TALKING POINTS

Editor’s Note

Due to an earlier deadline of 8 p.m. throughout the pandemic, some games might not make it into the print edition of your Valley Press. Please find the following full stories on our website at www. avpress.com: National Hockey League: Kings vs. Avalanche.

Tommy Lasorda memorialized at Dodger Stadium service

LOS ANGELES — Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda was memorialized during a private service at Dodger Stadium before his burial on Tuesday.

Lasorda died Jan. 7 after a heart attack at age 93.

His casket, covered with a huge assortment of blue and white flowers, was placed on the pitcher’s mound with a blue 2, signifying Lasorda’s jersey number, on the back of the mound.

Lasorda’s wife of 70 years, Jo, attended in a wheelchair, along with their daughter, Laura. The mourners stood socially distanced around the mound.

Former Dodgers catcher and Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia, retired player and major league manager Bobby Valentine, retired Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros, retired player and coach Mickey Hatcher, former Dodgers pitcher Charlie Hough, and former NBA coach Mike Fratello were among the 10 pallbearers. Each wore jerseys with Lasorda’s No. 2 on the back.

Karros and Hatcher, along with Sketchers president and co-founder Michael Greenberg, and personal friends Steve Brener and Chris Leggio spoke at the stadium and served as pallbearers, along with businessman Warren Lichtenstein. Wearing masks because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they carried Lasorda’s casket to a white hearse parked in front of the dugout.

The national anthem was sung and Lasorda’s image was projected on the stadium’s videoboards.

A motorcade traveled from the stadium to Rose Hills Memorial Park in nearby Whittier, where Lasorda was buried. The group had just arrived at the cemetery when they received word that Dodgers Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton died earlier Tuesday at age 75.

Oregon State ends USC’s 6-game win streak with a 58-56 win

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Jarod Lucas and Ethan Thompson scored 13 points apiece and Oregon State beat Southern California 58-56 on Tuesday night, snapping the Trojans six-game winning streak.

Both teams struggled offensively down the stretch as Oregon

State did not make a field goal in the final 3:13 and USC did not score in the last 2:19.

Rodrigue Andela made a pair of foul shots for the Beavers to cap the scoring with 1:49 left. USC’s Drew Peterson missed a 3-pointer with five seconds to go.

Roman Silva added 12 points for Oregon State (7-5, 3-3 Pac-12) on 6-for-7 shooting.

Evan Mobley scored 12 points and Peterson added 10 for the Trojans (11-3, 5-2).

NCAA announces tighter schedule for March Madness

INDIANAPOLIS — That much-anticipated opening Thursday of March Madness will belong to the play-in teams, part of a scrambled and modestly condensed schedule for the 2021 tournament released Tuesday.

The coronavirus pandemic forced the NCAA to move the entire 67-game tournament to Indiana, which means the schedule doesn’t have to be built with travel concerns in mind.

The so-called “First Four” — two games pitting the last four at-large teams in the field and another two featuring the lowest-rated conference champions — will take place on Thursday, March 18.

That day typically would have marked the start of play in the main bracket. Instead, the first two full days of action are now scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 19-20, with the round of 32 taking place Sunday and Monday, March 21-22.

The Sweet 16 will run Saturday and Sunday, March 27-28, with none of the games scheduled to overlap, as they often do when they take place on the second Thursday and Friday nights of the tournament. Those winners will face off in the Elite Eight on the following Monday and Tuesday evenings.

The Final Four is still scheduled for Saturday April 3 and Monday April 5.

Purdue and the University of Indiana will host early games, along with Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum and Lucas Oil Stadium.

3 more COVID-19 cases linked to Australian Open, total is 10

MELBOURNE, Australia — Three more people linked to the Australian Open have tested positive for COVID-19 in Melbourne, increasing to 10 those associated with the Grand Slam tennis tournament which begins Feb. 8.

Victoria state Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville confirmed the new cases had been detected on Wednesday, adding that authorities are “very confident” one of the cases is a tennis player who is shedding the virus and is not infectious.

The player is already in hard lockdown as they were on board a flight into Melbourne with another positive case. The other two cases are a player and their support person.

Those 10 positive cases mean a total of 72 players remain in hard lockdown after being deemed close contacts of those positives on three charter flights into Melbourne from Abu Dhabi, Doha and Los Angeles.

There were 17 tournament charter flights which arrived into Australia over three days last week so players and their entourages could undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine ahead of the tournament.

Australian Open director Craig Tiley said 3,200 tests have been conducted on the more than 1,200 players, support staff and tournament officials.

LeVert, Pacers await test results before plotting next move

INDIANAPOLIS — Caris LeVert said Tuesday he was awaiting additional test results on a small mass in his left kidney before establishing a treatment plan or a timeline for his Indiana Pacers debut.

Team doctors found the growth during a routine posttrade physical late last week. LeVert said he doesn’t yet know if the mass is cancerous.

Indiana acquired LeVert as part of a four-team, blockbuster trade that sent All-Star James Harden from Houston to Brooklyn. The Rockets sent the 6-foot-6 guard to the Pacers in exchange for Victor Oladipo.

Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard announced the results of the physical Saturday.

LeVert, who hadn’t missed any games with the Nets this season prior to the trade, said he never felt any lower back pain and had no indication anything even might be wrong.

“I haven’t gotten anything removed yet, we’re waiting for more results,” he said.

Sarah Thomas to be 1st female to officiate at Super Bowl

NEW YORK — Sarah Thomas will cap her sixth NFL season by becoming the first female to officiate the Super Bowl in NFL history.

Thomas, a down judge, is part of the officiating crew announced Tuesday by the NFL.

“Sarah Thomas has made history again as the first female Super Bowl official,” said Troy Vincent, Sr., the NFL’s executive vice resident of football operations. “Her elite performance and commitment to excellence has earned her the right to officiate the Super Bowl. Congratulations to Sarah on this well-deserved honor.”

Referee Carl Cheffers will lead the seven-person crew of on-field game officials for the Super Bowl on Feb. 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Cheffers has been a game official for 21 seasons in the NFL and was promoted to referee in 2008. He has worked 17 playoff games, including the Super Bowl in 2017.

The crew includes umpire Fred Bryan, line judge Rusty Baynes, field judge James Coleman, side judge Eugene Hall, back judge Dino Paganelli and replay official Mike Wimmer. The crew has 88 years of NFL experience with 77 combined playoff games.

This will be the first Super Bowl for Coleman as well as Thomas and second for Cheffers, Bryan, Baynes, Hall and Paganelli.