Sports

Einarson ousted, falls short of fifth straight Scotties title – TSN

Published

7 months ago

February 24, 2024

CALGARY — Kerri Einarson’s bid for a record five straight Canadian women’s curling championships halted Friday with a playoff loss to Kate Cameron.

Einarson fell 9-4 to Manitoba’s Cameron and remained tied with Colleen Jones for the record of four consecutive Scotties Tournament of Hearts titles.

“It’s sucks, but I guess it just has to come to an end at some point,” Einarson said. “It is what it is. We battled hard through all the adversity that we had this week. I’m super-proud of this team.”

Einarson’s team from Manitoba’s Gimli Curling Club was minus regular lead Briane Harris in Calgary.

Curling Canada announced hours before the opening draw Feb. 16 that the organization was “made aware” that Harris was ineligible to compete.

Neither the organization nor Einarson provided further explanation.

Alternate Krysten Karwacki drew in to play in Harris’s absence. She performed well with a shooting percentage of 89 per cent that tied her for first among leads.

Einarson went 7-1 in pool play in Calgary.

After falling 8-4 to Ontario’s Rachel Homan in an earlier playoff game Friday, Einarson’s quest for a quintuple was still in play when she led 4-2 after five ends against Cameron.

But it fell apart in the back half when Cameron stole four points from ends seven to nine.

Einarson attempted a difficult double takeout to score three and force an extra end with her final shot of the game, but was unsuccessful.

Einarson acknowledged that the shock of losing a key piece of the team’s championship run on short notice may have taken its toll.

“Maybe a bit. Yeah, it’s definitely tough losing a player a day before the event,” the skip said. “Krysten stepped in like a champ and we gave it a good go.”

Einarson’s second Shannon Birchard didn’t blame emotional fatigue on a pair of losses Friday.

“We battled through in a really wonderful way,” she said. “Didn’t come out with a win today, but that’s going to happen once in awhile, but I don’t think there’s any reason to point fingers at any specific situation.”

Einarson, vice Val Sweeting, Birchard and Harris were all former skips when they formed a team in 2019.

They claimed four national titles from 2020 to 2023 with an overall record of 52-9. They also won bronze medals at the 2023 and 2022 world championships.

“It’s been an amazing run for this team,” Einarson said. “When I put this team together, it was questionable how far we would go and look at us today.

“We’ve learned so much over the years and super-proud of us.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2024.

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Cavaliers and free agent forward Isaac Okoro agree to 3-year, $38 million deal, AP source says

Published

16 hours ago

September 14, 2024

Anne Joseph

CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.

ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.

The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.

The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.

Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.

His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.

Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.

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Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

Published

1 day ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.

The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.

Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.

In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.

The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

Published

1 day ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.

Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.

Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.

Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.

He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.

The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.

Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.

He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.

George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.

Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.

In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.

St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

ON DECK

Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.

The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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