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SACRAMENTO — Delaney Shiring, a 5-foot-10 senior at El Dorado High, kept delivering clutch baskets when her team needed them most during a nerve-racking second half that enabled the Golden Hawks to win their first state girls’ basketball championship with a 42-40 win over San José Valley Christian in the Division III final on Friday at Golden 1 Center.

“It’s amazing,” said Shiring, who finished with 15 points and six rebounds. “It’s meant to be. Everything is so historic. We bought into those big moments.”

El Dorado (24-14) appeared to have a comfortable nine-point lead midway through the third quarter when Kenedi Nomura, who scored 18 points, helped ignite a Valley Christian rally. A basket by Shiring near the end of the quarter ended a 5-0 Warriors run.

Shiring’s biggest basket came with 47 seconds left for a 41-38 lead. The lead dropped to 41-40 with 38 seconds left on a basket by Anaya Bannarbie. Then Riley Morikawa made one of two free throws with 13.1 seconds left for a two-point advantage. Valley Christian never got off a potential tying shot.

Kennedy Wood of El Dorado focus on making free throw in Division III state final.

(Greg Stein)

“They had some really good defenders,” Shiring said. “I really focus in big moments when the shot matters.”

El Dorado made the Southern Section playoffs as an at-large team before surging in the postseason under coach Matt Raya, winning a Division 4 section title and Division III regional title.

In “Rooster,” a genial comedy premiering Sunday on HBO, Steve Carell, comfortable as an uncomfortable person, plays Greg Russo, the author of a best-selling series of books whose hero is named Rooster. He has come to leafy, fictional Ludlow College to give a reading, but also because it’s where his daughter, Katie (Charly Clive) teaches art history, and because it’s all over school that her husband, Archie (Phil Dunster), a history professor, has left her for Sunny (Lauren Tsai), a graduate student in neuroscience. He’s a concerned father.

“They are light; they are fun. The characters that you like have sex, the ones you don’t get shot in the face,” Greg tells poetry professor Dylan (Danielle Deadwyler) of the “beach read” books he writes, as she ushers him to an auditorium. Unlike his fictional alter ego, Greg is by his own account a self-conscious introvert, heightened by the fact that his ex-wife, Elizabeth (Connie Britton) — “a philanthropist, a pioneer in corporate gender equality and an accomplished CEO” whose name adorns the school’s new student center — left him five years earlier and he never moved on. Additionally, Greg likes nuts and cocoa, can toss a penny into a jar from across a room, and played minor league hockey, which will put him back on skates here.

College president Walter Mann (John C. McGinley) decides it would be “a feather in his cap” to hire a reluctant Greg, “a best-selling author that the parents have actually heard of,” as an artist-in-residence — a deal he makes impossible to refuse by agreeing to keep Katie on staff after she accidentally burns down Archie’s house. (She was only trying to burn his first edition of “War & Peace.”) It’s a role quite like the one McGinley played/plays on “Scrubs,” but more politic and better dressed, when dressed — he takes meetings in his backyard sauna.

And they’re off.

Poetry professor Dylan (Danielle Deadwyler) and author Greg (Steve Carell) become colleagues when Greg is named artist-in-residence.

(Katrina Marcinowski / HBO)

The series was created by Bill Lawrence (“Ted Lasso,” “Shrinking,” “Scrubs,” “Bad Monkey”) and frequent collaborator Matt Tarses, and as men of at least a certain age, the view is slanted from experience back toward innocence; students play a secondary, though not insignificant role in the story. There are some pro forma jokes about the sensitivities of the young, with Greg getting into not-very-hot water over misunderstood references to “white whale” and the Bangles’ “Walk Like an Egyptian.” (“Liberal arts college used to be havens for free thought, Greg,” says Walt. “When did you and I become the bad guys?”) Not that the olds are reliably smart about life — the ways in which they’re not power the series — but they have a better notion of where they’re stupid.

