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Fake is the operative word. Tom Brady’s beef with Logan Paul, Paul’s beef with Rob Gronkowski and Brady’s beef with World Wrestling Entertainment all are as fake as plant-based meat.

It’s also so much fun.

That’s the consensus opinion of fans and participants alike to the promotional shenanigans ahead of this weekend’s Fanatics Flag Football Classic at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles and next month’s WWE WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Brady used the word himself, calling wrestling “fake B.S.” Wednesday night at the Flag Football Classic draft at a Beverly Hills hotel. The comments came shortly after Brady went on Paul’s “Impaulsive” podcast and told the WWE star in no uncertain terms that he was not on the same athletic level as NFL players.

Paul took exception, pointing out that he played linebacker in high school. He is on the flag football roster of Team Wildcats alongside NFL quarterbacks and captains Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels, so inquiring minds can evaluate Paul’s gridiron bona fides during the three-team flag fun televised at 1 p.m. PDT Sunday on Fox Sports.

In addition to Team Wildcats, the inaugural flag football event features a team led by Brady and Jalen Hurts called Founders and another consisting of the U.S. men’s national flag football roster.

In promoting the venture, Brady poked the enormously popular WWE organization, telling Paul, “You know, I love WWE. It’s very cute. But honestly, this is like real football. This is just real competition.

“I’m glad you’re going to be there and finally participate in a competition that matters.”

Brady upped the ante after Sports Illustrated playfully asked how many WWE wrestlers it would take to sack him.

“They wouldn’t even get near me,” he replied. “Plus, if I had a good offensive line, they’d punch those guys right in the throat and they’d probably be crying.”

All a deft segue to WrestleMania 42, which many followers suspect is positioning Brady to be some sort of scripted villain during the WWE’s annual five-day extravaganza. Last year WrestleMania 41 attracted more than 100,000 fans to Allegiant Stadium, generating roughly $65 million in ticket revenue and reaching a global audience with more than a billion social media views.

Adding the greatest quarterback of all time would only boost those numbers. Introducing a surprise antagonist has long been a key ingredient of the WWE recipe, and at this point Brady surfacing is all but expected.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion has morphed into a glue guy, whose employment as a Fox Sports NFL television analyst, part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders and key partner with Fanatics binds him with almost every major stakeholder in the Flag Football Classic and WrestleMania 42. Every stakeholder except the WWE.

That gives Brady license to take good-natured shots at wrestling for now and positions him to become a high-profile heel at WrestleMania 42.

It’s no coincidence that both events are in partnership with Fanatics, the outfit that has grown from designing and manufacturing licensed fan gear into a ubiquitous global digital sports platform and e-commerce company.

That leaves only the feigned feud between Paul and Gronkowski — Brady’s longtime pal and New England Patriots teammate. It started when Gronkowski labeled Paul a “flake” on a podcast a few days ago after Paul made a $1-million boxing challenge to NFL players and subsequently backed out of a fight with former running back Le’Veon Bell.

The tongue-in-cheek beef culminated in a verbal volley at the flag football draft with Gronkowski jawing at Paul while balancing a paper plate stacked with hors d’oeuvres and Paul shouting back over the head of 5-foot-5 comedian Kevin Hart, who somehow found himself in the role of peacemaker.

“No one can tackle me. So if Logan Paul wants a piece of me, I’m down to throw it down on the field and even throw my fist and just go at it, an all-out brawl on the flag football field,” Gronkowski said with an impish grin.

Crazy how Fanatics posted a video of the exchange so quickly. It had racked up 250,000 views as of Friday morning. Just Gronkowski and Paul following Brady’s lead, knowing their job descriptions include promotion as well as performance.

Luka scores 60, LeBron ties record

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: On the same night he tied Robert Parish for the NBA record in regular-season games played, ageless wonder LeBron James had a 19-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in Thursday’s 134-126 win over the Miami Heat. The 41-year-old playing in his 1,611th game helped the Lakers (45-25) win their season-best eighth consecutive game while star guard Luka Doncic poured in a season-best 60 points, including 20 points in the final quarter.

James became the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double, besting the mark he set last month.

“He’s a psycho,” coach JJ Redick said with affection, awe and respect.

James, Doncic and guard Austin Reaves were all questionable to play in their second game in as many nights. Doncic was dealing with right hip soreness and Reaves was battling a right forearm contusion after Wednesday’s physical win over Houston. James, who took a hard spill in the fourth quarter and banged his right elbow, was officially nursing left foot arthritis. Earlier this season, James characterized his ailments as being simply “old.”

But before Redick could even check on the status of his stars Thursday afternoon, he learned they already decided on their availability. The players huddled in the locker room after Wednesday’s game before the coaches entered and decided they would all play against Miami (38-32).

“When he said he was playing, I was like, I can’t let a 41-year-old play and I not play,” said Reaves, who battled through a bruise on his shooting wrist to finish with 18 points. “So [I] signed up to play and so did Luka and we went and grinded the win out.”

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Lakers box score

NBA standings

Clippers lose to Pelicans again

Trey Murphy III scored 27 points and the New Orleans Pelicans extended their home winning streak to seven games with a 105-99 victory over the Clippers on Thursday night.

Saddiq Bey had 20 points and Zion Williamson added 15 for the Pelicans, who swept the two-game set against the Clippers after a 124-109 win, also at home, on Wednesday night.

Dejounte Murray was held out to rest as part of his comeback from a ruptured Achilles tendon. He had 17 points and a season-high 11 assists Wednesday night in his ninth game since making his season debut last month.

Derrick Jones Jr. scored 22 points, John Collins had 18 and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 for the Clippers, who lost their fourth in a row.

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Clippers box score

NBA standings

Kings lose to Flyers

Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov scored in a shootout to give the Philadelphia Flyers their fourth victory in five games, 4-3 over the Kings on Thursday night.

Noah Cates had a goal and an assist, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim also scored, and Samuel Ersson made 22 saves. The Flyers remained six points behind Boston and Detroit for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots.

On Wednesday night against the Ducks, Cates scored in overtime in the Flyers’ 3-2 victory.

Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin failed on their shootout attempts for Los Angeles, though the Kings still moved into the second wild-card in the Western Conference.

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Kings summary

NHL standings

USC reaches settlement

From Ryan Kartje: USC has settled a lawsuit with a former high-ranking athletic department official who alleged the university allowed former athletic director Mike Bohn to racially harass and discriminate against her, then fired her when she voiced concerns about Bohn’s behavior.

Joyce Bell Limbrick was the highest-ranking Black and female official in USC’s athletic department when she was fired by the university in September 2023, four months after Bohn resigned amid an internal investigation into his conduct and the culture of the department. Bell Limbrick filed suit early last year, accusing USC of wrongful termination.

That dispute was settled out of court this week. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

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This day in sports history

1897 — Yale beats Penn 32-10 in New Haven, Conn., in the first men’s intercollegiate basketball game.

1918 — The Toronto Arenas (who would become the Maple Leafs) are the first NHL team to play in the Stanley Cup Final. Toronto’s Reg Noble scores two goals with an assist in the first period of a 5-3 win over Vancouver of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association.

1939 — In a game of unbeaten teams, Long Island U. defeats Loyola of Chicago 44-32 to win the National Invitation Tournament title.

1954 — In the first televised NCAA championship game, La Salle defeats Bradley 92-76 and sets a record for most points in the title game.

1965 — Gail Goodrich’s 42 points lead UCLA to a 91-80 victory over Michigan in the NCAA basketball championship.

1965 — St. John’s sends Joe Lapchick out a winner, as the Redmen beat Villanova 55-51 to win their fifth National Invitation Tournament championship.

1965 — Bill Bradley scores 58 points to lead Princeton to a 118-82 rout of Wichita State in the NCAA third-place game. UCLA beats Michigan 91-80 to win its second National championship.

1968 — Dave Bing of the Detroit Pistons finishes the season with a league-leading 27.1 average, becoming the first guard in 20 years to lead the NBA in scoring.

1969 — Less than two months after she becomes the first woman to ride in a pari-mutuel race in America, Diane Crump rides her first winner at Gulfstream Park.

1976 — Boston’s John Havlicek becomes the first NBA player to score more than 1,000 points per season for 14 consecutive years.

1988 — Mike Tyson knocks out Tony Tubbs in the second round to retain his world heavyweight title in Tokyo.

2005 — Liz Johnson becomes the first woman to advance to the championship match of a Professional Bowlers Assn. tour event, but loses by 27 pins to Tommy Jones in the final of the PBA Banquet Open.

2005 — LeBron James, 20, becomes the youngest player to score 50 points in an NBA game, when he scores 56 in the Cavaliers’ 105-98 loss to the Raptors.

2006 — Japan beats Cuba 10-6 in the title game of the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

2010 — Northern Iowa pulls off one of the biggest NCAA upsets in years by knocking No. 1 overall seed Kansas with a 69-67 win. Ali Farokhmanesh buries an open three-pointer with the shot clock still in the 30s to give the Panthers a four-point lead with 35 seconds left.

2014 — Bernard Tomic loses the shortest completed ATP match on record, lasting only 28 minutes at the Sony Open in his first tournament since having surgery on both hips. Ending a two-month layoff, Tomic wins just 13 points and loses to Jarkko Nieminen 6-0, 6-1. It’s the quickest match since the ATP started keeping such records in 1991.

2020 — After 20 years with the New England Patriots, six-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady officially agrees to move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov scored in a shootout to give the Philadelphia Flyers their fourth victory in five games, 4-3 over the Kings on Thursday night.

Noah Cates had a goal and an assist, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim also scored, and Samuel Ersson made 22 saves. The Flyers remained six points behind Boston and Detroit for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots.

On Wednesday night against the Ducks, Cates scored in overtime in the Flyers’ 3-2 victory.

Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin failed on their shootout attempts for Los Angeles, though the Kings still moved into the second wild-card in the Western Conference.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist for the Kings. Quinton Byfield and Anze Kopitar also scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves.

Panarin ensured the Kings picked up a point in the standings with a blistering wrist shot on a power play that tied it 3-3 with 9:32 remaining.

The Flyers were without forwards Sean Couturier (upper body), Luke Glendening (lower body) and Denver Barkey (upper body), leaving them to play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Up next for the Kings: vs. Buffalo at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

