Dec 20, 2017 4 min read

Yellow Jackets win

Jon Knab had another big game and Waynesburg University’s men’s basketball team won its second game in as many nights as the Yellow Jackets won 84-78 at Muskingum in a nonconference game Wednesday.

Knab scored a team-high 21 points and led four Yellow Jackets in double figures as Waynesburg improved its record to 4-5 with its third consecutive win.

Frank Bozicevic followed Kab in the scoring column with 15 points, and Kaleb McDiffitt and Marcus Wallace each had 12 points.

Waynesburg won despite a huge game by Muskingum’s Jarrell Marsh, who scored a game-high 28 points. The Muskies’ record dropped to 4-5.

The Yellow Jackets led almost the entire game and shot 53 percent from the field. Waynesburg led 37-28 at halftime, then shot 60 percent in the second half.

Girls basketball

Ashley Briscoe scored 17 points as Ringgold outlasted visiting Belle Vernon 49-47 in overtime Tuesday night.

Belle Vernon (4-2) trailed 15-4 after one quarter and 24-20 at halftime but forced overtime tied at 42. Kelsey Green and caitlyn Trombley each scored 12 points to lead the Leopards, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Taylor Costa had 10 points for Ringgold (4-3).

Pitt loads up on QBs

After losing a pair of quarterbacks over the last month to transfers, Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi and offensive coordinator Shawn Watson replenished their ranks at football’s most important position on Wednesday, as two of Pitt’s 15 early signees are quarterbacks.

Freshman Kenny Pickett started the team’s final game against Miami Nov. 24, a 24-14 upset of the then-No. 2 Hurricanes, and seems to be the team’s answer as a starter going forward.

That prompted the December transfers of redshirt sophomore Ben DiNucci and redshirt freshman Thomas MacVittie, leaving the Panthers with just one scholarship quarterback. Pitt signed Nick Patti from St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale, New Jersey, and Ricky Town from Ventura (California) College.

Patti will arrive in the summer, while Town will be a midyear enrollee. Town was a late addition to Pitt’s class, giving the team his verbal commitment just this week.

“We really didn’t think we were going to lose two quarterbacks,” Narduzzi said. “We thought it was just going to be one. . Coach Watson did a heck of a job.”

Town was enrolled at both Southern California and Arkansas before landing at Ventura and was highly recruited coming out of high school, but Pitt was able to land the passer by selling him on competition.

The rest of Pitt’s early signees featured a focus up front, as Pitt inked five defensive linemen and three offensive linemen. Local products Devin Danielson, David Green and Noah Palmer were joined by Ohio’s Tyler Bentley and Maryland’s John Morgan on defense, while local offensive linemen Jake Kradel and Blake Zubovic will come along with junior college transfer Chase Brown.

Venus Williams cleared in fatal crash

Florida police say no charges will be filed against tennis star Venus Williams or the other driver for their crash last June that killed a man.

A Palm Beach Gardens police report released Wednesday cleared Williams and Linda Barson in the June 9 accident that fatally injured Barson’s 78-year-old husband, Jerome.

Investigators say video shows Williams had a green light when she entered a busy intersection but a car turned left in front of her, forcing her to stop. Williams then tried to get fully across but the Barsons’ light turned green and their car slammed into Williams’ SUV.