 Memphis East 77-72 in the championship game of the 45th City of Palms Classic at Suncoast Credit Union Arena.
University School (9-0) is the lowest seed to ever win the City of Palms, according to tournament vice president Donnie Wilkie.
Since St. Pete Gibbs did it in 1990, no Florida high school program — other than Orlando Montverde and Miami Senior — had won the tournament.
University School defeated nationally ranked Archbishop Molloy, of New York City, Mater Dei, of Santa Ana, Calif., and McEachern from Georgia en route to making the title game.
The loss dropped Memphis East — coached by Penny Hardaway — to 8-1.
University School came into the City of Palms ranked No. 4 by FloHoops.com, No. 11 by BallIsLife and No. 18 by MaxPreps. USA Today did not have the Sharks in their national Top 25.
Fouls played a large in the first half.
Memphis East had to go deeper on its bench than it planned when whistled for 11 fouls. James Wiseman, one of the top two juniors in the country, and Ryan Boyce each had 3 fouls, while and Alex Lomax and Malcolm Dandridge had 2 apiece. THIRD-PLACE GAME MCEACHERN (GA.) 56, CHICAGO SIMEON 54: Isaac Okoro had 22 points and sophomore Sharife Cooper 19 for the Indians, who prevailed despite taking 31 shots to Simeon’s 56. Iowa State recruit Talen Horton-Tucker led Simeon with 21. FIFTH-PLACE GAME ORLANDO OAK RIDGE 56, WESLEYAN CHRISTIAN (N.C.) 52: Emmitt Williams, in his first year at Oak Ridge after playing at IMG Academy, had 21 points and 12 rebounds to power the Pioneers (11-1). Jaylen Hoard had a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) for Wesleyan Christian. factor