Thursday’s Results

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION

North Hollywood 5, Granada Hills Kennedy 3

Sun Valley Poly 11, Sylmar 9

Verdugo Hills 5, San Fernando 3

WISH Academy 11, Washington Prep 5

SOUTHERN SECTION

Adelanto 6, Granite Hills 4

Alhambra 10, Schurr 2

Animo Leadership 6, Compton Early College 3

Arroyo 14, Glendale 0

Banning 9, Yucca Valley 8

Beverly Hills 13, Lennox Academy 3

Bloomington 10, Carter 0

Buckley 7, Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 6

Campbell Hall 6, Brentwood 1

Chaparral 8, Citrus Valley 3

Charter Oak 3, El Rancho 2

Chino 7, Don Lugo 1

Compton Centennial 7, Lawndale 5

Covina 9, Pasadena Marshall 8

Diamond Ranch 5, Chaffey 4

Eisenhower 2, Colton 1

Environmental Charter 13, Ambassador 6

Etiwanda 2, Santa Ana Foothill 0

Gabrielino 23, Southlands Christian 4

Garden Grove 14, Rancho Alamitos 1

Glendora 14, Western Christian 3

Grace 29, Santa Clara 2

Grand Terrace 12, Arroyo Valley 0

Heritage Christian 12, Village Christian 1

La Mirada 7, Aliso Niguel 1

La Quinta 11, Rancho Mirage 0

Leuzinger 4, Culver City 3

Maranatha 12, Whittier Christian 4

Milken 4, Burbank Providence 1

Montebello 18, San Gabriel 0

Newbury Park 7, Buena 1

Norwalk 8, Sante Fe 3

Ontario 6, Montclair 3

Orange County Pacifica Christian 7, Laguna Beach 4

Palm Springs 17, Xavier Prep 4

Palo Verde 8, Bellflower 7

Redlands 15, Hesperia Christian 0

Redlands East Valley 18, Silverado 1

Rolling Hills Prep 13, HMSA 4

Rowland 3, Diamond Bar 1

San Juan Hills 11, Riverside Prep 10

Santa Clarita Christian 4, Desert Christian 0

Santa Monica 8, Calabasas 4

Santa Rosa Academy 9, San Jacinto Valley Academy 8

Shadow Hills 5, Palm Desert 3

South Hills 11, Los Altos 3

Summit 5, Rialto 1

Temecula Prep 14, SJDLCS 1

Temecula Valley 11, Trabuco Hills 0

Temescal Canyon 5, San Dimas 3

Trinity Classical Academy 7, Castaic 3

Twentynine Palms 4, AAE 2

Victory Valley 4, Barstow 3

Webb 16 La Puente 2

West Torrance 9, New Roads 0

West Valley 14, San Jacinto 4

INTERSECTIONAL

Borrego Springs 12, Anza Hamilton 0

Colorado Legend 10, La Habra 5

Eagle Rock 19, CALS Early College 1

Fullerton 14, Colorado Mullen 4

Gahr 7, Utah American Fork 1

Inglewood 16, Dorsey 1

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 7, Port of LA 4

WISH Academy 11, Washington Prep 5

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION

Animo Robinson 24, Animo Watts 14

Bell 11, Huntington Park 6

Bernstein 25, Contreras 12

Central City Value 18, Vaughn 14

Dorsey 21, Dymally 0

East Valley 20, Panorama 4

Garfield 6, LA Roosevelt 2

Hollywood 18, Belmont 5

Mendez 20, Roybal 8

SOCES 15, Northridge Academy 4

Triumph Charter 19, Bert Corona 1

Westchester 15, Narbonne 13

SOUTHERN SECTION

Alhambra 16, Mark Keppel 0

Aliso Niguel 4, El Toro 1

Alta Loma 6, Citrus Valley 2

Arrowhead Christian 19, Woodcrest Christian 2

Barstow 4, Victor valley 2

Beaumont 7, Rancho Verde 1

Bonita 20, Claremont 6

California 5, Sante Fe 4

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 5, Bishop Conaty-Loretto 2

Castaic 13, Golden Valley 4

Chadwick 22, Westridge 1

Chaffey 9, Diamond Ranch 0

Chaminade 7, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 6

Coastal Academy 9, Mayfield 0

Crescenta Valley 23, Hoover 0

Cypress 3, Segerstrom 0

Desert Christian Academy 11, California Military Institute 10

Don Lugo 3, Chino 2

Eastside 11, Littlerock 4

El Cajon Christian 8, Trabuco Hills 2

El Dorado 10, Mayfair 0

El Modena 9, La Habra 6

El Rancho 15, Arroyo 5

Fillmore 15, Channel Islands 4

Firebaugh 19, Hawthorne 13

Fontana 11, Bethel Christian 2

Foothill Tech 12, Bishop Diego 0

Fullerton 6, Los Altos 1

Garden Grove Pacifica 4, Anaheim Canyon 1

Gahr 10, Cerritos 0

Garden Grove 11, Westminster 1

Granite Hills 12, Adelanto 4

Hemet 16, United Christian Academy 5

Hesperia Christian 17, Immanuel Christian 2

Highland 2, Quartz Hill 1

Indio 18, Lakeside 1

Indio 14, Temecula Prep 1

Irvine University 9, San Marino 8

Jurupa Hills 16, San Gorgonio 0

Kaiser 14, Grand Terrace 5

Knight 14, Antelope Valley 1

Lakeside 7, San Jacinto 6

La Mirada 5, Valley Christian 0

La Quinta 10, Rancho Mirage 0

La Salle 13, Mary Star of the Sea 2

La Serna 16, Whittier 4

Lennox Academy 14, Compton Early College 8

Leuzinger 9, Culver City 6

Liberty 10, Linfield Christian 4

Los Alamitos 6, Huntington Beach 5

Marina 6, Edison 0

Millikan 9, Lakewood 0

Mira Costa 9, Bishop Montgomery 8

Mission Viejo 2, El Cajon Christian 1

Moorpark 14, Royal 2

Moreno Valley 9, Vista del Lago 6

Muir 18, Glendale 3

Murrieta Valley 15, Chaparral 5

Newport Harbor 7, Corona del Mar 4

North Torrance 6, Santa Monica 1

Northwood 8, Irvine 0

Oak Park 5, Camarillo 4

Ontario 5, Montclair 0

Oxnard 5, Buena 1

Paloma Valley 15, Tahquitz 2

Palos Verdes 4, El Segundo 0

Paraclete 9, Lakewood St. Joseph 4

Pasadena 19, Immaculate Heart 8

Pasadena Poly 10, Flintridge Prep 0

Rialto 18, Eisenhower 8

Ridgecrest Burroughs 31, Silver Valley 1

Riverside Notre Dame 6, United Christian Academy 0

Riverside Poly 2, Shadow Ridge 0

San Jacinto 15, Temecula Prep 1

San Juan Hills 8, Tesoro 5

Santa Ana Foothill 17, Esperanza 0

Santa Paula 18, Nordhoff 1

Saugus 3, Valencia 2

Schurr 25, San Gabriel 0

Shadow Hills 21, Palm Desert 14

Shadow Ridge 8, Louisville 4

Simi Valley 5, Newbury Park 4

St. Bernard d. San Gabriel Mission, forfeit

St. Bonaventure 20, Del Sol 0

St. Monica 16, St. Anthony 2

St. Paul 10, Bishop Amat 0

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 18, Gardena Serra 5

Summit 20, Arroyo Valley 0

Temecula Valley 4, Great Oak 2

Viewpoint 10, Brentwood 0

Warren 9, La Palma Kennedy 1

West Covina 9, Southlands Christian 8

Western Christian 16, San Dimas 15

West Ranch 13, Canyon Country Canyon 4

Whittier Christian 3, Maranatha 1

Windward 11, Archer 8

Yucaipa 5, Rancho Cucamonga 3

Yucca Valley 19, Banning 9

INTERSECTIONAL

Anza Hamilton 10, Borrego Springs 0

Eagle Rock 6, Alemany 4

Harvard-Westlake 6, El Camino Real 3

Nevada Bishop Gorman 5, Mission Viejo 1

Nevada Spanish Springs 7, Carson 4

Rio Hondo Prep 3, San Diego 2

Riverside Poly 9, Nevada Reed 0

San Fernando 4, Tri-City Christian 3

Sierra Canyon 17, Nevada Douglas 0

Sierra Canyon 3, Nevada Reed 2

Sun Valley Magnet 7, Lakeview Charter 6

Thousand Oaks 9, Granada Hills 4

Torrance 7, Legacy 2

Trabuco Hills 4, Nevada Bishop Gorman 4

Utah Lehi 10, Carson 5

The photos currently flooding my social media stream are like a highlight reel of the life of Chicana civil rights icon Dolores Huerta.

The famous 1960s-era black-and-white shot of her looking like a bohemian in sweatshirt and black paints while she holds up a sign proclaiming “HUELGA” in the grape fields of California’s Central Valley.

Chanting at the front of picket lines, strands of gray in her hair, in the 1980s.

Beaming as President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012 for a lifetime of good work that expanded beyond the United Farm Workers union she co-founded.

What’s especially popular is admirers posting pictures of themselves with her — at protests, during art gallery openings, in classrooms, even dancing. It’s the type of public outpouring one usually sees when a celebrity dies. Sadly, there is grief involved in people sharing their encounters with her right now.

Someone didn’t die. But something did.

Earlier this week, Huerta’s disclosed to the New York Times that fellow Chicano civil rights icon Cesar Chavez raped her during the 1960s. It was part of a story that also interviewed two women who claimed the United Farm Workers co-founder sexually abused them when they were young teens in the 1970s.

One of the posts I saw soon after the story’s publication was an Instagram portrait Maricela Cueva took when the two met a few years ago during a conference in Burbank.

“Standing with Dolores Huerta,” said Cueva, president of the public relations firm VPE Communications, “means honoring her legacy in the farmworker movement as well as the victims who had the courage to come forward and acknowledging the personal sacrifices behind it.”

Former West Covina Mayor Brian Calderón Tabatabei shared on the platform formally known as Twitter a photo of him shaking hands with Huerta in Berkeley at a Working Families Party gathering for elected leaders in 2024, where she joined breakout sessions and listened to the next generation of leaders.

“I look at the folks who posted pictures and we are all children of the movement,” said Tabatabei, who’s also an El Monte High ethnic studies teacher. He kicks off each school year with a shout-out to Huerta. “She lived with that pain so we could be in these spaces. So we don’t have to be quiet.”

Together, the photos stand as a communal family album. It’s a show of love and solidarity to Huerta — but also a challenge to ourselves. Many of us immediately believed the longtime activist not just because of her stature, but because we’re sadly too familiar with the script playing out in real time.

A Latina abused by a trusted, powerful man. A terrible secret kept to not make him look bad and ruin his life. A need for the victim to consistently praise the abuser to others no matter what. A life of service in the form of sacrifice. Eternal grace masking an unimaginable pain.

Her story is the story of too many women I know and you know — and maybe the story of you.

Steely resolve in the face of suffering is not new in the Huerta story. For decades, reporters, activists, historians and others who formed the narrative of Chicano civil rights treated her as a modern-day Mary Magdalene — a woman who found purpose by following a man. Chavez was positioned as the Christlike figure who toiled for all of us at great personal cost and thus anointed the face of the farmworkers movement. Meanwhile, he and others relegated Huerta to sidekick status, both in the trenches and in the public — and the image makers followed his lead.

She found more prominence after his death in 1993, but Chavez’s shadow loomed over her for too long. Huerta became one of Chavez’s fiercest defenders even after revelations about his autocratic ways became public — but what else was she supposed to do when people tied so much of her identity to him?

Through it all, Huerta showed up not just for la causa but for those of others. People in Bakersfield, where Huerta lives, know she’s a supporter of arts and live music — she was seen dancing with family members at a Mardis Gras party just last month, gladly taking photos with well-wishers. I have run into her at my wife’s restaurant in Santa Ana, at movie theaters in Los Angeles, during online fundraisers for museums. My favorite memory is the time we both spoke to students at a high school summer conference. Afterward, the organizers told me her speaking fee was a pittance compared to that of a famous Latina author who demanded $25,000 for an hour-long chat.

That’s why Huerta’s recent revelations hit particularly hard — unlike the long-sainted Chavez, she always seemed more like one of us. Huerta has cycled through the stages of life in the public eye in a way that has seen Latinos relate to her over the decades as our daughter, our sister, our aunt. Our mother, grandmother and now great-grandmother in the winter of her years.

We all know women in one of those roles who suffered the same violations Huerta did. The same dismissals and insults. Who never spoke about their ignominies because they were afraid we wouldn’t be there for them.

Huerta was once one of them.

“I believed that exposing the truth,” Huerta wrote in a short essay, “would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.”

By coming forward now, she’s speaking up for every woman who has kept their abuse private, every woman overlooked in favor of a man, every relative told to keep secrets lest they embarrass the family, every woman attacked for finally speaking up. By posting all those photos of Huerta — by herself, in a crowd, with others — people are publicly and unconsciously saying:

We can do better for the girls and women in our lives. We must do better.

“I have kept this secret long enough,” she concluded in her essay. “My silence ends here.”

May we all hear the Dolores Huertas in our lives. May we finally stand by them.

Luka (40 points), LeBron (30) lead Lakers

From Broderick Turner: The combination of Luka Doncic and LeBron James was overpowering and enthralling for all to see during the Lakers’ dynamic 124-116 win over the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on Wednesday.

Doncic was masterful with his near triple-double of 40 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

“I thought he definitely put on a clinic down the stretch,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Whether it was in isolation, versus fires in isolations, versus the shock with (Alperen) Segun, he just got us good offense whether for himself or for his teammates every single time down the floor….We moved the basketball, so that kind of got us going and then when Luka came back in he was just fantastic.”

James was a force with 30 points, five rebounds and two assists.

He was super efficient, missing just one of his 14 shots and making both of his three-pointers.

“Look, he was awesome tonight and I think two, part of the evolution of him on this team has been, particularly in this stretch, it’s just been his patience,” Redick said. “His patience, knowing he’s going to get the ball and he’s going to have transition opportunities and he’s going to have plays called for him and he’s going to play off-ball and get a corner three…He was great.”

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Plaschke: ‘Yeaaaaaah!’ A child’s cheer inspires surging Lakers

Lakers box score

NBA standings

Clippers lose to Pelicans

Saddiq Bey scored 25 points, Trey Murphy added 23 and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame an early 18-point hole to beat the Clippers 124-109 on Wednesday night.

Dejounte Murray had 17 points and 11 assists, while Zion Williamson and rookie Derrick Queen each scored 14 for the Pelicans, who received a standing ovation as the final seconds wound down on their sixth straight victory at home and ninth win in their last 13 games overall

Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points and John Collins added 18 for the Clippers, who dropped a game below .500 (34-35), but maintained a tenuous hold on the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference standings, a half-game ahead of Portland.

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Clippers box score

NBA standings

Ohtani looks good in start

From Maddie Lee: A sparse crowd braved the heat, which was approaching 100 degrees when Dodgers right-hander Shohei Ohtani walked off the mound at Camelback Ranch. But those who did were treated to a dominant pitching performance from the four-time MVP in his first start of spring training.

They repaid the favor with a standing ovation.

“I’ve learned that you don’t ever underestimate or try to make predictions on what Shohei’s going to do,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s always going to deliver. Yeah, I thought he would be a little bit more rusty than he was today. The breaking ball was good, got some swing and miss. The fastball command, he was working ahead in the count today. So across the board, really good.”

Ohtani limited the San Francisco Giants to one hit and overshot the innings goal Roberts laid out Wednesday morning by pitching to one batter in the fifth inning. Ohtani didn’t give up a run in those 4 ⅓ innings, and the only other blemishes on the performance were a pair of walks and a hit batter.