“No one must be humiliated,” Greg says to Archie, quoting Chekhov, as Archie goes off to talk to Katie. (The quote is in the animated opening titles as well, so you can take it as important.) But no one here is out to humiliate anyone, which is nasty and unkind and not at all the sort of humor Lawrence trades in. Of course, characters will be put into embarrassing positions, or embarrass themselves, embarrassment being the root of all comedy, or near enough. (There’s a good bit of slapstick knitted in.) And though we’re told that “there are real villains lurking around this place,” niceness reigns — at least through the six episodes, of 10, available to review — with the possible exception of Alan Ruck as the dean of English. (“There’s no way she wrote all these poems,” he says of Emily Dickinson.)

Though there are couples, and ex-couples and new couples, one doesn’t necessarily feel invested in their getting together, or staying together, or getting back together. Indeed, as in other Lawrence projects — which typically feature divorced or separated characters — romance is a sort of side dish, less the issue than whether people are managing to treat one another well. We knew Ted Lasso wasn’t going to get his wife back, but it wasn’t the point (nor was winning games, really); kindness was what mattered. Greg’s possibly pre-romantic friendship with Dylan is no more significant than his cross-generational friendship with a group of goofball students (led by Maximo Solas as Tommy); they treat each other as peers, while knowing they aren’t. He teaches them that peanut butter can make celery better, and they teach him that he’s cooler than he thinks.

Katie, who says she still loves Archie — who says he still loves her — will also call him “a run-of-the-mill narcissistic a— who sometimes smells like wildflowers.” (As for Sunny, practical and deadpan — that no one gets her jokes is a running joke — not even Archie can see what she sees in him, a problem you might have as well, but, as is true of most everyone here, we’re not meant to merely write him off. Funny secondary characters, who get some of the best business, notably include Rory Scovel as a cop who can’t keep track of his gun, Robby Hoffman as Sunny’s intense, anti-Archie roommate and Annie Mumolo (co-writer of “Bridesmaids”) as Walt’s arch assistant.

Old-but-not-that-old-fashioned, “Rooster” has a tinge of Gen X nostalgia, underscored by the ’80s college radio classics that line the soundtrack. (R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe co-wrote and sings the series’ theme, and Greg, drunk and in a mood, will kill a party getting the DJ to play “Everybody Hurts.” Directed by Jonathan Krisel (“Portlandia,” “Baskets”), it’s low stakes, soft-edged, humane, basically gentle, a little fantastic, a little farcical, well cast and well played in every instance — qualities I happen to like, and maybe you do, too.

Berger, who has not won on the PGA Tour since 2021, put himself on course for the £3m top prize thanks to a clean run on the back nine which included three birdies.

“I actually feel like I played better [today] – the course was a little tougher,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to the next couple of days and seeing the challenge they bring.”

Americans Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg are tied for third on seven under, with American Ricky Fowler one shot further back.

McIlroy, who birdied four of the first seven holes on the back nine, said: “I played the last 10 holes really, really well.

“Overall I am really pleased. I played a very sort of controlled, patient round of golf, which you need to do around here.”

American world number one Scottie Scheffler bogeyed the 18th in a round of 71 that left him three under.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood, who was four over after the first round, shot three birdies on the back nine in a second-round 69 to make the cut on one over.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton struck the first blow of the new Formula 1 era with first and second fastest times in opening practice at the Australian Grand Prix.

Leclerc replaced Hamilton in top spot with a late lap that moved him 0.469 seconds clear of the seven-time champion.

Until then, less than 0.1secs had separated Hamilton, Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Verstappen’s new team-mate Isack Hadjar was fourth fastest, 0.820secs off the pace, ahead of 18-year-old Briton Arvid Lindblad, making his debut for the Racing Bulls team.

Aston Martin, whose dire form has been in many ways the story of the new season so far, had a predictably difficult session.

Fernando Alonso was not able to run at all because of a problem with his Honda power-unit. Team-mate Lance Stroll managed just three laps before an engine problem was also discovered on his car.

Team principal Adrian Newey had stunned F1 on Thursday when he said that the vibrations from the Honda engine were so bad that Alonso felt unable to do more than 25 laps without risking permanent nerve damage in his hands.

