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SPORTSBRIEFING STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Potters fall to Minerva

MINERVA — East Liverpool’s bowling teams both fell to Minerva on Tuesday at Minerva Bowl.

The Lion boys won 3,060-2,462. Lane Hawk had a 268 high game and a 503 series for the Lions. For the Potters, Jayden McDole had a 217 high game and 411 series. Jacob Gibas added a 194 high game and 384 series.

The Minerva girls won 2,440-2,427. For the Lions, Kayla Henderhan had a 236 high game and a 405 series. For the Potters, Addison Rudibaugh had a 211 high game and a 402 series. Mollie Petrie added a 209 high game and a 353 series.

Bowling teams set for sectionals

Area bowling teams will be gearing up for sectional tournament play this week.

Wellsville, Southern and Crestview will head to the Div. II sectional on Saturday at Holiday Lanes in Struthers.

United’s boys will compete on Friday at the Div. II sectional at Spins Bowl in Kent. The United girls will go on Monday at Spins Bowl.

East Liverpool and Beaver Local’s boys teams will compete in the Div. II sectional on Feb. 12 at Boulevard Lanes in Dover. The Potter and Beaver girls teams will go on Feb. 11 at St. Clair Lanes in St. Clairsville.

In Div. I, Salem’s boys and girls teams will compete on Feb. 15 on Feb. 15 at Holiday Lanes in Struthers.

Potters, Beavers set for sectional

STEUBENVILLE — Beaver Local and East Liverpool will participate in the Div. II sectional swimming meet on Saturday at Steubenville High School.

Only the winner of each event will automatically advance to the district set for Feb. 14 at Ohio University. All other district berths will be determined on an at-large basis.

Cavaliers fall to Celtics

CLEVELAND (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 22 points, Derrick White added 20 and the Boston Celtics showed their championship makeup down the stretch with a 112-105 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night in a matchup of the Eastern Conference’s top teams.

The defending NBA titlists executed in the final minutes and held off the Cavs, who lost for just the fourth time in 28 home games.

Kristaps Porzingis added 19 points and Jaylen Brown 16 with nine rebounds as Boston won its fourth straight and improved to 2-1 against Cleveland this season.

Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points and Darius Garland 25 for the Cavs, who cut a 15-point deficit to four in the fourth quarter.

But the Celtics, who have won four straight, didn’t buckle and responded in every crucial moment to put away the Cavs.

Jarrett Allen had 17 points and 18 rebounds for Cleveland.

Takeaways

Celtics: Porzingis’ presence makes Boston that much tougher to defend. The 7-foot-3 big man was injured and missed last year’s playoff series against Cleveland. The Cavs continually got caught making bad switches while trying to guard Porzingis.

Cavaliers: All-Star Evan Mobley had a rough night. He finished with just 7 points on 3 of 14 shooting and failed to make a significant impact at either end. Mobley recently returned from a calf injury and doesn’t seem to have his explisiveness back.

Key moment

After the Cavs pulled within four late in the fourth, White hit a short jumper followed by back-to-back 3-pointers to give Boston a 107-97 lead with 2:41 left.

Key stat

Cleveland started just 1 of 14 on 3-pointers and finished 11 of 39 (28%) behind the arc. They’ve made at least 10 3s in 55 straight games.

Up next

On Thursday, the Celtics host Dallas, which just acquired Anthony Davis from the Lakers in a superstar swap for Luka Doncic. The Cavaliers are in Detroit on Wednesday.

Devils get the best of Penguins

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Timo Meier beat Alex Nedeljkovic in the seventh round of a shootout to lift the New Jersey Devils past the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Jack Hughes scored twice for the Devils. Nico Daws stopped 25 shots in overtime and regulation then turned away five of the seven Penguins he faced in the shootout as the Devils won for the sixth straight time in Pittsburgh.

Jesper Bratt assisted on both of Hughes’ goals to boost his season total to 45 as the Devils bounced back from a loss to lowly Buffalo by ending Pittsburgh’s modest two-game winning streak.

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