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‘It wasn’t just my name.’ Why Miguel Rojas was bothered by erroneous suspension report

Shaikin: The big hit? The WBC. Still looking for that big hit? Team USA.

WNBA, union, reach accord

From Marisa Ingemi: There will be a 2026 WNBA season.

After over more than 100 hours of in-person negotiations since March 10 in New York, the WNBA and its players union came to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning.

The deal will allow the season to begin on time, commissioner Cathy Engelbert said, and training camp to kick off at the end of April.

Before that, though, there is a lot to get done.

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Ducks fall to Flyers

Noah Cates scored on a deflection off goalie Lukas Dostal’s skate at 2:17 of overtime and — after a review for offsides on the play — the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Ducks 3-2 on Wednesday night.

The Pacific Division-leading Ducks forced overtime on Leo Carlsson’s goal with 1:54 left in regulation.

Dan Vladar made 34 saves to help Philadelphia rebound from a 2-1 shootout loss to Columbus at home Saturday night. The Flyers are six points behind Boston and Detroit for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots.

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Ducks summary

NHL standings

March Madness analysis

The NCAA men’s tournament bracket is set and the games are set to begin Tuesday with the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential underdog teams and what to know about the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

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The NCAA women’s basketball tournament bracket is set and the games will begin Wednesday with the start of the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential dark horse teams and game previews for every region in the 2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

Click here to continue

This day in sports history

1942 — The Thoroughbred Racing Associations of the United States is formed, with John C. Clark president.

1950 — Babe Didrikson Zaharias shoots a record 298 and beats Clair Doran by eight strokes to capture the U.S. Women’s Open.

1950 — The Rochester Royals win their 15th consecutive game, 97-66 over the Baltimore Bullets to set an NBA record for consecutive victories to close a season.

1955 — San Francisco wins the NCAA basketball championship with a 77-63 victory over La Salle.

1955 — Dick Ricketts and Si Green combine for 56 points to lead Duquesne to a 70-58 triumph over Dayton in the NIT championship.

1956 — The Minneapolis Lakers defeat the St. Louis Hawks 133-75 for the biggest rout in NBA playoff history.

1960 — Ohio State wins the NCAA basketball title with a 75-55 victory against California.

1960 — Mach Herndon’s 26 points leads Bradley to a 88-72 triumph over Providence for the NIT title. Lenny Wilkens scores 25 points for the Friars.

1966 — Texas Western, starting five Black players, wins the NCAA basketball championship with a 72-65 upset of all-white Kentucky.

1966 — BYU beats New York University 97-84 for the NIT championship.

1972 — The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women holds its first basketball championship and Immaculata beats West Chester State 52-48.

1972 — The Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors 162-99 for the most lopsided victory in NBA history.

1987 — Bonnie Blair skates ladies’ world record 500 m (39.43 sec)

1994 — Hartford’s Brian Propp reaches the 1,000-point mark with a goal in a 5-3 win over Philadelphia.

1995 — Chicago’s Michael Jordan returns from his 17-month retirement. Wearing No. 45, he shoots 7-of-28 from the field and scores 19 points in the Bulls’ 103-96 overtime loss at Indiana.

1998 — The U.S. women’s soccer team sustains the worst loss in its 13-year history, falling 4-1 to reigning World Cup champion Norway in the Algarve Cup.

2006 — Tennessee’s Candace Parker is the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game, jamming one-handed on a breakaway 6:12 into the second-seeded Lady Vols’ 102-54 victory against an Army team that was making its NCAA tournament debut.

2011 — Duke gives coach Mike Krzyzewski his 900th victory, a 73-71 win over Michigan, and the Blue Devils advance to the round of 16 for the 12th time in 14 years.

2014 — Chris Eversley scores 19 points to help Cal Poly become the first team in 59 years with 19 losses to win an NCAA tournament game, beating Texas Southern 81-69 in the First Four.

2015 — Lindsey Vonn wins the final super-G of the season and with it her 19th crystal globe trophy — equaling the record of Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.

2015 — R.J. Hunter’s three-pointer with 2.7 seconds remaining caps a comeback from a 12-point deficit and lifts 14th-seeded Georgia State over third-seeded Baylor 57-56 in the NCAA Tournament.

2015 — William Lee scores the last four points for 14th-seeded UAB in its 60-59 upset of Iowa State.

2019 — Houston Rockets guard James Harden becomes first player in NBA history to score at least 30 points against all 29 opponents in a single season with 31 in a 121-105 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

2022 — LeBron James moves past Karl Malone (36,909) into second on NBA’s all-time scoring list with 38 points in Lakers’ 127-119 loss to Washington Wizards.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

A group of attorneys general are taking legal action to block Nexstar Media Group’s proposed $6.2-billion acquisition of Tegna’s TV stations, calling the deal bad for consumer cable bills and local journalism.

A lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento says the proposed deal by eight state law enforcers, including California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, claims the proposed deal will give Nexstar too much control of local TV stations, ultimately hurting consumers by diminishing the diversity of news sources in their markets.

Bonta said in a statement that the deal will cause “irreparable harm to local news and consumers who rely on their reporting as a critical source of information.” The plaintiffs also include state attorneys general in Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia.

The Irving, Texas-based Nexstar is currently the largest station owner in the U.S., with 164 outlets including KTLA in Los Angeles. If the merger with Tegna succeeds, Nexstar would have 265 TV stations reaching 80% of the U.S. and multiple outlets in a number of markets.

The suit also claims that the merger would give Nexstar too much leverage in negotiating fees from pay-TV providers that carry their stations. Higher fees paid to Nexstar would be passed along to consumers in their cable and satellite bills, the lawsuit asserts.

Most of Nexstar’s stations are affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, all of which carry NFL football, the highest-rated programming on TV by a wide margin. Disputes over carriage fees between station owners and pay-TV providers often result in blackouts and service interruptions to consumers.

DirecTV, which serves around 11 million pay-TV subscribers in the U.S., filed a similar lawsuit in the same court on Thursday, claiming the Nexstar deal will “irreparably drive up consumer costs, reduce local competition, shutter local newsrooms, and increase both the frequency and duration of blackouts of key local teams and network programming.”

A Nexstar representative did not respond to a request to comment.

President Trump has said he favors Nexstar’s proposed deal. But every major TV station owner believes consolidation in the TV station business is necessary to thrive going forward as they battle to compete with streaming video platforms that have eaten away at their audience share.

The companies say they are at a disadvantage in competing with tech companies by being limited to owning stations in 39% of the U.S., a cap that was set in 2003.

Nexstar recently cut veteran anchors and on-air reporters from its stations in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Further reductions in local TV newsrooms would occur if Nexstar succeeds in acquiring Tegna, which would likely mean consolidation of local newsrooms in which it owns more than one station.

Most people think you can’t walk without an Achilles tendon. Jo Giese begs to differ, especially since she hikes without one.

The L.A. hiker, journalist and community activist shares her journey of recovery in her new 240-page book, “You’ll Never Walk Alone: A Hiker’s Memoir of Adventure, Tragedy, and Defying the Odds” (Amplify Publishing). Giese outlines how one fall down the stairs led to eight surgeries and a relentless search for answers for how she could return to the trails she loved.

“The reason I wrote the book is to inspire others,” Giese said, “that if you’re given a grim diagnosis — and it certainly doesn’t have to be your left Achilles — you do not have to accept it.”

Like many of us, Giese’s love of the outdoors started early. At age 5, she regularly took walks alone from her family’s home on Lake Washington Boulevard in Seattle. Wearing a frilly pinafore dress and Mary Jane shoes, she’d walk a few blocks to Seward Park, pausing at the playground, where she’d persuade someone to push her on the swing. That wasn’t the main goal of the trip, though.

“There is a path that leads up into the middle of the peninsula in this old growth forest. The canopies of the trees are two and three stories high. You’re just walking in this green wonderland,” Giese said. “And then after I finished walking all the way up as far as I wanted to go, I’d come back, and I’d walk back along [the route] and go home.”

Giese has been a walker and hiker ever since, falling in love with waterfall hikes in particular. Giese and her husband, Ed, split time between their house near L.A. and a home in Bozeman, Mont. They hike in the Santa Monica Mountains when they are home in Southern California, but Giese isn’t picky.

“I mainly hike anywhere I am,” Giese said.

That includes an epic vacation “jumping out of helicopters in New Zealand … in my late 60s,” she said. But neither that adventure nor any other is how Giese got injured.

It was a rainy night in late November in L.A. Giese was upstairs when her friend Lana arrived, and not wanting her friend to get drenched, Giese raced down the stairs to open the front door.

“I miss the bottom two steps, and I literally go flying horizontally,” Giese said. “My husband heard the crash. He came running, and I said, ‘Go let in Lana. She’s getting wet!’”

The trio immediately rushed to a nearby urgent care, where an X-ray showed a complete rupture of Giese’s left Achilles tendon, a thick band of tissue that attaches a person’s calf muscle to their heel bone.

Giese quickly called an orthopedist whom she’d seen for a simple knee procedure. He told her to come to his office the following day at 8 a.m. At the appointment, the doctor said, “‘I can do this. I did [an]

Achilles repair 20 or 30 years ago. I can do this,’” Giese recalled.

In hindsight, it’s clear she should have found someone who’d done an Achilles repair “20 or 30 minutes ago,” she said. But the relief of not having to wait for surgery mixed with the shock of the moment made Giese and her husband impulsive.

“We were so frightened then — I’m in a wheelchair, and I’m all black and blue and bruised. I cannot walk. And there is someone in front of me who says he can do this,” Giese said. “And that should be a lesson to anybody.”

After the surgery to reattach her Achilles, her doctor left for a two-week vacation while Giese was at home recuperating, studiously following the doctor’s after-care guidelines. At her follow-up appointment, the nurse was unwrapping the bandage when the doctor observed, “That’s necrotic.” At the time, Giese didn’t know that word essentially meant “dead.”

The doctor immediately blamed her, saying it was from an ice burn. Both she and her husband knew that wasn’t true. Another doctor would later suggest that the surgeon introduced the infection during that first surgery.

“I don’t think I’d been so scared since my encounter with a bear,” Giese wrote in her book.

Exactly 49 days from her accident, Giese was scheduled for another surgery (with a different doctor) to debride the wound and reattach her Achilles. It was supposed to take several hours. But less than an hour into surgery, her physician told Ed that Giese’s Achilles had died. Soon, he asked Giese if she wanted to see what was left of the largest and strongest tendon in the body.

It looked like “a nasty little caterpillar that had turned fetal, curled in on itself, and died in a sea of black-and-green muck,” Giese wrote.

Next, Giese needed a skin graft to cover the wound from the previous surgeries. After that, she returned to her doctor’s office — 114 days after her accident — where her doctor removed the bandages from that third surgery and suggested something revelatory: that Giese should put her left foot down, putting her whole weight on it.

“My naked left foot — heel and five toes — made intimate contact with a floor, a cold linoleum floor, for the first time since this medical journey had begun four months earlier,” Giese wrote. From here, she walked her first 20 steps.

But recovery would come in fits and spurts. About a month later, Giese wanted to attend a festival while in Austin, Texas, only to find the 10 blocks of booths and vendors too daunting. She went back to the hotel and screamed, “I cannot walk!”

From here, she demanded better care. Giese was tired of hearing medical professionals say they’d never encountered someone without an Achilles. She wanted to find someone who was experienced with complex muscle injuries.

Her search ended 274 days after her accident when she learned about the Center for Restorative Exercise in Northridge. Giese felt dubious about another physical therapist, though. She’d already been to three physical therapy clinics, and “those had been a waste of time, energy and hope,” she wrote. But here, she was met with science and intentionality.

Taylor-Kevin Isaacs, the clinic’s co-founder, told Giese that she had other muscles still intact that could help her walk again, and she luckily hadn’t suffered any nerve damage, Giese wrote in the book. She spent the next 2½ years working with the center’s staff, which included receiving acupuncture, shockwave therapy and scar tissue massage, which was so painful “you could have heard me screaming from where you are,” Giese said.

After she completed care at the center, Isaacs nominated Giese for an award she won — an Oboz Footwear “Local Hero” award in 2024.

On the photo shoot for the award, Giese hiked with a photographer along a trail to Ousel Falls, a 50-foot waterfall in Big Sky, Mont.

It had been five years since her accident, and Giese thought back to a medical appointment in Montana the first summer after her fall. A physical therapist that Giese had been working with for about a month asked her to walk about 50 feet across the room.

“I hate to be a Debbie Downer,” the therapist said, “but you’re going to be compromised for the rest of your life.”

At that point, Giese told me, all she had was hope — that she’d get better, that she’d walk again.

Here at the waterfall, Giese told the photographer they should take the steps down to the splashdown area for a better shot. She was ready, navigating black ice like she’d done many times before the accident.

