A Punxsutawney Area High School (PAHS) senior student athlete, Darren Byers, has announced where he’s going to play baseball next year and attend college, Clarion University. Darren announced his signing with Clarion University along with his parents at PAHS on Wednesday. Pictured (seated, from left) are Douglas Byers, father; Darren; RhiAnnon Byers, mother; (standing) Manny Barbazzeni, PAHS assistant principal; and Mike Dickey, PAHS baseball coach. Dickey added that Darren is looking forward to playing baseball at Clarion, but he has one last baseball season coming up in the spring at PAHS.

Punxsutawney senior Alec Greenblatt made official a commitment to play Division I baseball at the collegiate level on Friday, joined by his family and PAHS administrators as he signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore after his graduation this year. Punxsy baseball head coach Mike Dickey said he’s proud of Greenblatt, as he’s been working hard for a long time, and that he’s looking forward to handing him the ball this year and sending him out on a positive note to follow up on a great season last year. Alec’s father, Josh, said he’s very excited to have Alec play at the next level, as it’s been a dream of his since he started to play baseball. He also said they’re thankful for all those who worked with Alec over the years, including Ryan Sloniger and John Matthews, who put in their time and effort and served as role models. Pictured here at the signing are Alec (front, center) with his parents Mandy (left) and Josh (right). Standing behind them are (from left) PAHS principal Jeff Long; Alec’s brothers Isaac, Jonas and Jaden; Coach Dickey; and PAHS athletic director Randy Reitz.

Riley Presloid scored 25 points, and the Lady Chucks poured on 28 fourth-quarter points to overcome a late deficit and pull away for a 65-54 victory over Latrobe in the Indiana Tip-Off Tournament first round on Friday night. Abby Gigliotti had 11 points and as many rebounds for a double-double for Punxsy, and Sarah Weaver also tallied 11 points. The Lady Chucks will play the host, Indiana, for the tournament title at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

In the boys' tip-off tournament, at DuBois Central Catholic, Nick Humble had 13 points to lead the Chucks in a losing effort against Johnsonburg. Ethan Presloid also had 10 points for Punxsy. The Chucks will play the host, DCC, in the consolation game at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

The Lady Chucks basketball team won an overtime thriller on Saturday evening at the Indiana Tip-Off Tournament, defeating the host 57-53 to claim the tournament title. The team is pictured here after the game, with All-Tournament team members wearing the black shirts. They were (from left) Abby Gigliotti, Riley Presloid and Sarah Weaver (MVP).

Presloid was Punxsy's high scorer in Friday's win over Latrobe, but Weaver took the baton on Saturday and poured in a game-high 36 points.

A full recap, plus plenty of photos, will appear in Monday's edition of The Spirit.

On Wednesday, the Punxsy 7th-, 8th- and 9th-grade boys’ basketball teams welcomed Brockway for their first home games of the season. The 7th- and 8th-graders each bested the Rovers, giving Punxsy two of three wins. (Left photo) Ninth-grader Justin Miller blocks a Brockway shot late in their game. (Middle photo) Mason Nesbitt skies above his Rover counterpart to win the opening tip-off in the 8th-grade game. (Right photo) Jimmie Neese scores the first bucket in the 8th-grade game. (Photos by Zak Lantz/The Punxsutawney Spirit)

A full write-up, plus plenty of other photos appear in Thursday's edition of The Spirit. And remember, you can order copies of any of our Spirit Sports photos by calling our Composing Department at 938-8740 !

On Monday night — with a full home slate of boys' basketball games forced to be postponed due to the weather — the Lady Chucks traveled to DuBois Central Catholic for an early tilt with a 6 p.m. tip-off. DCC stayed with Punxsy early, but ultimately, a Lady Chucks offense that saw four players reach double digits was too much for the host, and Punxsy cruised to a 64-35 win. Abby Gigliotti (pictured) had a double-double with team-high totals of 15 points and 11 boards. Riley Presloid (14), Sarah Weaver (12) and Chloe Presloid (10) each found double digits as well. The Lady Chucks will play again on Wednesday at Penns Manor.

Punxsy's junior high program is scheduled to play host to DCC on Tuesday, and the boys' varsity team returns to action on Wednesday at home against Cameron County.

PUNXSUTAWNEY — This weekend — Friday and Saturday (Dec. 27-28) — Punxsutawney Area High School’s Chuck Daly Memorial Gymnasium will play host to the Carl A. Truance Holiday Classic basketball tournament, with a full slate of games set for today and an even fuller one set for championship day on Saturday.

