SPORTS DIGEST

BVA Youth Sports Association holding spring registration

The Belle Vernon Area Youth Sports Association will hold two in-person baseball and softball signups beginning Feb. 4 for boys and girls ages 4 to 17.

The organization is also offering online signups, which are currently open and available by scanning the QR Code on the Belle Vernon Area Youth Sports Association Facebook page.

Signups will be held in person at the Washington Township Municipal Building from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 4 and Feb. 11.

For more information, please check us out on Facebook at Belle Vernon Area Youth Sports Association.

McKeesport baseball holding signups

The McKeesport Baseball Association will hold spring registration beginning this Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. at the Renzie Park concession stand.

Additional signups will be held Feb. 8, 15, 22 and 23 also from noon to 3.

A final registration will be held Feb. 27 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Bring a copy of the child’s birth certificate, and the child to be fitted for a jersey. Registration fees are as followed:

• Slingshot (4-6) – $30

• Cannonball (7-8) – $30

• Minors – (9-10) – $40

• Bronco – (11-12) – $60

• PONY – (13-14) – $75

• Colt – (15-16) – $75

• Super Colt – (17-18) – $75 No registrations will be taken over the phone.

Flagg’s big second half leads No. 2 Duke over NC State

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Star freshman Cooper Flagg scored 23 of his 28 points after halftime to help No. 2 Duke hold off North Carolina State 74-64 on Monday night.

Fellow rookie Kon Knueppel had 19 points for the Blue Devils (18-2, 10-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who have won 14 straight games. And they had to fight the entire way to get there.

That’s because the Wolfpack (9-11, 2-7) played loose and fearlessly to build a 13-point first-half lead and then stay within reach of Duke every time the Blue Devils tried to push free in the final 10 minutes.

Dontrez Styles scored 18 points for N.C. State, which shot just 32% after halftime but matched its season high with 10 3-pointers.

This was a rematch of an NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game won by the Wolfpack during the program’s improbable Final Four run last year. The game also had a pair of stoppages in the last 4 1/2 minutes for health reasons, first when Duke freshman center Khaman Maluach vomited on the baseline during play and then when one of the “Cameron Crazies” fans apparently fainted and had to be carried out of the bleachers.

Tennessee coach Caldwell returns week after giving birth

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell returned to the sideline a week after giving birth to a son and was greeted with a standing ovation from a crowd of 12,033 on Monday night.

Caldwell missed only one game for the Lady Vols after having her first child — Thursday night’s 80-76 loss at then-No. 7 Texas.

She walked briskly down the sideline shortly before tipoff and waved to the crowd before shaking hands with South Carolina coach Dawn Staley.

“I tried to sneak in,” Caldwell said after Tennessee’s 70-63 loss to the No. 2 Gamecocks. “I wanted to go unnoticed. (The ovation) makes it worth it.”

Spectator dies during youth track meet

An errant weight thrown by a competitor in a hammer throw event struck and killed a spectator at a youth track and field meet in Colorado, according to officials at the university where the competition was held. The weight cleared certified barriers before striking the man Sunday morning at the University of Colorado’s Colorado Springs campus, according to a statement.

Firefighters pronounced the man dead at the scene. He apparently had tried to shield his wife and son from the ball, KRDO-TV reported. The so-called hammer in the hammer throw event is actually a heavy ball on a chain.