“My thought was, ‘If only that person could see me now,’” she said. “This person who said, ‘You’re going to be compromised the rest of your life, and you have to accept it.’ I thought, ‘No, I don’t.’”

3 things to do

1. Have a home run of a hike in L.A.
The Dodgers Blue Hiking Crew will host an intermediate hike at 6:30 a.m. Sunday at Griffith Park. Participants are required to wear hiking or trail shoes or boots. The group’s hikes are usually six miles and last about three hours. Register at facebook.com.

2. Clear the trail near Ojai
Los Padres Forest Assn. will host a workday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday along the Potrero John Trail. Volunteers will meet at the Cozy Dell Trailhead before carpooling to the work site. The trail features jagged rock formations, a perennial creek and bigcone Douglas fir. Register at lpforest.salsalabs.org.

3. Wander through nature’s wonders in Whittier
The California Native Plants Society San Gabriel Mountains chapter will host an easy hike from 9 to 11 a.m. Sunday through Sycamore Canyon in the Puente Hills. Cris Sarabia, conservation director for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, will educate hikers on plants along the trail, both native and nonnative species. Participants should wear long pants to protect against poison oak. Register at eventbrite.com.

The must-read

Perhaps you’re reading this from a dark room, blinds drawn, fan blowing, praying for a return to spring. That’s definitely the scene where I’m writing to you! Whenever L.A. experiences an intense heat wave, I feel a little trapped. That’s why this week I updated our list of the best hikes around L.A. that will offer you shade and, in most cases, streams and rivers where you can cool down.

Please take good care, though. Hike before 11 a.m., stay hydrated and only cross creeks when you feel safe doing so.

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

Our recent weather pattern — heavy rains followed by intense heat waves — has meant wildflower season came earlier than expected in several regions of Southern California. Times contributor Jessie Schiewe outlines in this guide the hiking areas where you’ll most likely find recent blooms. For example, Towsley Canyon in Newhall, an area I have yet to visit, is likely a spot where you’ll find bright orange poppies. Want to learn a quick hack that I use to better ensure I will see blooms? Search iNaturalist, a citizen science app, for the flower you’d like to see, using the filter option to only view posts from the last two weeks. If users have recently posted, for example, about spotting poppies, your chances are higher that you will too. Keep on reading The Wild, and I promise I will keep giving you my secrets of outdoors reporting!

For the Record: Last week’s edition of The Wild said decentralized seed banks would be built by procuring seeds from L.A. County nature centers. A decentralized seed bank will be developed to procure seeds for and by L.A. County nature centers.

For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.

The line at Holbox during the midweek lunch hour has become a cultural sensation, a queue of locals and visitors trailing past the automatic doors and around the parking lot like devotees angling for the latest iPhone series or limited-release sneakers. Believe the lauds, including ours when we named Holbox as The Times’ 2023 Restaurant of the Year. Gilberto Cetina’s command of mariscos is unmatched in Southern California – his ceviches, aguachiles and tostadas revolutionary in their freshness and jigsaw-intricate flavors. The smoked kanpachi taco alone — clinched with queso Chihuahua and finished with salsa cruda, avocado and drizzles of peanut salsa macha — is one of the most sophisticated things to eat in Los Angeles.

Holbox could be considered for the top ranking on its own strength. But in a year when disasters tore at our city, honoring the power of community feels more urgent than ever. Cetina’s seafood counter doesn’t thrive in a vacuum. Holbox resides inside the Mercado La Paloma in South L.A. The mercado is the economic-development arm of the Esperanza Community Housing Corp., a nonprofit organization founded in 1989 that counts affordable housing and equitable healthcare among its core missions. When the mercado was in the incubation stage, Esperanza’s executive director Nancy Ibrahim interviewed would-be restaurateurs about their challenges and hopes in starting a business. Among the candidates was Cetina’s father, Gilberto Sr., who proposed a stall serving his family’s regionally specific dishes from the Yucatán. Their venture, Chichén Itzá, was among the eight startups when the mercado opened in a former garment factory nearly 25 years ago, in February 2001.

Step into the 35,000-square-foot market today, and the smell of corn warms the senses. Fátima Juárez chose masa as her medium when she began working with Cetina at Holbox in 2017. Komal, the venue she opened last year with her husband, Conrado Rivera, is the only molino in L.A. grinding and nixtamalizing heirloom corn varieties daily. Among her deceptively spare menu of mostly quesadillas and tacos, start with the extraordinary quesadilla de flor de calabaza, a creased blue corn tortilla, bound by melted quesillo, arrayed with squash blossoms radiating like sunbeams.

Wander farther, past the communal sea of tiled tables between Holbox and Komal, to find jewels that first-timers or even regular visitors might overlook.

Taqueria Vista Hermosa, run by Raul Morales and his family, is the other remaining original tenant. Order an al pastor taco, or Morales’ specialty of Michoacan-style fish empapelado smothered in vegetables and wrapped in banana leaf. The lush, orange-scented cochinita pibil is the obvious choice next door at still-flourishing Chichén Itzá, but don’t overlook crackling kibi and the brunchy huevos motuleños over ham and black bean puree. The weekends-only tacos de barbacoa de chivo are our favorites at the stand called Oaxacalifornia, though we swing through any time for the piloncillo-sweetened café de olla and a scoop of smoked milk ice cream from its sibling juice and snack bar in the market’s center. Looking for the comfort of noodles? Try the pad see ew at Thai Corner Food Express in the far back.

The everyday and the exquisite; the fast and the formal (just try to score a reservation for Holbox’s twice-a-week tasting menu); a food hall and sanctuary for us all. Mercado La Paloma embodies the Los Angeles we love.

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL, SOFTBALL SCORES
Wednesday’s Results

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION
Arleta 7, VAAS 1
Bell 12, Huntington Park 0
Birmingham 9, Chatsworth 3
Bravo 18, King/Drew 0
Canoga Park 7, AMIT 5
Carson 3, San Pedro 1
Cleveland 10, Granada Hills 4
El Camino Real 5, Taft 0
Fremont 13, Stella 0
Fulton 17, Panorama 6
Garfield 6, LA Roosevelt 1
Monroe 11, Van Nuys 1
Northridge Academy 10, East Valley 0
Palisades 12, LA Hamilton 2 (5 innings)
SOCES 13, Reseda 0
South Gate 4, South East 2
Vaughn 13, Grant 0
Venice 10, Westchester 0 (5 innings)
Wilmington Banning 4, Narbonne 3

SOUTHERN SECTION
Alta Loma 8, Rancho Cucamonga 4
Aquinas 7, Arrowhead Christian 2
Ayala 7, Northview 1
Baldwin Park 7, Garey 2
Beaumont 6, Riverside Notre Dame 1
Bishop Diego 18, Del Sol 1
Bloomington Christian 18, Joshua Springs Christian 6
Brea Olinda 5, Anaheim Canyon 2
Canyon Springs 5, Riverside North 4
Carpinteria 4, Fillmore 1
Century 11, Godinez 1
Cerritos 7, Garden Grove 1
Chaparral 16, Cornerstone Christian 2
Claremont 2, Walnut 1
Colony 13, Chaffey 3
Corona 8, Riverside King 3
Corona Santiago 9, Eastvale Roosevelt 4
Crean Lutheran 15, Esperanza 9
El Modena 7, Katella 3
El Segundo 8, St. Bernard 1
El Toro 8, Sunny Hills 0
Foothill Tech 19, Cate 1
Fountain Valley 7, Capistrano Valley 2
Harvard-Westlake 17, Alemany 0
Hemet 21, Perris 1
Hesperia 17, Apple Valley 7
Highland 6, Quartz Hill 2
Hillcrest 16, Lakeside 0
Huntington Beach 5, Marina 3
Indian Springs 14, Pacific 4
Indio 20, Desert Hot Springs 2
Knight 14, Antelope Valley 0
Laguna Beach 7, Sage Hill 1
La Canada 7, South Pasadena 6
Lakewood 19, Long Beach Cabrillo 4
La Mirada 7, Riverside Prep 0
Littlerock 15, Eastside 1
Loma Linda Academy 16, Redlands Adventist Academy 5
Long Beach Wilson 12, Compton 0
Los Alamitos 7, Edison 6
Loyola 11, St. Francis 0
Miller 11, San Bernardino 0
Millikan 10, Long Beach Jordan 0
Mira Costa 19, West Torrance 2
Newport Harbor 4, Corona del Mar 2
New Roads 24, Shalhevet 1
Norco 12, Corona Centennial 4
Nordhoff 1, Channel Islands 0
North Torrance 6, Peninsula 4
Oak Park 5, Malibu 1
Orange Lutheran 8, Damien 5
Palmdale 8, Lancaster 7
Paloma Valley 7, Moreno Valley 5
Palos Verdes 7, Torrance 3
Patriot 9, La Sierra 2
Portola 13, St. Margaret’s 1
Ramona 23, Jurupa Valley 3
Rancho Christian 13, Citrus Hill 0
Rancho Verde 14, Vista del Lago 0
Ridgecrest Burroughs 7, Oak Hills 6
Riverside Poly 8, Arlington 5
Royal 12, Camarillo 0
Rubidoux 6, Norte Vista 2
Salesian 8, Flintridge Prep 5
San Clemente 7, El Dorado 3
Santa Fe 8, El Rancho 7
Santa Paula 8, Hueneme 1
Saugus 11, Canyon Country Canyon 4
Serrano 4, Sultana 3
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 11, Chaminade 0
Sierra Canyon 14, Crespi 3
Sierra Vista 4, Azusa 3
Simi Valley 6, Moorpark 5
St. John Bosco 5, JSerra 1
Temecula Valley 15, Capistrano Valley Christian 4
United Christian Academy 20, California Military Institute 7
University Prep 5, Vasquez 1
Valencia 10, Hart 10
Valley View 11, Orange Vista 2
Vista Murrieta 10, Chino Hills 1
Warren 5, Downey 3
West Ranch 8, Castaic 5
Whittier 3, California 2
Windward 4, Culver City 3
Yorba Linda 5, San Juan Hills 4
Yucaipa 9, San Dimas 5

INTERSECTIONAL
Bakersfield Liberty 16, Heritage 2
Santa Margarita 15, Brother Rice (MI) 3

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION
Animo Venice 14, Middle College 3
Bravo 13, Arleta 0
LAAAE 24, Animo Watts 6
LA Hamilton 18, Hollywood 2
Monroe 22, Fulton 13
Orthopaedic 17, Fremont 5
Paramount 7, Marquez 0
Sun Valley Poly 14, Cleveland 2
Sylmar 19, Canoga Park 0
Van Nuys 7, Reseda 6
Verdugo Hills 17, North Hollywood 4

SOUTHERN SECTION
Anaheim 7, Garden Grove Santiago 6
Aquinas 10, Arrowhead Christian 0
Arbor View 8, Sierra Canyon 1
Ayala 15, Walnut 2
Bonita 2, Diamond Bar 0
Canyon Springs 16, Vista del Lago 10
Colony 2, Covina 2
Costa Mesa 17, Orange 10
Crean Lutheran 11, Laguna Hills 1
Duarte 21, Nogales 9
Eastside 17, Golden Valley 14
Edgewood 12, West Covina 10
El Monte 21, Workman 13
El Toro 5, Woodbridge 3
Etiwanda 8, Crescenta Valley 4
Garey 14, Baldwin Park 4
Hesperia 16, Fontana 4
Lakewood St. Joseph 6, Norwalk 0
Magnolia 18, Estancia 7
Mater Dei 8, Villa Park 6
Miller 9, San Bernardino 2
Newbury Park 2, Oak Park 1
Norte Vista 17, Rubidoux 4
Oaks Christian 6, Rio Mesa 1
Ontario Christian 8, University Prep 2
Paloma Valley 5, Corona Santiago 3
Patriot 15, La Sierra 0
Peninsula 20, Narbonne 12
Ramona 8, Jurupa Valley 0
Ramona Convent 4, Viewpoint 3
Redlands East Valley 4, San Jacinto 0
Riverside King 11, Arlington 1
Riverside North 16, Redlands 0
Santa Ana Valley 8, Loara 5
St. Genevieve 14, St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 12
Tahquitz 11, Cathedral City 4
Valley Christian 10, Long Beach Wilson 2

INTERSECTIONAL
Burbank Providence 16, Fairfax 1
Mira Costa 2, Legacy 1
Paramount 7, Marquez 0
Peninsula 20, Narbonne 12
Wilmington Banning 4, Redondo 3

Carly Rae Jepsen is officially in her mother era.

The Grammy-nominated “Call Me Maybe” pop star and her husband, music producer Cole M.G.N., welcomed their first child together months after tying the knot last fall. Jepsen, 40, revealed the arrival of her little one on Instagram.

“Last 2 weeks have been the best of my life,” the Canadian singer-songwriter captioned a photo shared to her Instagram story on Tuesday. The photo, a mirror selfie, shows Jepsen all smiles in a leopard-print bucket hat, white shirt and black shorts as she cradles her child, who wears a green-striped onesie.

“Welcome to the world little one,” Jepsen wrote.