But this appears to have been a different reliability issue for an engine that is well below the required standard in F1 following the introduction of new rules this season.

She was a two-time state champion in high school coming out of the Syracuse area. She then was a four-time NCAA champion at UConn. She’s won three WNBA titles, three World Cup gold medals, three Olympic gold medals, even two EuroLeague titles.

And now, add an Unrivaled title to the mix — a league that she co-founded.

Breanna Stewart has won it all.

Stewart and Mist are the queens of Unrivaled for 2026, topping Phantom 80-74 in the championship game Wednesday night to cap the league’s second season. Stewart scored 32 points, setting the tone by scoring Mist’s first 12 points of the second half and her team — which went 0-2 against Phantom in the regular season — wouldn’t trail again.

“What I’ll remember the most about this Mist team is we might not be the loudest, but we’re going to work the hardest,” said Stewart, who was picked as MVP of the final — and whose team will split a $600,000 winners’ pool.

It ended somewhat controversially: an offensive foul on Stewart was overturned to a block on review, giving her a free throw to win the title. Stewart swished the shot, and confetti fell from the roof in celebration.

“Just focused on doing it for my team,” Stewart said.

Sparks star Kelsey Plum carried Phantom with 40 points on 14-for-21 shooting, along with six rebounds and five assists.

It was a brilliant effort — but Stewart and Mist had just a bit too much.

“It’s hard when it ends like this,” Plum said. “But overall, it was an amazing season.”

Arike Ogunbowale had 19 and Allisha Gray scored 12 for Mist, while Kiki Iriafen scored 13 and Tiffany Hayes had 12 for Phantom.

“There was complete faith in this group,” Mist coach Zach O’Brien said. “I’m just glad we got it done.”

Stewart and Napheesa Collier are credited as the co-founders of the league, one that if nothing else has filled a void on calendar for the women’s pro game.

“I think that there was a space that wasn’t kind of being used as far as what professional women’s basketball players were doing,” Stewart said. “We used to have a seven-month blackout period where you didn’t know what these professional basketball players were doing. And now you know.”

The question is what comes next.

The WNBA and its players do not have a labor agreement for next season, one that is slated — at this point — to start in about two months. The WNBA has told the players’ union that it needs to get a deal in place by this coming Tuesday to start the season on time.

And for now, there’s no indication that’ll happen. That means the Mist-Phantom final could be the last pro women’s game in the U.S. for a while.

Some will point to poor television ratings as a sign of trouble, while others can point to crowds drawn this season in Brooklyn and Philadelphia as signs of potential for Unrivaled. Players say it works, and there’s no plans to stop now.

“People probably doubt us, that we can sustain it,” Unrivaled CEO Alex Bazzell said. “That’s what drives us and that’s also what drives these players They’re all competitors and we are, too.”

Unrivaled — a 3-on-3, full-court game played on a 72-foot floor, shorter than an NBA or college court — sells itself on being fast-paced, with an 18-second shot clock, 7-minute quarters and plenty of open space for players to create.

Kelsey Plum dribbles against Veronica Burton in the second quarter.

(Leonardo Fernandez / Getty Images)

The title game didn’t disappoint in that regard.

They were the top two seeds entering the playoffs — Phantom 1, Mist 2 — and Wednesday was back and forth. It was 24-24 after one quarter, 43-43 at the half, neither team having led by more than seven at any point.

Mist led 68-62 going to the fourth, an untimed final quarter where 11 points get added to the leading score as the end-of-game target.

To win the title: first team to 79 wins. Mist scored the first six points of the final quarter, going up by 12. Plum answered with five straight points, pushing her total to 35 for the night and getting Phantom within 74-67.

But Mist held the lead the rest of the way, and Stewart — as she has so many times — had a title to savor.

“It was our goal from Day One to be here, to be on this podium,” O’Brien said.

