LANCSTER’S MADISON FRANCIS COMMITS TO MISSISSIPPI STATE
With much anticipation built up over the last few years, the top women’s basketball prospect in New York State made her collegiate commitment on Wednesday. Lancaster High School’s Madison Francis announced her verbal commitment to Mississippi State.
Francis has become a phenom for the Legends, leading them all the way to the Class AAA State Semifinal as a junior. This summer, Francis was a member of USA’s U18 National Team that dominated in the AmeriCup, going undefeated and winning the gold medal. Francis had offers from just about all of the top programs in the nation, including the likes of North Carolina, Louisville, and Michigan State.
Francis has noted a major contributing factor to her decision was her relationship with Bulldogs Head Coach Sam Purcell. The two first connected when Purcell was Associate Head Coach to Jeff Walz at Louisville, one of the most storied programs, and coaches, of the 21st century. Purcell was hired at Mississippi State in 2022 and has since set records for most wins in the first two seasons for any coach in program history. Francis joins a terrific Class of 2025 recruiting class for Coach Purcell, one that features two other Top 100 prospects: Nataliyah Gray and Jaylah Lampley.
Before she heads to Starkville, though, you can count on us highlighting Mattie Francis on the hardwood with the Legends this winter on Friday Night Lights.
SLOPPY SABRES LOSE BACK-TO-BACK TO OPEN ROAD TRIP
Lackluster, chaotic, and sloppy. The Sabres blew numerous leads on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, losing 6-5 in overtime to open their three-game road trip. To make matters worse, they followed that performance up with a 6-3 loss in Columbus last night, anchoring their overall record at 1-4-1 just six games into the season. The Sabres went from a team that couldn’t score to a team that couldn’t help but give up an odd man rush, all predicated on losing battles and bad turnovers.
Against the Penguins, the Sabres came out flying, scoring two goals in the first three minutes of the game. Bad turnovers and senseless decisions left goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to fend for himself numerous times, costing the blue and gold back-to-back tallies and the lead in the second period. Pittsburgh took a one goal lead in the third before lightning struck for Buffalo: two goals in the span of 40 seconds, giving them a 5-4 lead with nine minutes left. With an extra skater and under a minute left, Pittsburgh tied it, and in overtime, on the power play, Sidney Crosby beat Luukkonen for the game winner.
In Columbus, the Sabres trailed throughout, suffering two goals against in the first frame. Goals from Ryan McLeod and the first career goal for Jiri Kulich cut the deficit down in the second period. Again, though, mind-boggling turnovers in their own zone combined with poor effort on battles led to high danger chances for Columbus, who, to their credit, were critical all night in those spots. Devon Levi suffered 5 goals against on the 25 shots he faced.
It should be noted that the Sabres power play has still yet to score this season, going a combined 0/3 in the last two nights. Buffalo has now gone scoreless on their 17 attempts this season. Opponents aren’t respecting them for a second, so even if the Sabres can get into the offensive zone, it’s not more than 3 seconds before the PK unit has sent a player to press Buffalo’s puck handler, most of the time, leading to a turnover.
Buffalo closes out the road trip in Chicago tomorrow night, puck drop against the Blackhawks is set for 8PM.
SABRINA’S STEPBACK SWISH PUTS LIBERTY ONE WIN AWAY FROM FIRST TITLE
Game three of the WNBA Finals was an all-time classic. With the series tied at one game apiece, the Minnesota Lynx came out strong at home, taking a commanding fifteen-point lead in the first quarter. Slowly, New York chipped into the deficit but trailed by double digits the rest of the half. By the end of the third quarter, though, Breanna Stewart and the Liberty trailed by just one point. In a must-see-TV fourth quarter where each possession felt like the game decider, it came down to the last shot. With the score tied at 77, New York gave the ball to their best shot creator, and Sabrina Ionescu delivered, knocking down a logo-triple with just one second left, lifting the Liberty to victory.
New York can win their first ever WNBA Championship tonight in game four of the WNBA Finals in Minneapolis. Tipoff is at 8PM.
GUARDIANS GRANTED A ‘BIG CHRISTMAS’ MIRACLE IN ALCS
The Yankees rolled into Cleveland having won the first two games of the ALCS in The Bronx, but last night may have been the awakening folks in the Rock and Roll Capital of the World have been waiting for, as the Guardians miraculously came back to defeat New York 7-5 in 10 innings in game three.
The Yankees scored first, in the top of the second, only to have that lead wiped away in the third inning. Much later in the night, in the 8th inning, down 3 runs to 1, Juan Soto walked to first base, and with Aaron Judge at bat, he was in scoring position. The Yankee captain blasted his second homer of the playoffs deep to right center field to tie the game at 3. Giancarlo Stanton, moved up to the cleanup spot for this game, then doubled down for the Yanks with a solo shot off the end of the bat, regaining the lead at 4-3. At the time, that felt like the signature moment of the game and New York would be one win away from punching their ticket to the World Series.
But what would the Rock and Roll Capital of the World be without a grand finale? Down to their final out in the bottom of the 9th, Cleveland’s 39-year-old manager Stephen Vogt called for a pinch hitter, sending 23-year-old Jhonkensy Noel to the plate. The 6’3 250-pound man Guardians fans call “Big Christmas” took ball one, and then, straight out of a Hallmark movie, Noel crushed a changeup 400 feet to left, tying the game and sending Cleveland into a frenzy.
But what kind of rock concert doesn’t have an encore? In the bottom of the 10th inning, the Guardians’ Bo Naylor got a base hit, Cleveland played small ball, suffering two outs to move him over to third base, then another pinch hitter, David Fry drilled a sinker 400 feet to left, securing the 7-5 win.
With the Yankees still leading the ALCS two games to one, tonight’s game four is just about as intense as it can get. First pitch in Cleveland is slated for 8:00.
METS DRUBBED IN GAMES THREE AND FOUR OF NLCS
Fans of the New York Mets are saying “OMG” for all of the wrong reasons, as they’ve dropped back-to-back home games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, both 8-run wins for LA.
Wednesday’s game three was a bullpen battle, where the Dodgers relief pitchers shut the door for any chance at a New York comeback. The Mets were struck out 13 times while getting just 8 base runners aboard all game. A three-run homer for Shohei Otani in the eighth inning was the icing on top for the Dodgers, who won game three 8-0, taking a 2-1 lead in the series.
Then last night, back at Citi Field in Flushing, the Mets showed life early, responding each time the Dodgers scored in the 1st and 3rd innings, but eventually, the well ran dry for New York, and players like Mookie Betts had top-notch performances for LA, ending in a 10-2 win for the Dodgers, taking a chokehold lead, 3-1.
Game five in New York is tonight, as the Dodgers look to claim their first pennant since 2020, when they won their last World Series. First pitch is at 5PM.