“Run Away With Me” singer Jepsen and music producer Cole M.G.N. — whose full name is Cole Marsden Greif-Neil — exchanged their vows in late October at the Chelsea Hotel in New York, three years after striking up a romance in 2022. A month later, Jepsen announced she and her husband were expecting.

“Oh hi baby,” she captioned a set of baby-bump-baring photos shared to Instagram in November. In the tender maternity shoot, Jepsen cradles her bump in bed alongside Marsden Greif-Neil. Jepsen continued posting on Instagram about her maternity journey with fans, in January posting photos from the beach, from home and from fitting rooms as she spoke about finding a lullaby for her child-to-be.

On Tuesday, she channeled a Frankie Valli classic to express her “Emotion” about being a mother: “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”

Last year, Jepsen celebrated 10 years of her cult-favorite album “Emotion,” the follow-up to her 2012 smash hit “Call Me Maybe.” She celebrated the milestone with a lively anniversary concert in August at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, featuring celebrity guests and moments of reflection.

“I had brought a little suitcase, and I kept calling my parents and saying, ‘Send more clothes!’” Jepsen said, recalling her move to Los Angeles from her native Canada when she was 26. “Five years later, I was like, I think I live here now. I’m very happy to say L.A. has become my home.”

Pop music critic Mikael Wood contributed to this report.

PHOENIX — Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas addressed an erroneous report from earlier in the week with understanding while also making his feelings clear.

On Monday, a senior baseball writer at the Athletic misidentified Rojas as the recipient of an 80-game suspension for the use of a banned substance on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. It was in fact Phillies outfielder Johan Rojas who had tested positive for Boldenone. The writer, Evan Drellich, quickly deleted the post and corrected it.

“I’m not frustrated because of the report, because we are all humans and we make mistakes,” Rojas said Wednesday morning in front of his locker at Camelback Ranch. “I was expecting a little bit more of an apology, not just to me, but the organization. Because it wasn’t just my name, it was pretty clear that it says, ‘Miguel Rojas from the Los Angeles Dodgers.’ And I don’t think anybody in this organization should be kind of freaking out and jumping out of their seats for the six or seven minutes that it happened.”

Rojas saw the correction post as an opportunity to issue that apology.

“It wasn’t just my name, it was the organization that I represent too, and that’s really important to me,” he said. “So that’s the only thing that I’m kind of bothered [by].”

Later on Wednesday, Drellich followed up with another post: “To Miguel Rojas and the Dodgers, I sincerely and publicly apologize. I’ve reached out to Miguel, the Dodgers and Miguel’s agent to say the same. Once again, I’m sorry.”

In the midst of the fallout from the report, Rojas watched Team Venezuela, who he would have represented in the World Baseball Classic if it weren’t for insurance issues, win the tournament with a victory against the United States in Tuesday’s final.

“It was really special to see my kids kind finding joy in that moment that the third strike was called,” he said, noting that his children were born in the United States. “And they felt Venezuelan the same as I did, and every other family in Venezuela.”

Rojas said he’d moved on after the insurance snag.

“When I made my last post, when I came to spring training, I made a decision of being another fan and supporting from any anywhere that I was going to be,” he said. “Because I knew I wasn’t going to be there anymore. So I had to kind of remove myself from the possibility of playing, and now I’m just becoming another Venezuelan pulling for a team that are getting ready and preparing for something like that.”

Rainelle Krause, a coloratura soprano who went viral for singing a signature aria while hanging upside down from aerial silks, has died after a short hospitalization, her family announced “with immense sadness” Tuesday on social media. She was 37.

“Rainelle was a force in our lives, a brilliant talent defined by grit, fearlessness, curiosity, intelligence, integrity, and resilience,” the family said in a statement on Instagram. “Onstage, her voice matched the breathtaking power of her spirit. Offstage, she was a loving, caring soul whose vibrant energy lit up everyone around her. Our hearts are full from the years we shared, even as we’re shocked that her skyrocketing career was cut short.”

The family gave no further details about the circumstances of her death but said they were grateful to have Krause’s “preserved performances” to revisit. They said they would be planning a celebration of life “at a later date” but wanted to share the sad news now with friends and fans.

“Rainelle always gave her very best, pouring her heart into her art and those she loved,” the family said. “The best way we can honor her memory is by living her values every day. We encourage you to keep her memory alive by sharing her beautiful performances.”

Krause, whose website dubbed the Queen of the Night in “The Magic Flute” as her signature role, debuted in that role at the Metropolitan Opera over the holidays. She did the same last fall at Opera Atelier in Toronto.

“Although we knew Rainelle for only a matter of months, we will never forget her astonishing talent. We were awed by her bravery and daring and deeply moved by her willingness to draw all of us into her circle of friends,” Opera Atelier said Wednesday on social media. “Beautiful, generous, talented and kind, Rainelle is irreplaceable and will always hold a unique place in our memories.”

Born in Florida, Krause graduated from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music with a bachelor’s in music and a master’s degree in music in vocal performance. The English National Opera said she trained with the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy in Germany, the OperaWorks Advanced Artist Program in Los Angeles, Opera Las Vegas, the Taos Opera Institute and Opera Nova Costa Rica.

She performed with opera companies in Nashville and Atlanta, and in Texas she sang with the Dallas Opera, with symphony orchestras in Irving and Plano, and with a master chorale in Amarillo. She was set to debut with the Santa Fe Opera in May.

Internationally, Krause’s “The Magic Flute” performances included gigs in Berlin, Copenhagen and elsewhere. Roles outside of the Queen of the Night included the title role in “Lucia di Lammermoor,” the princess in “The Snow Queen,” Zerlina in “Don Giovanni” and Pat Nixon in “Nixon in China.”

As for her viral acrobatic performances, those appeared to have been on hold in the year before her death.

“I can’t even begin to express how much I miss aerial work,” Krause wrote last March on social media. “I’ve been dealing with horrendous shoulder impingement for months, I’ve been in physical therapy since last summer, I’m continuously learning new ways to attempt to build strength and fluency in order to support my VERY hypermobile joints.

“I am in pain most days,” she continued. “But I’m not giving up, I’m seeing incremental improvements, and I will fly again — this time working in concert with the body I have, instead of forcing myself to ‘just put in the work’ with all the wrong pathways.”

Yamamoto is honored

From Maddie Lee: The first pitch of the Dodgers’ 2026 season won’t capture the exuberance of the last pitch of 2025. But it will be meaningful in its own right, as the official first step of the team’s quest for a third straight championship.

How poetic that the same arm should deliver both pitches.

“It’s an honor for me,” Dodgers opening day starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto said Tuesday through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “And then it’s opening day at a Dodger Stadium home game, and that’s very [much an] honor to me. I also feel the responsibility.”

Yamamoto is scheduled to make one more Cactus League start, against the Padres on Friday, before taking the Dodger Stadium mound next Thursday when the Diamondbacks come to town. It will be the second opening-day start of Yamamoto’s MLB career, and his first at home.

It will also mark the end of a whirlwind offseason and spring training for Yamamoto, who not only shouldered a demanding postseason workload, but also navigated an especially quick turnaround to pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic.

“It’s hard to put into words,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He is just very driven, he’s very disciplined in his work. That’s some of the things that allows him to compete at a high level. Where most people would feel that you win the World Series MVP, you don’t have enough to pitch in the WBC. He wanted to pitch for his country, and now he’s really excited about the start of 2026.

“He is a very determined person. He really is. We’re just lucky he’s on our team.”

Continue reading here

‘There’s endless possibilities.’ Mookie Betts embraces Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s training methods

March Madness analysis

The NCAA men’s tournament bracket is set and the games are set to begin Tuesday with the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential underdog teams and what to know about the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Click here to continue

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The NCAA women’s basketball tournament bracket is set and the games will begin Wednesday with the start of the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential dark horse teams and game previews for every region in the 2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

Click here to continue

Alabama guard Aden Holloway arrested on felony drug charge days before NCAA tournament

NFL mock draft

From Sam Farmer: NFL teams are living on the edge.

Sure, it’s a quarterback’s league, but a major focus of the upcoming NFL draft will be about getting to the quarterback. This class is loaded with talented pass rushers, and teams figure to take advantage of that early and often. This mock draft has edge rushers off the board with the second, third and fourth selections.

How appropriate that the April 23-25 draft will be held for the first time in Pittsburgh, birthplace of the Steel Curtain.

The Steelers, incidentally, take a receiver in this mock — and there are lots of talented prospects at that spot, too. This contemplates the Rams selecting USC receiver Makai Lemon, although it’s entirely possible that the sure-handed Trojans star will already be gone by the time the 13th pick rolls around.

The Chargers, meanwhile, take an offensive lineman to address the need that haunted them all last season after they were ravaged by injuries up front.

One look at how the draft could unfold:

Continue reading here

Venezuela defeats the U.S. to win the World Baseball Classic

Venezuela won the World Baseball Classic for the first time, rebounding from a blown eighth-inning lead to beat the United States 3-2 Tuesday night on Eugenio Suárez’s tiebreaking double in the ninth.

Maikel Garcia’s third-inning sacrifice fly and Wilyer Abreu’s fifth-inning homer off rookie Nolan McLean built a 2-0 lead before a roaring pro-Latin America crowd. Meanwhile, left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez and lights-out relievers limited the Americans to two hits through the seventh.

Bobby Witt Jr. walked with two out in the eighth and Bryce Harper drove the second straight changeup from Andrés Machado over the center-field fence for a two-run homer that tied it. Harper slowly trotted around the bases and took time at third to salute coach Dino Ebel.

Luis Arraez walked against Garrett Whitlock starting the ninth. Pinch-runner Javier Sanoja stole second just ahead of catcher Will Smith’s throw and came home when Suárez doubled to the left-center gap. Suárez spread his arms wide and pointed to the sky at second base while teammates streamed from the dugout to greet Sanoja at the plate.

Daniel Palencia struck out two in a perfect bottom half to finish a three-hitter and get his third save of the WBC, striking out Roman Anthony to end the game. Venezuelans ran onto the infield to celebrate as the Americans stared while leaning on their dugout railing.

Continue reading here

Shaikin: U.S. showing class at WBC no matter how the White House might react to a title

This day in sports history

1945 — Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens becomes the first NHL player to score 50 goals in a season during a 4-2 triumph over the Boston Bruins in the final game of the season.

1950 — CCNY beats Bradley 69-61 for the NIT championship.

1953 — Don Schlundt scores 30 points to lead Indiana to a 69-68 victory over Kansas for the NCAA basketball championship.

1990 — Jeff Fryer’s 41 points leads Loyola Marymount to a 149-115 victory over defending national champion Michigan in the highest-scoring game in NCAA tournament history.

1993 — Santa Clara beats Arizona 64-61 to become the second 15th-seeded team to win a first-round game in the NCAA tournament.

1995 — Michael Jordan announces he is ending his 17-month NBA retirement.

2001 — Indiana’s Reggie Miller becomes the first player in NBA history to accumulate 2,000 three-pointers after hitting four in a 101-95 win over Sacramento.

2008 — The Houston Rockets’ 22-game winning streak comes to an end. Kevin Garnett scores 22 points and Paul Pierce adds 20 as the Celtics beat the Rockets 94-74, stopping Houston’s remarkable run.

2009 — New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur breaks Patrick Roy’s NHL record for career wins by a goaltender. Brodeur records his 552nd win in a 3-2 decision over the Chicago Blackhawks.

2013 — LeBron James and the Miami Heat escape Boston with their 23rd win in a row, the second longest win streak in NBA history. James scores 37 points and makes the go-ahead basket with 10.5 seconds left in Miami’s 105-103 victory.

2015 — Lindsey Vonn wins the World Cup downhill title for the seventh time, winning the last race in the discipline at the World Cup finals in Meribel, France.

2016 — Middle Tennessee State sends a big shock through the men’s NCAA Tournament, topping second-seeded Michigan State 90-81 in the first round. Middle Tennessee never trails the Spartans (29-6) in one of the biggest upsets since the tournament began seeding teams in 1985.

2016 — Thomas Walkup scores 33 points and 14th-seeded Stephen F. Austin takes down West Virginia’s full-court pressure with some of its own in-your-face defense, pulling off a 70-56 first-round upset of the third-seeded Mountaineers in the NCAA Tournament.

2017 — Kalani Brown scores 21 points and top-seeded Baylor overwhelms much smaller Texas Southern 119-30, the most lopsided women’s NCAA Tournament game. The 89-point margin breaks the previous record 74-point win by Tennessee over North Carolina A&T (111-37) in 1994. Baylor’s 119 points are the most scored in regulation of a women’s NCAA Tournament game, surpassing the previous record 116.

2017 — Texas A&M pulls off the biggest comeback in women’s NCAA Tournament history, rallying from a 21-point deficit for a 63-61 victory over Penn to close out the first round of the NCAAs. The fifth-seeded Aggies finish the game on a 25-1 run to beat the 12th-seeded Quakers.