‘Clocked’ by a bouncer in Wellington, as culpable as anyone in the dismal Ashes defeat in Australia, pictured drinking in Noosa and found to have lied when apologising in Sydney.

Brook has had quite the winter.

This, though, was everything good about England’s white-ball captain. He batted at his destructive best.

Surprise greeted the sight of Brook walking down the steps rather than Bethell after Salt nicked off to Shaheen but the thinking was smart.

It kept the right-hander away from Pakistan’s five spinners on a turning pitch at the start of his innings and allowed him to take advantage of the powerplay fielding restrictions.

Brook faced three dots in his first five balls but then took left-armer Salman Mirza for a four and six in the second over.

He muscled a brutal straight six over long-on off while hitting spinner Mohammad Nawaz for 17 in the sixth, before nudging singles after Banton nicked off to Usman Tariq. The mystery spinner was Pakistan’s major threat.

At halfway, Brook kicked on again, crashing leg-spinner Shadab Khan for a perfect straight six. He scored all around the ground but those straight hits and his drives through the covers were particularly eye-catching.

He reached three figures with two more hits over mid-off – one for six and another a one-bounce four.

It made him the third man to score centuries in all three formats for England, after Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan, but more importantly it keeps them on course for a third T20 title.

KATE Moss led the glamour at Burberry’s star-studded show, as she joined big names at London Fashion Week’s show-piece event.

The model, 52, turned heads in a black Burberry trench coat and shiny navy dress while showing off her endless legs in sheer black tights.

The supermodel was joined by Romeo Beckham, 23, who rocked a maroon bomber-style jacket paired with loose-fitting maroon corduroy trousers.

The exclusive show was also attended by Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers, 23, Arsenal women’s team footballer Leah Williamson, 28, and actress Daisy Edgar-Jones, 27.

Liam Gallagher‘s sons Lennon and Gene Gallagher also made an appearance.

But it was Kate’s look that sent tongues wagging – with the star dominating headlines during fashion week with her glamorous looks.

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Kate, was recently revealed to be locked in a planning row with her neighbours in a swanky Cotswolds village.

Concerns were raised by Kate over her neighbour’s plans to install a new garden.

She lives in a £2.5 million countryside mansion in Little Faringdon, Oxfordshire, where locals say they have been fighting with a sewage system that is no longer fit for purpose.

It is because of the sewage system that Kate has blocked her neighbours’ planned construction project.

According to reports, she fears the plans would increase pressure on the already struggling sewage system.

GRAMMY-nominated salsa legend Willie Colón has died aged 75.

Heartbreaking tributes have poured in for the musical pioneer – with Bad Bunny calling the star “one of the legends who contributed to this beautiful and legendary genre”.

The iconic artist passed away on Saturday surrounded by loved ones, his manager confirmed.

Colón was a trombonist, composer, arranger, singer and social activist.

Over his decades-long career, he produced more than 40 albums that sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.

His manager Pietro Carlos said: “Today, we’ve lost an architect of the New York sound, a trombonist who made metal his banner and wrote eternal chapters in our musical history.

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“Willie didn’t just change salsa; he expanded it, politicized it, clothed it in urban chronicles, and took it to stages where it hadn’t been heard before.

“His trombone was the voice of the people, an echo of the Caribbean in New York, a bridge between cultures.”

He added: “Today we say goodbye to a master, but his legacy lives on.”

Meanwhile, Grammy-winner Bad Bunny said on Instagram: “Today, one of the legends who contributed to this beautiful and legendary genre passed away.”

The star continued: “So, on behalf of myself and Los Sobrinos, we wish Willie Colón peace.

“Much strength to his family.

“The inspiration of so many of these great musicians who left their mark on this earth will never die as long as there are talented young people like those here, keeping the music, salsa and all Caribbean rhythms alive.”

Colón’s cause of death has not been confirmed, but Saturday’s tragic news follows reports from last week claiming that the star had been hospitalised for respiratory problems, according to TMZ.

A pivotal architect of urban salsa music, Colón collaborated with a long list of fellow icons, including the Fania All Stars, David Byrne and Celia Cruz.

His critically acclaimed collaboration with Rubén Blades, Siembra, which touched on social issues in salsa, became one of the bestselling albums in the genre of all time.

The musician, born to Puerto Rican parents, was nominated for 10 Grammys and one Latin Grammy.

Colón was born in the Bronx, New York, before being raised by his grandmother and aunt, who from a young age nurtured him with traditional Puerto Rican music.

When he was 11 years old he ventured into the world of music, first playing the flute, then bugle, trumpet and finally trombone.

His interest in trombone was sparked after experiencing Barry Rogers playing it on Dolores, Mon Rivera’s song with Joe Cotto.

He recalled in 2011: “It sounded like an elephant, a lion … an animal.

“Something so different that, as soon as I heard it, I said to myself: ‘I want to play that instrument.’”

Colón’s main musical traits included the fusion of rhythms.

The genius harmonized jazz, rock, funk, soul and R&B with the old Latin school of Cuban son, cha-cha-cha, mambo and guaracha.

His style also encompassed traditional Puerto Rican sound including jíbara, bomba and plena music.

A passionate advocate for civil rights, he fought mostly in the US for the Latino community among others.

In 1991 he was awarded the Chubb fellowship from Yale University, a public service recognition also awarded to John F. Kennedy, Moshe Dayan, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Ronald Reagan.

And he even served in politics – working as a special assistant to David Dinkins, New York’s first Black mayor, and an adviser to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Colón had his own stints running for public office too – but had little luck challenging the then-US Rep. Eliot Engel in the 1994 Democratic primary.

In 2001 he also came in third in the Democratic primary for New York’s public advocate.

The late star also appeared in films such – taking roles in Vigilante, The Last Fight, and It Could Happen to You.

On TV, he featured in Miami Vice and Demasiado Corazón.

The icon also appeared in Bad Bunny’s music video for NuevaYol.

Colón is survived by his wife and four sons.

With a lineup that goes nine deep, Sierra Canyon’s boys’ basketball team has won 25 of 26 games this season, and about the only way the Trailblazers are going to be a denied Southern Section Open Division and state championships is if a fellow Mission League team can beat them.

At least one thing is certain about the playoffs — the Mission League is tops. Three of the four teams that reached the Open Division semifinals are from the Mission League, setting up semifinals Tuesday that will feature Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at Sierra Canyon and surprising La Mirada at Harvard-Westlake.

“It continues to show that the Mission League is one of the toughest leagues in the country,” Harvard-Westlake coach David Rebibo said. “It pays to be in a quality league.”

First up for everyone is figuring out Sierra Canyon.

“I love the options,” Sierra Canyon coach Andre Chevalier said of his team’s depth after a 70-47 blowout of Santa Margarita on Friday night in a quarterfinal between the top-seeded Trailblazers and the No. 2-seeded Eagles (27-5), according to the Southern Section’s computer power rankings.

Santa Margarita never had a chance. The Eagles missed numerous three-point attempts, while Sierra Canyon was finding different players to contribute. Nine players scored for Sierra Canyon, with Brandon McCoy getting 17 points and nine rebounds, Brannon Martinsen scoring 13 points and Maxi Adams 11. McCoy and Adams are McDonald’s All-Americans, but it’s the Trailblazers’ depth that is coming through during a long season that still has three weeks left.

Sophomore guard JJ Sati-Grier, a transfer from North Carolina, suddenly has earned playing time and had four baskets. Sophomore guard Josh Lowery had seven points.

During the second half when a Sierra Canyon player took an ill-advised shot, Chevalier shouted out, “What are you doing?” The player found himself immediately on the bench. Another player came in to contribute. If the Trailblazers keep finding so many players to deliver baskets, that’s tough to overcome.

“Our depth is going to get us over the top,” Chevalier said.

Notre Dame and Sierra Canyon finally will get to play their Mission League title game that was supposed to tip off two weeks ago but canceled because of a student’s death.