2018 — Tennessee loses for the first time at home in women’s NCAA Tournament history. Marie Gulich has 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead sixth-seed Oregon State to a 66-59 win. The third-seeded Lady Vols had been 57-0 at home, with most of those victories coming under late Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt.

2019 — 40-year old Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki overtakes Wilt Chamberlain to move into sixth place with 31,424 points on the NBA scorers’ list; Mavs suffer 129-125 OT loss to New Orleans Pelicans.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL, SOFTBALL SCORES
Tuesday’s Results

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION
Collins Family 10, Smidt Tech 6

SOUTHERN SECTION
AAE 12, ACE 2
Agoura 13, Trinity Classical Academy 1
Alemany 6, Harvard-Westlake 5
Alhambra 16, Schurr 0
Ambassador 5, Shalhevet 4
Anaheim 9, Bolsa Grande 7
Arcadia 18, Hoover 2
Anza Hamilton 13, California Lutheran 3
Banning 12, Rim of the World 7
Beverly Hills 12, Inglewood 6
Bishop Amat 13, St. Paul 3
Bloomington 10, Colton 4
Bonita 9, Charter Oak 6
Brea Olinda 2, El Modena 1
Brentwood 8, Campbell Hall 2
Buckley 12, Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 1
Buena 10, Oxnard 8
Cantwell-Sacred Heart 12, St. Monica 2
Capistrano Valley Christian 19, Webb 1
Chadwick 5, Flintridge Prep 4
Chino 14, Chaffey 1
CIMSA 9, Lucerne Valley 7
Crescenta Valley 12, Pasadena 0
Crossroads 6, Viewpoint 4
Culver City 16, Leuzinger 3
Cypress 5, Villa Park 3
Dana Hills 6, Linfield Christian 4
Desert Christian Academy 19, California Military Institute 3
Desert Hot Springs 8, Desert Mirage 2
Diamond Bar 11, Hacienda Heights Wilson 1
Don Lugo 11, Montclair 3
Downey 6, Warren 3
Edgewood 15, El Monte 0
Environmental Charter 16, Animo Leadership 9
Estancia 2, Loara 0
Firebaugh 19, Dominguez 9
Fontana 10, Big Bear 0
Ganesha 1, Mission Viejo 0
Grand Terrace 5, Rialto 0
Heritage Christian 5, Village Christian 3
Huntington Beach 6, Marina 1
Irvine University 7, Irvine 4
Kaiser 12, Eisenhower 2
Katella 12, Buena Park 4
Laguna Hills 8, Ocean View 6
La Mirada 4, Etiwanda 2
Lawndale 2, Compton Centennial 0
Los Alamitos 5, Edison 3
Los Amigos 15, Garden Grove Santiago 1
Magnolia 5, Western 4
Maranatha 10, Whittier Christian 0
Mark Keppel 5, Bell Gardens 3
Mary Star of the Sea 9, Salesian 7
Montebello 14, San Gabriel 0
Murrieta Valley 4, El Toro 2
New Roads 10, de Toledo 0
Newport Harbor 5, Corona del Mar 1
Norwalk 9, Lynwood 3
Nuview Bridge 12, San Jacinto Leadership Academy 2
Ontario 3, Diamond Ranch 2
Orange 17, Rancho Alamitos 1
Orange County Pacifica Christian 14, Western Christian 8
Oxnard Pacifica 10, Dos Pueblos 2
Paraclete 8, Cathedral 3
Redlands 10, San Gorgonio 1
Rio Hondo Prep 4, Pasadena Poly 2
Rio Mesa 4, Santa Barbara 1
Riverside Notre Dame 13, Hesperia Christian 2
Rosemead 22, Southlands Christian 1
Rowland 11, Pasadena Marshall 9
San Marcos 7, Ventura 3
San Jacinto Valley Academy 12, Santa Rosa Academy 7
Santa Ana 13, Godinez Fundamental 0
Santa Ana Foothill 11, Citrus Valley 0
Santa Clarita Christian 8, Desert Christian 6
Savanna 7, Westminster La Quinta 0
Servite 6, Aliso Niguel 2
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 13, Chaminade 2
Sierra Canyon 3, Crespi 1
SLOCA 13, Coast Union 2
St. Anthony 7, Bosco Tech 1
St. Bonaventure 17, Grace 0
St. Francis 6, Loyola 2
St. John Bosco 6, JSerra 0
St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 18, St. Genevieve 4
Summit 22, Jurupa Hills 4
Tahquitz 4, Elsinore 0
Temescal Canyon 7, Murrieta Mesa 5
Temecula Prep 13, SJDLCS 3
United Christian Academy 26, Sherman Indian 4
Upland 3, Glendora 0
Villanova Prep 1, Ojai Valley 0
Westminster 7, Placentia Valencia 5
West Valley 9, San Jacinto 8
Woodbridge 5, Northwood 0

INTERSECTIONAL
Bellflower 6, Legend 1
Gahr 5, T.C. Roberson (NC) 2
La Habra 7, Henderson (NV) Liberty 1
Redondo Union 2, Valor Christian (CO) 0
Redondo Union 10, Las Vegas (NV) Desert Oasis 1
Stoneman Douglas (FL) 7, Santa Margarita 6

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION
Central City Value 15, CNDLC 0

SOUTHERN SECTION
Agoura 9, Rio Mesa 0
Alhambra 18, Westridge 0
Alta Loma 5, Rancho Cucamonga 4
Anza Hamilton 2, Temecula Prep 1
Arcadia 12, San Dimas 7
Beaumont 14, Apple Valley 3
Big Bear 13, ACE 3
Bishop Amat 14, Bishop Montgomery 1
Brea Olinda 7, El Dorado 6
Brentwood 16, Crossroads 4
Cajon 14, Sultana 3
California 4, La Serna 3
Calvary Baptist 7, Bethel Christian 0
Cantwell-Sacred Heart 11, St. Anthony 1
Carter 11, Kaiser 8
Chino 18, Chaffey 8
CIMSA 21, Lucerne Valley 1
Colony 6, Jurupa Hills 4
CSDR 1, NSLA 0
Dana Hills 5, Tesoro 3
Desert Chapel 20, Public Safety Academy 17
Desert Christian Academy 15, California Military Institute 11
Desert Hot Springs 19, Desert Mirage 3
Don Lugo 23, Montclair 1
Dos Pueblos 23, Oxnard Pacifica 1
Downey 21, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 6
Eastside 11, Antelope Valley 1
Edison d. Newport Harbor, forfeit
Eisenhower 16, San Gorgonio 3
El Modena 13, Anaheim Canyon 5
El Segundo 9, North Torrance 3
El Toro 12, Irvine 0
Fillmore 16, Nordhoff 0
Firebaugh 18, Compton Early College 3
Flintridge Prep 19, Mountain View 4
Flintridge Sacred Heart 4, Muir 2
Ganesha 11, Corona Centennial 5
Garden Grove Pacifica 6, Eastvale Roosevelt 5
Glendora 13, Claremont 5
Grace 14, Foothill Tech 0
Grand Terrace 10, Summit 0
Great Oak 4, Chaparral 0
Harvard-Westlake 11, Louisville 7
Highland 14, Littlerock 3
HMSA 21, Animo Leadership 1
Hesperia 7, Adelanto 6
Hueneme 13, Channel Islands 10
Huntington Beach 14, Corona del Mar 0
Immaculate Heart 17, Webb 4
Indio 14, Tahquitz 2
JSerra 8, Aliso Niguel 2
La Canada 5, San Marino 2
La Salle 11, Ramona Convent 1
Lawndale 28, Compton Centennial 9
Leuzinger 6, Culver City 5
Maranatha 21, Pasadena 0
Marymount 18, Lennox Academy 9
Mayfield 10, Montebello 8
Monrovia 13, South Pasadena 2
Murrieta Mesa 12, Temecula Valley 0
Nuview Bridge 22, San Jacinto Leadership 3
Oak Park 24, Calabasas 2
Ontario 7, Diamond Ranch 0
Oxnard 8, Buena 1
Paraclete 6, St. Paul 0
Placentia Valencia 5, Buena Park 2
Quartz Hill 11, Lancaster 0
Rialto 12, Arroyo Valley 10
Ridgecrest Burroughs 9, Barstow 1
Riverside North 13, Linfield Christian 3
Rosary Academy 25, Bishop Conaty-Loretto 1
Rowland 13, El Monte 6
Royal 11, Newbury Park 4
San Juan Hills 12, Garden Grove 4
Santa Monica 13, Hawthorne 0
San Marcos 1, Ventura 0
Santa Rosa Academy 18, San Jacinto Valley Academy 3
Saugus 13, Canyon Country Canyon 2
South Torrance 7, Wiseburn-Da Vinci 4
St. Bonaventure 18, Bishop Diego 0
St. Monica 15, Mary Star of the Sea 14
Twentynine Palms 13, Moreno Valley 6
United Christian Academy 18, Sherman Indian 3
Valencia 4, Hart 3
Viewpoint 10, Archer 0
Warren 15, Norwalk 3
Western Christian 6, Ontario Christian 5
Westlake 12, Moorpark 6
West Ranch 13, Castaic 5
West Valley 16, Bloomington 15
Whittier 16, El Rancho 11
Woodcrest Christian 15, Perris 1
Yorba Linda 19, Beckman 10

INTERSECTIONAL
Bonsai 20, Victor Christian Academy 7

Just like regular consumers at the gas station, airlines refueling in Los Angeles are being forced to adjust to higher prices at the pump.

Jet fuel prices have shot up, and experts say airfares are following suit.

With a busy summer travel season approaching, airlines are starting to pass the costs on to passengers through higher fares and fees.

“Whenever there’s a surge in oil prices, the airlines end up passing that to the consumers immediately,” said Diego Bufquin, director of hospitality management and entrepreneurship at Tulane University. “It doesn’t take a long time.”

Airlines have been struggling around the world since the U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran late last month. Flights have to take longer paths around war zones, and higher fuel costs eat into their already razor-thin profit margins.

Jet fuel prices account for about a third of airlines’ operating costs, so they “cannot afford to wait to upcharge their customers,” Bufquin said.

United Airlines Chief Executive Scott Kirby told CNBC that the spike in fuel prices will have a “meaningful” impact on the airline’s financial results.

Some airlines outside the U.S. have already added fuel surcharges to their ticket fees. Air India announced a phased increase in fuel surcharges on domestic and international routes last week. Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific announced it would charge extra on all fares to cover fuel costs starting Wednesday.

Airlines topping up at LAX and other regional airports are already being hit. Jet fuel prices in Los Angeles have jumped more than 40% since the conflict in the Middle East started.

Just like the price of gas for cars, jet fuel often costs considerably more in California than in other states.

California is largely detached from the rest of the fuel distribution system. With limited pipeline connectivity, it relies more on sea delivery from other states and countries. California also has higher taxes on jet fuel than many other states.

National average gas prices reached $3.71 per gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA. In California, the average Tuesday was $5.52 per gallon.

Still, spring and summer demand is likely to remain strong even if prices rise, said Alan Fyall, an associate dean of the University of Central Florida Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

“Fares are going up, but the demand is still there domestically,” Fyall said. “The only thing that really dampens demand is economic recession.”

Indeed, consumers have been booking earlier than usual to lock in lower prices for their summer travel, airlines said. Delta and American Airlines had some of their strongest-ever single-day sales in March.

“When prices did spike, we saw a spike in demand,” Alaska Airlines Inc. Chief Executive Ben Minicucci said this week, according to Bloomberg. “I think people got this initial, ‘Wow, if this thing is going to go crazy, I better book my fare now before fares go up.’”

Airlines and other industries will face tougher conditions if fuel prices remain high for a prolonged period, he added.

Airfares were already on the rise, according to the Consumer Price Index, which found that the airline fares index rose 1.4% in February compared to last year.

The impact will vary by airline, said Fyall. Many airlines hedge their fuel to negotiate a fixed price, and stock up on fuel while it’s less expensive.

“The airlines that manage their fuel-buying process very well, that hedge very well, tend to be able to offset the price charges quite well,” Fyall said.

Jet fuel prices are even more sensitive to economic forces than auto fuel prices, experts said.

It’s not yet clear if Californians will have to pay significantly higher airfares than their neighbors, but some in-state flight routes could become temporarily unavailable, according to Bufquin. As airlines look to save money, they could cut certain shorter, less profitable routes.

“Budget airlines like Spirit and flights from smaller California hubs like Burbank, San José and Fresno are at risk of being canceled,” Bufquin said.

Kiki Shepard, the actor and entertainer best known for co-hosting the syndicated variety show “Showtime at the Apollo,” has died. She was 74.

LaShirl Smith, a representative for Shepard, confirmed her client’s death, writing in an Instagram post Tuesday that the loss “hurts an awful lot.” Shepard died Monday in Los Angeles after a heart attack, Smith confirmed to TMZ. On Tuesday, Smith honored Shepard with a video collage of their shared moments over the years, lamenting she will no longer be able to speak with her friend “three/four times a day everyday at least for an hour or two.”