The biggest upset was La Mirada taking down No. 3-seeded Redondo Union on the road, 73-70. Gene Roebuck fouled out early in the fourth quarter but still scored 19 points. Cisco Munoz had 17 points, Tristan Partida 15 and King-Riley Owens 10. The Matadores made the Open Division playoffs last season but didn’t qualify for the state playoffs. Now they are one win away from playing for a section title.

Harvard-Westlake built a 10-point halftime lead but had to hold on against Mission League rival Crespi at home, 49-46. Joe Sterling finished with 15 points and Pierce Thompson 13.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame defeated Corona Centennial 59-56. NaVorro Bowman Jr. scored 23 points, and Zach White had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

“It’s testament to the quality of the coaching, the quality of the players,” Notre Dame coach Matt Sargeant said of the league’s success.

JSerra 105, Inglewood 91: The Lions made it to the Southern Section Division 1 final. Jaden Bailes scored 33 points, and Ryan Doane had 32 points and 18 rebounds. Jason Crowe Jr. finished with 37 points for Inglewood. JSerra will face top-seeded Crean Lutheran, a 67-55 winner over Rancho Christian.

Hesperia 54, Mater Dei 49: Hesperia moved on to the Division 2 final.

Sylmar 93, Marquez 75: Aiden Garcia scored 26 point as the Spartans advanced to the City Section Division II championship game, where they will play King/Drew, which defeated Bravo 72-44. Wayne Chamberlain had 20 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.

Chatsworth 53, Venice 51 (OT): The Chancellors made it to the City Section Division I final with an overtime win in the semifinals. They will face top-seeded and fellow West Valley League rival Granada Hills, a 48-30 winner over L.A. Jordan.

LANSING, Mich — In a stunning victory that gave a major boost to his presidential candidacy, the Rev. Jesse Jackson overwhelmed Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis Saturday in the Michigan Democratic presidential caucuses.

Running strongly in white and black areas, Jackson got nearly twice as many popular votes as Dukakis, and also appeared to be winning considerably more delegates than Dukakis, based on the popular vote in the 18 congressional districts.

With 85% of the vote in, Jackson had 101,037 votes or 54% of the total, to 53,041 votes or 28% for Dukakis.

Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, who had said he had to win in Michigan to remain a strong candidate, was running a distant third with 23,732 or 13%. Aides said he would meet today with family and advisers before announcing whether he will pull out of the race and run for reelection to Congress.

Simon and Gore Trail

Far behind were Sens. Paul Simon of Illinois and Albert Gore Jr. of Tennessee with about 2% of the vote each. Neither had campaigned hard in Michigan.

Preliminary calculations by the Associated Press gave Jackson 61 national convention delegates, Dukakis 43, Gephardt 22, and 12 undecided among the 138 at stake in Michigan.

These results tightened the overall delegate race a bit. By the AP count, Dukakis had 596.55, Jackson had 584.55, Gore had 362.8, Gephardt 178, Simon 171.5, and 371.6 were uncommitted. To win the nomination, a candidate needs 2,082 delegates.

Jackson, meanwhile, was already about 200,000 popular votes ahead of Dukakis nationally before his big triumph Saturday.

It was a big victory for Jackson–who finished third here in 1984–because this was the party’s first test in a major industrial state in which no favorite son was on the ballot.

And it dealt a blow to Dukakis’ recent argument that he was moving inevitably toward the Democratic nomination with his steady accumulation of delegates. Eleven days ago, he had finished third in Illinois behind favorite sons Simon and Jackson.

“This is the first major test where everyone was on the visiting team,” said Joel Ferguson, chairman of Jackson’s Michigan campaign. “No one was on his home turf.”

“You cannot minimize or denigrate Jackson’s victory in Michigan, and anyone who does is missing what is going on out there,” said Los Angeles attorney Mickey Kantor, a longtime adviser to many Democratic candidates.

“Jesse Jackson has proved that if you have a message and a natural constituency it makes a great deal of difference,” added Kantor, who has provided informal advice to the Gore campaign.