“Rest easy cousin, heaven got a good one,” Smith said in her post.

The Texas native, born in July 1951, co-hosted “Showtime at the Apollo” from 1987 to 2002. During her tenure, she shared the stage with a variety of co-hosts including Steve Harvey, Sinbad and Mo’Nique, introducing a range of musical acts at the historic theater in Harlem. The Apollo honored Shepard on its marquee Tuesday, remembering her as a “true Apollo legend.”

“Together, [the hosts] carried the electrifying spirit of our legendary stage into living rooms across the nation, introducing rising stars, celebrating icons, and making millions feel Harlem from wherever they were,” the theater said on Instagram, “reminding the world that we have always been a place where Black excellence takes center stage.”

More than a host, Shepard had an entertainment career that included TV appearances — among them “Baywatch,” “A Different World,” “NYPD Blue” and “Grey’s Anatomy” — and a handful of stints as a choreographer. An alumna of what was then called North Texas State University and Howard University, Shepard also had a minor role in “The Wiz.”

Her television credits include “Thunder in Paradise,” “Baywatch Nights,” “Family Law,” “Everybody Hates Chris” and the 2025 series “Highly Favored.” Shepard also pursued a career on stage, appearing in Broadway productions of “Bubbling Brown Sugar,” “Reggae” and “Porgy and Bess.”

Beyond entertainment, Shepard devoted herself to raising awareness for sickle cell anemia after a friend died of the affliction. In 2006, she founded the Kis Foundation, an organization that seeks to support sickle cell disease patients and their families, following years of other advocacy efforts.

“KiKi believed that compassion, community, and education could change lives. Her voice uplifted countless individuals who often felt unseen, and her work created lasting pathways for hope, resources, and understanding for those living with this disease,” Shepard’s family said in a statement to ABC7.

To daytime talk show host Sherri Shepherd, the beloved “Showtime at the Apollo” personality “was the life of every party” who had a welcoming and warm presence.

“Kiki I am devastated that you are gone, but I am rejoicing because you LIVED and you lived boldly and joyfully,” the “Sherri” host wrote in an Instagram tribute.

“Your love of God was evident and I know you are having a ball up there,” she added.

Mo’Nique and Jackée Harry also honored Shepard’s life and legacy on Instagram. “Rest easy, my dear sweet friend,” comedian Harry said, “I’ll carry you with me always.”

Welcome back to this week’s Lakers newsletter, where we are fully scoreboard watching.

The Lakers have 14 games left and are surging up the Western Conference standings. With six consecutive wins and nine in their last 10, the Lakers (43-25) are third in the West and suddenly have a 1.5-game lead on fourth-place Houston.

The team that couldn’t beat anyone good suddenly has statement wins over four teams with .600 records. The turnaround from fighting to stay out of the play-in to now being in position for homecourt advantage left even JJ Redick struggling to find the right description.

“Is coalesce a word?” Redick said after the Lakers outlasted the Denver Nugget in overtime on Saturday. “Is that the right word? For coming together? Jelling? I think it feels like we’re coalescing right now in a really nice way.”

Lakers’ ‘Big Three’ finds its pecking order

The defining moment of LeBron James’ performance during the Lakers’ game of the season officially went down as a turnover.

His Superman dive to save a loose ball with 54.3 seconds left in regulation against Denver on Saturday turned into one of James’ five turnovers because the Lakers did not corral the jump ball. But the statistical and physical sacrifice of the play showed the type of role James will play on this team coming down the stretch of the season.

“It’s a great example of leadership,” Redick said. “Leadership is not just the voice who’s talking. Leadership is then what you do on the court, and if you want to be a winning team then you need guys who are willing to take the lead and make winning plays.”

With Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves starring, Redick acknowledged that “the best thing for our team is [James] being the third highest-used player.” Since returning from hip and elbow injuries that kept him out of three games, James has had the third-highest usage rate on the team in each of the last three games. All were wins.

Redick acknowledged that “finding the groove” between James, Doncic and Reaves has been “the challenge for all of them, not just LeBron, all season.” It was more difficult because alternating injuries limited the trio’s time together on the court.

The season-long advanced metrics have favored having just Doncic and Reaves on the court, who have a plus-eight net rating together, as opposed to all three (plus-3.2 net rating). But the modest rating of the Doncic, Reaves and James combination has taken dramatic leaps this week alone.

James, Doncic and Reaves outscored opponents by 32.7 points per 100 possessions in wins against the Bulls and Nuggets.

The Lakers have gotten their “best win of the season” four times in the last nine days. Two were without James when the Lakers blew out the Knicks and the Timberwolves. He returned and the wins got grittier: an overtime thriller against Denver and Monday’s tense victory in Houston.

Other teammates made the flashy, standout plays. Doncic nailed the game-winning basket in overtime against Denver, and Reaves forced extra time with a one-in-a-hundred intentionally missed free throw. Deandre Ayton had four consecutive points late in the fourth quarter against Houston that put the Rockets away.

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer, meanwhile, has been a relatively quiet seven-for-13 from the field in each of the last three games, scoring no more than 18 points. He doesn’t mind as long as it adds up to wins.

“If it benefits others, it benefits the team,” James said last week. “The team is most important.”

It won’t count in the stat sheet, but watching James fly across the floor at 41 years old against Denver was “one of the biggest plays of the game,” Reaves said Saturday. Redick joked that after 23 NBA seasons and three years of high school he had never seen James lay out for a loose ball like that.

Because he never had, James replied.

And after sharing a photo on social media of a bright red court burn the size of a nickel, James might never do it again.

“Might be it for diving for the year!” James wrote in an Instagram story showing the wound. “Ouch! Lol!”

Deandre Ayton arrives just in time

Nearly 10 years before teaming up for the Lakers, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton were just teenaged prospects with big dreams. They first met at a Basketball without Borders camp in 2016. The roster that year also included future NBA champions Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Isaiah Hartenstein. Hachimura recalled Ayton dominating everyone. Then the 7-foot center from the Bahamas inexplicably disappeared.

“That’s what I remember,” Hachimura said with a smile remembering his first impression of his future Lakers teammate. “I was like, ‘Where’s this guy going?’”

When Hachimura shared that anecdote in October, it was an unintentionally fitting description of Ayton’s career. Over the last eight years, the former No. 1 pick has dominated and disappeared in equal measure.

Just in time for the Lakers’ biggest games of the year, the enigmatic center returned to his “DominAyton” mode.

Ayton averaged 13 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in wins over the Knicks, Timberwolves, Bulls and Nuggets after coming back from a one-game injury absence. When Jaxson Hayes and Maxi Kleber were sidelined for games against Minnesota and Chicago, Ayton starred with back-to-back double-doubles.

“Felt like I picked up my energy and my focus,” Ayton said. “I finally caught up with the team.”

One of the surest signs of Ayton’s engagement is his activity on the boards. The Lakers are 29-7 when Ayton has eight or more rebounds and 8-14 when he has seven or fewer. Lately he has been especially clutch with three rebounds and four points in overtime against Denver and five rebounds with six points in the fourth quarter against Houston when the Lakers finished the game on a 13-4 run.

“He is an X factor for us, if not the X Factor,” Redick said after Ayton scored 23 points with 10 rebounds against the Bulls, “because him playing at a high level raises our ceiling. It changes the makeup of our team.”

Ayton had his son Deandre Ayton Jr. in the locker room after that performance against the Bulls. The five-year-old bounced a white rubber ball on the ground while waiting for his dad to finish showering then joined him at his locker for his media obligations. After the game when the Lakers celebrated “Girl Dad Night,” this proud boy dad left a lasting impression.

“Truly a blessing,” Ayton said of having his son join him at the game, “especially being a Laker. Just hope he [is] inspired.”

On tap

Wednesday at Rockets (41-26), 6:30 p.m.

This game will decide the head-to-head tiebreaker between Houston and L.A. In the tight conference race, the Lakers already own head-to-head tiebreakers against Denver and Minnesota, but not against Phoenix, which is lurking in the seventh spot with a 39-29 record, four games behind the Lakers.

Thursday at Heat (38-30), 5 p.m.

The Heat were one of the hottest teams in the East before losing to the Orlando Magic on Saturday in Norman Powell’s return from injury. Powell came off the bench after missing seven games because of a groin injury and scored 20 points. The Heat were 7-0 during the stretch without Powell, even playing without Tyler Herro for two games.

Saturday at Magic (38-29), 4 p.m.

The Magic’s seven-game winning streak came to an end Monday in Atlanta. Franz Wagner (ankle) has played in just four games since Dec. 7, and Paolo Banchero is averaging 24.8 points on 51.4% shooting, 9.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists during the month of March.

Monday at Detroit (48-19), 4 p.m.

The Pistons are cruising toward the top seed in the East. Cade Cunningham has continued his breakthrough year with 24.9 points and 10.1 assists per game.

Status report

Maxi Kleber (lumbar back strain)

The backup big man has missed four games because of a back injury that started earlier this season and recently flared up against. Kleber has good days and bad days, Redick said, and has been shut down for five days. He did not travel to Houston for the beginning of the six-game trip, but the Lakers hope he can join.

Favorite thing I ate this week

Made possible only through teamwork with my favorite coworker Brad Turner, I did the impossible: I had two uninterrupted weeks at home during the NBA season. After coming home from a month overseas, I needed that time to settle back into my normal life, including my kitchen. I missed it. We kept it low-key for the homecoming with Korean short ribs (galbi) with rice and Vietnamese pickled carrots and daikon radish. Green onions for garnish because my mom would never let a dish touch the table if it wasn’t garnished.

In case you missed it

Lakers surge late and defeat Rockets for their sixth consecutive win

How Austin Reaves pulled off a perfect game-tying missed free throw in Lakers’ win

LeBron James’ adaptability a key in victory over the Bulls

The Lakers turn a big liability into an asset, using strong defense to beat Minnesota

Swanson: Booooo! Bam Adebayo was ‘cheating the game’ in surpassing Kobe Bryant’s 81-point effort

Until next time…

As always, pass along your thoughts to me at thucnhi.nguyen@latimes.com, and please consider subscribing if you like our work!

Resilient win for the Lakers

From Broderick Turner: In their first meeting of the season on Christmas Day, Lakers coach JJ Redick said the Lakers were “punked” by the Houston Rockets and vowed not to let it happen again.

On Monday, the Lakers displayed their toughness in a 100-92 win over the Rockets at Toyota Center.

Even when they missed 14 straight shots at one point in the fourth quarter, the Lakers showed their resilience with a gritty defensive effort that kept them in the game. The Lakers scored just 17 points in the fourth, but they held the Rockets to just 12 points en route to their sixth consecutive win.

“They’re a really good basketball team and they make you either play hard and match their physicality, and how they muck the game up, or you can lay down,” Redick said. “And we didn’t lay down tonight. Had a deficit there in the third quarter. Our guys just kept playing.”

Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 36 points, six rebounds and four assists. LeBron James scored 18 points and Austin Reaves had 15 points.

But three big baskets from Deandre Ayton (seven points, 11 rebounds) and a big three-pointer by Marcus Smart (11 points) helped the Lakers open their six-game trip with a win.

Continue reading here

Lakers box score

NBA standings

Clippers edged by Spurs

Victor Wembanyama had 21 points and 13 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs overcame an early 14-point deficit before blowing most of a 24-point lead and recovering to hold off the Clippers 119-115 on Monday night at Intuit Dome.

Stephon Castle had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to lead the Spurs (50-18), who reached 50 wins for the first time since 2016-17 and trail the first-place Thunder by three games in the West. Devin Vassell added 20 points.

Fighting to secure a spot for the play-in tournament, the Clippers’ second straight loss dropped them back to .500 with Kawhi Leonard watching from the bench. The NBA’s sixth-leading scorer sat out with a sprained left knee.

Continue reading here

Clippers box score

NBA standings

Yamamoto to start on opening day

From Jack Vita: It’s only fitting that the pitcher who recorded the Dodgers’ final eight outs of the World Series will take the mound on opening day, as the club tries to pick up where it left off in 2025 and chase a third straight championship in 2026.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday that World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto will toe the rubber for the March 26 opener at Dodger Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks — the second straight year he’s had the honor and the first time at home, after pitching last season’s opener in Tokyo against the Chicago Cubs.

Roberts added Yamamoto is expected to return to Camelback Ranch soon, after participating in the World Baseball Classic with Team Japan. The Samurai Warriors, seeking a second straight WBC title, were eliminated by Team Venezuela Saturday night in the quarterfinals.

Continue reading here

Dodgers reportedly agree to deal with Uniqlo for naming rights to Dodger Stadium field

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani apologizes for ‘shortcomings’ in Japan’s early exit from WBC

Venezuela defeats Italy to set up WBC title showdown with U.S.

March Madness analysis

The NCAA men’s tournament bracket is set and the games are set to begin Tuesday with the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential underdog teams and what to know about the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Click here to continue

————

The NCAA women’s basketball tournament bracket is set and the games will begin Wednesday with the start of the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential dark horse teams and game previews for every region in the 2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

Click here to continue

Kings defeat Rangers

Alex Laferriere had a goal and two assists to lead the Kings to a 4-1 win over the New York Rangers on Monday night.