Dukakis had hoped in Michigan to have the edge in delegates–and declare that a victory–because 90 of the 138 delegates are apportioned by congressional district, and the governor expected Jackson’s strength to be largely confined to two predominantly black districts in Detroit.

Won 10 of 18 Districts

Instead, Jackson won the popular vote in 10 of the 18 districts, many of them with a low percentage of blacks.

For all of Jackson’s surprising statewide strength, it was the black vote–particularly in Detroit–that gave him his landslide. More than 42% of Jackson’s total vote came in the two majority black districts. And blacks apparently turned out strongly in other districts.

Jackson defied conventional wisdom on two counts here: He ran well all over the state and he won despite what party officials considered a high turnout–about 200,000 caucus-goers.

The reasoning before today was that a high turnout would benefit Dukakis because much of it would be whites newly attracted to the process. But clearly Jackson won many of those whites.

Wins University Towns

Jackson won the majority-white congressional districts containing the cities of Saginaw, Flint, Pontiac, Lansing, Kalamazoo and Muskegon. He also won in the university towns of Ann Arbor (University of Michigan) and East Lansing (Michigan State).

In the congressional district that includes the city of Flint and its heavily unionized auto plants, Jackson beat Dukakis by more than 2 to 1, an indication that many workers were remembering that Jackson had stood with strikers and the unemployed in a number of areas around the country.

But Jackson also did respectably in middle and upper Michigan, areas with few blacks and union members.

“We felt if we took Jesse around the state and people heard what he had to say, we would win,” said Ferguson.

Picking Front-Runner

Then, in a reference to a statement by Democratic National Chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. that the party should soon unite behind a front-runner, Ferguson added:

“If we are going to get behind a consensus front-runner, that means we ought to get behind Jesse Jackson.”

As the outcome became clear Saturday evening, Dukakis acknowledged that it was Jackson’s night.

“It looks as if Rev. Jackson has won the popular vote in Michigan,” the Massachusetts governor said late Saturday in Milwaukee, where he was already campaigning for Wisconsin’s April 5 primary. “I congratulate Jesse on this. He’s run a good campaign, an exciting campaign.”

‘Nothing Inevitable’

When asked about his own prospects for winning the nomination, Dukakis said: “There’s nothing inevitable about anything in American politics.

“It’s a marathon,” he said. “We’re really only at the midpoint. I don’t think I did very well in Michigan today. I did reasonably well, but I don’t think I did spectacularly well.”

Dukakis’ national political coordinator, Alice Travis, took a more strategic approach to the Michigan result, attempting to portray the race now as one between a Democrat who could be elected in November, Dukakis, and one who she and others do not think could be elected, Jackson.

‘A Two-Man Race’

“It’s a two-man race,” Travis said in Lansing as the returns came in. “Only two candidates are running national campaigns. We’ve always said first or second place would be good in Michigan and we’ve gotten a lot of delegates around the state.”

But the best face Dukakis could put on the Michigan result was that it apparently eliminated Gephardt as a serious candidate, leaving only Gore as a serious white alternative to Dukakis.

Gephardt, who had tried to restart his presidential campaign in Michigan, planned to meet with family and advisers today before announcing whether he will pull out of the race and run for reelection to Congress, aides said.

“He’s going to go home (to Washington), meet with his family Sunday and look at the numbers,” campaign press secretary Ali Webb said. “He’ll have something to say Monday.”

Bitter Medicine

Speaking in Milwaukee Saturday night, Gephardt appeared resigned to the inevitable, and spoke of his campaign in the past tense.

“My campaign has had its successes and its setbacks,” he said. “But at heart, our greatest victory has been to call the Democratic Party back to its essential role as an agent of fundamental change.”

Tuesday is the deadline for Gephardt to file as a candidate for reelection to Congress from Missouri. Although aides said he could file for reelection and remain a candidate for President, his showing in Michigan increased the chances he will drop out of the presidential contest.

Staff writers Robert A. Rosenblatt in Lansing and Robert Shogan in Milwaukee contributed to this story.