Drew Doughty, Mikey Anderson and Trevor Moore also scored for the Kings, who have won three of five.

Darcy Kuemper stopped 21 shots.

Despite 22 saves from Igor Shesterkin, New York’s four-game winning streak ended.

Continue reading here

Kings summary

NHL standings

This day in sports history

1897 — Bob Fitzsimmons knocks out Jim Corbett in the 14th round to win the world heavyweight title in Carson City, Nev. It’s the first boxing match photographed by a motion picture camera.

1908 — Tommy Burns knocks out Jene Roche in 80 seconds at the Royal Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, to retain the world heavyweight title.

1939 — Villanova wins first game of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament, defeating Brown 42-30 in Philadelphia. Ohio State beats Wake Forest 64-52 in the second game of the doubleheader.

1940 — For the first time in NHL history, one line — The Kraut Line of Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer — finish 1-2-3 in NHL scoring when the Boston Bruins score five goals in the third period to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 7-2.

1955 — Canadien fans riot in the streets of Montreal protesting NHL President Clarence Campbell’s suspension of Maurice “Rocket” Richard the previous day. The Canadiens forfeit the game to the Detroit after a smoke bomb goes off in the Forum and crowds spill into the streets, setting fires, smashing windows and looting.

1961 — Manhattan District Attorney Frank S. Hogan arrests two pro gamblers, Aaron Wagman and Joseph Hacken, and implicates Hank Gunter and Art Hicks of Seton Hall in a collegiate point shaving scandal.

1993 — Dallas snaps a 19-game losing streak with a 102-96 win over visiting Orlando. The Mavericks were one game away from tying the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers for the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history.

2001 — Connecticut cruises to a 101-29 win over Long Island University in the first round of the East Regional, the best defensive effort in the history of the women’s NCAA tournament. Connecticut’s 72-point victory also ties the second-biggest margin in tournament history.

2006 — Jermaine Wallace hits a fadeaway three-pointer with a split-second left, and little Northwestern State pulls off a shocker with a furious rally, beating No. 3 seed Iowa 64-63 in the first round of the men’s NCAA tournament.

2012 — Lindsey Vonn sets a women’s record for the most World Cup points in a season after finishing eighth in a slalom won by Austria’s Michaela Kirchgasser at Schladming, Austria. Vonn reaches 1,980 points to beat the mark of 1,970 set by Janica Kostelic of Croatia in 2006.

2016 — Little Rock advances with an out-of-nowhere comeback that leads to an 85-83 double-overtime victory over Purdue in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

2018 — The UConn Huskies open their NCAA Women’s tournament with a record-setting 140-52 rout of Saint Francis (Pa.). The tournament’s top seed sets a record for points in a tournament game and all-time NCAA records for points in a period (55 in the first) and a half (94 in the first).

2020 — French Open becomes first Grand Slam tennis tournament to be postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Welcome to UCLA Unlocked, our weekly newsletter featuring all things Bruins athletics. To sign up to get this newsletter delivered every Monday to your inbox, click here.

UCLA coach Cori Close has said all the right things all season, hammering the importance of winning each day and making the most of every practice.

After watching her team struggle during the Final Four last season, she also urged the Bruins to remember the joy of their journey together was far more important than the final tournament results.

She continued to run the John Wooden playbook on Selection Sunday, brushing away the suggestion that UCLA was snubbed by the NCAA tournament selection committee.

“Everybody else can talk about whatever they want,” Close said. “We’re going to talk about what that takes, and we are completely committed to just being really focused on us and our journey and keeping the main thing, the main thing.”

While she rightly is focusing on her team, there is no denying UCLA got a bad draw.

Not only were the Bruins denied the No. 1 overall seed despite playing a much tougher schedule than overall No. 1 seed UConn, the Bruins will have to fight through the toughest regional to reach the Final Four in Phoenix.

LSU was the highest rated No. 2 seed and Duke was the highest rated No. 3 seed. Both were assigned to the same regional as UCLA. No. 5 Ole Miss, led by Ohio State transfer and dynamic SEC newcomer of the year Cotie McMahon, is another potent team slotted in the Bruins’ side of the bracket.

“The Sacramento region with UCLA, they absolutely have the toughest region when you look at the LSU-Duke matchup — the No. 1 two seed, the No. 1 three seed,” former Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said on ESPN. “I don’t know how they ended up with the same bracket as UCLA as the No. 2 overall. … I’m perplexed.”

McGraw has been doing the work Close arguably couldn’t for weeks without coming across as whining. The retired coach questioned the NCAA tournament selection’s committee previous rankings that slotted UCLA behind UConn.

On March 2, McGraw posted on X, “Does anyone else think UCLA deserved the overall [No. 1] seed? Undefeated regular season Big Ten champs, beat 11 ranked teams, six of which are currently in the committee’s top 16. They have 14 Quad 1 wins, more than anyone in the country, and their only loss was to another [No. 1] seed. And what about SEC champ South Carolina as the [No. 2] overall?

“UConn is certainly good enough to win the national championship, but UCLA and South Carolina have had as much success against a much tougher schedule.”

UConn fans were quick to point out McGraw’s losing record against Huskies coach Geno Auriemma and their bad blood, but the former Notre Dame coach was armed with notable stats that are supposed to be the basis for the selection committee’s bracket.

McGraw made her case before No. 2 UCLA (31-1) beat No. 9 Iowa (26-6) by 51 points in the Big Ten tournament championship game.

It wasn’t enough to help the selection committee ignore the score that seemed to matter the most — a 85-51 UCLA loss to UConn in last season’s Final Four.

“We watched a lot of UConn, we watched a lot of UCLA,” NCAA tournament committee chair Amanda Braun said on ESPN. “The way we watched UConn win throughout the year from beginning to the end, UCLA did a lot of winning too, but ultimately we gave UConn the edge.”

The Bruins have said every team is tough in the NCAA tournament and they must simply focus on being their best each day. Surviving a challenging regional will only make their success sweeter.

And UCLA can take solace that at least one team had a worse draw than it did on Sunday. Crosstown rival USC was awarded a No. 9 seed and will play No. 8 seed Clemson in Columbia, S.C., a short commute for the Tigers’ fans. If the Trojans survive, they most likely will face No. 1 seed South Carolina on the Gamecocks’ notoriously hostile home court.

Survey says

We asked, “How far will the UCLA women advance in the NCAA tournament?”

After 460 votes, the results:

They win it all: 80.8%
They lose in the title game: 14.6%
Just like last year, they lose in the Final Four: 3.5%
A surprising elimination in the Sweet 16: 0.9%
A shocking upset in the first or second round: 0.2%
They lose in the Elite Eight: No votes

Survey time

How far will the UCLA men advance in the tournament?

They lose in the first round
They lose in the second round
They lose in the Sweet 16
They lose in the Elite Eight
They lose in the Final Four
They lose in the title game
They win it all

Click here to vote in our survey

In case you missed it

‘We know what it takes to get there.’ No. 1 UCLA ready to begin NCAA title chase

UCLA men’s basketball earns No. 7 seed, to face No. 10 UCF in Philadelphia

NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournament brackets: A look at every matchup

How Gabriela Jaquez became a breakout shooting star for No. 2 UCLA

UCLA star Jordan Chiles helps Bruins win her final home meet, knocking out rival Utah

UCLA falls to Purdue in Big Ten semifinal without injured Tyler Bilodeau

UCLA stuns Michigan State to advance to Big Ten tournament semifinals

Donovan Dent achieves Big Ten tourney history in UCLA win over Rutgers

UCLA won a Big Ten tournament title with a group of ‘Pac-12 Avengers’

Have something Bruin?

Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. The champions have been crowned in high school basketball and soccer. What a weekend it was in Sacramento.

Champions

In the highest divisions at the CIF state championships at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Southern California basketball teams continue to dominate.

Sierra Canyon and Ontario Christian were crowned Open Division boys and girls champions, respectively. Sierra Canyon overcame the loss of Maxi Adams to an ankle injury in the first quarter to defeat Richmond Salesian 78-70. Here’s the report.

Ontario Christian received another standout performance from junior guard Kaleena Smith to defeat Archbishop Mitty 56-49. Here’s the report.

Damien won Division I for coach Mike LeDuc. Here’s the report. Corona Centennial’s one-two punch of Sydney Douglas and Cyndee Bryant led the Huskies to the Division I girls title. Here’s the report.

Sylmar and Birmingham came up short trying to become the first City Section teams from the San Fernando Valley to win state titles. Sylmar was beaten in Division V. Here’s the report. Birmingham settled for runner-up in Division III. Here’s the report.

El Dorado’s girls’ team broke through in Division III. Here’s the report.

Soccer

Garfield was beaten in the Division V state boys final 2-0 by Branson. But sophomore goalie Javier Zarate continues to impress. Here’s a look at his impact.

Mater Dei deserves the name soccer school of the West. The Monarchs won boys and girls state titles in Division I. The boys defeated Salinas Everett Alvarez 2-1. The girls defeated unbeaten Bishop O’Dowd 2-0. Los Alamitos won Division III boys over Watsonville 1-0. Irvine University won Division IV 3-2.

Baseball

Freshman Louis Lappe of Harvard-Westlake, the former El Segundo Little League star who gained national fame for his walk-off home run at the Little League World Series in 2023, hit his first high school home run on Wednesday.

Let’s just say he was a little excited.

Brody Schumaker of Santa Margarita had four hits, including a grand slam, and seven RBIs in a win over Los Osos. He has struck out once in 34 at-bats.

Norco has one of the hottest pitchers around in Landon Hovermale, who has given up no runs in 18 2/3 innings. Here was his latest performance.

Foothill pitchers have thrown three consecutive shutouts.

There’s every indication that the Southern Section is going to introduce a new playoff format for Division 1 baseball only. It’s expected to be a 16-team tournament broken into four pools with double elimination leading to the quarterfinals with the top two teams in each pool advancing, followed by single elimination. The baseball advisory committee has been pushing for such a tournament in Division 1 for years.

Here’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.

Softball

Emily Yoon of El Dorado threw a no-hitter in a win over Villa Park in a league opener.

Here’s last week’s top 20 softball rankings, with unbeaten Murrieta Mesa leading the way.

Track and field

Benjamin Harris of Servite turned on the speed at Redondo Union on Saturday, running a wind legal 10.27 seconds in the 100 meters.

One of the most versatile track and field athletes this season has to be junior Davis Benson of Moorpark. He’s putting up good marks in a variety of events. He’s already set school records in the 110 hurdles of 14.30 and the 300 hurdles in 38.82. And he’s gearing up for a high jump showdown later in the season with Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s JJ Harel. Benson has gone 6-10.

Carson’s Jayden Rendon stamped himself as a state contender in the 110 hurdles with a time of 13.91 at Redondo Union.

Lawrence Kensinger of Venice, another pupil of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame throwing coach Nick Garcia, is closing in on 60 feet in the shotput. He recorded a career-best 59-8.

Jaslene Massey of Aliso Niguel, already No. 1 in the state in the discus, won the Nike Indoor Nationals in the shotput at 54-2.75, seventh-best mark in California history. She also got a mark of 188-7 in the discus, second-best all-time.

Loyola’s Ejam Yohannes ran 400 meters in a state-leading 46.24. It was a school record.

Bob Johnson dies

High school football fans across Southern California were offering memories of Hall of Fame coach Bob Johnson after his passing Wednesay. He was 80.

Johnson won nine Southern Section titles coaching at Mission Viejo and El Toro.

Here’s the report.

Notes . . .

One of the best sporting events of the year happens Friday night when volleyball powers Mira Costa and Loyola face off at Mira Costa. . . .

Alfred Rowe has resigned after one season as football coach at Long Beach Jordan. . . .

Earl Sanchez has resigned as basketball coach at Sierra Vista. . . .

Former Gardena Serra and UCLA tight end Caleb Wilson has been hired as an assistant coach at Colorado State under former UCLA coach Jim Mora Jr. . . .

Luis Cruz Jr. is the new football coach at Sunny Hills. . . .

The top football player in the state for next season, Honor Fa’alave-Johnson of Cathedral Catholic, announced he has committed to USC.

From the archives: Mason Edwards

Mason Edwards, a junior at USC from Palisades High, is off to one of the best starts by a pitcher in the nation. He entered last week having allowed no runs and only three hits in 24 innings while recording a 3-0 record. He gave up his first run of the season on Friday. He’s left-handed and has 42 strikeouts. He throws between 90 and 93 mph.

Edwards has continued to improve at USC since his arrive in the fall of 2023.

Recommendations

From the Players Tribune, former El Toro pitcher pitcher Paul Skenes offers advice to Little Leaguers.

From the Daily Bruin, a story on Brentwood basketball coach Ryan Bailey, a former UCLA basketball standout.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on former Chatsworth guard Alijah Arenas keeping his NBA dreams alive.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

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