Today’s action begins with a first-round boys’ game between Bald Eagle and Clarion at 1 p.m., with a girls’ game between Hazleton and Marion Center to follow at 3 p.m. The Punxsy programs will play a double-header to conclude the opening day, with the girls tipping off at 6 p.m. against Moniteau and the boys to follow at 7:30 p.m. against Marion Center.

Saturday’s action will begin with JV games between Punxsy and Marion Center — the boys’ game at 10:30 a.m. and the girls’ at 11:45 a.m. The girls’ consolation game will follow at 1:15 p.m. and will be followed by the boys’ consolation game at 3 p.m. The championship games will be played Saturday evening, with the girls tipping off at 6 p.m. and the boys following them at 7:45 p.m.

For local sports fans, the Punxsutawney Area School District’s Christmas and New Year’s break brings a bit of a lull, as for the most part, the teams are idle throughout its duration. But one highlight shines bright — the Carl A. Truance Holiday Tournament — and features eight local basketball teams (four boys’ and four girls’ squads) battling it out for their respective titles. And for the host team, it’s always even sweeter when both Punxsy groups win on the first night and have the opportunity to play for the championships on the second — as is the case this year.

On Friday, the Lady Chucks tipped off their portion of the tournament by besting Moniteau 58-32 in a game that was not all that close from the end of the first quarter on. Then, in the nightcap, the Chucks won a back-and-forth, toe-to-toe battle with the Marion Center Stingers by a final score of 52-44 to earn their spot in tonight’s championship game. At 6 p.m. this evening, the Punxsy girls will play against Hazleton, which defeated Marion Center 70-40 in Friday’s afternoon action, and at 7:45 p.m., the boys will meet Clarion, which battled back from a late deficit to overcome Bald Eagle and win 52-49. This afternoon’s consolation games will feature Marion Center vs. Moniteau in girls’ action (1:15 p.m.) and Bald Eagle vs. Marion Center on the boys’ side (3 p.m.).

It was a great weekend at Punxsutawney Area High School for fans of high school basketball, as the Punxsutawney Area Booster Club’s 25th annual Carl A. Truance Holiday Classic was held on Friday and Saturday. Hazleton and Clarion claimed the team titles, with Punxsy’s teams finishing runner-up in each of Saturday’s finals. Pictured here are the award winners from each of the games that were played Saturday. (First photo) The girls’ award winners were (from left) Punxsy’s Sarah Weaver (Don Bishop Extra Effort Award); Hazleton’s Kyra Antolick (All-Tournament Team), Marissa Trivelpiece (Chuck Daly MVP) and Faith Grula (All-Tournament Team); and Punxsy’s Riley Presloid (All-Tournament Team). (Second photo) The boys’ award winners were (from left) Clarion’s Hunter Craddock (All-Tournament Team), Nick Frederick (All-Tournament Team) and Cal German (Chuck Daly MVP); and Punxsy’s Andrew Young (All-Tournament Team) and Andrew Wehrle (Don Bishop Extra Effort Award).

The Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling program had quite a two-day stretch at the annual 2019 Midlands Championships, held in Estates, Illinois, on Dec. 29-30, and among the accomplishments for the Hawkeyes was Punxsy's own Kaleb Young earning the Midlands title at 157 pounds.

Young opened his Round of 32 action with a 13-7 decision over Indiana's Silva Bloomington, then scored a 7-5 decision over Buffalo's Michael Petite in the Round of 16. He advanced to the semi-finals with a 7-2 decision over Zac Carson of Ohio in the quarters, and in the semis, he secured a thrilling fall at the 7:57 mark of an overtime match against Kendall Coleman of Purdue that saw him win a last-second scramble.

In Young's championship bout, against Army's Markus Hartman, the two were scoreless through one period, and after starting down, Young got a reversal in the second before Hartman escaped to make it 2-1 through two periods. Hartman battled back to tie the bout 3-3 at the end of regulation, though, sending the bout to overtime. There, Young secured a late takedown, with 13 seconds showing on the clock, to win the 157-pound title.

Overall, the Hawkeyes had five individual champions at the Midland Championships and set a tournament record with 196.5 team points. Iowa is currently undefeated in its dual meet schedule (4-0) and wrestles next at Indiana on Jan. 10.

Pictured here are the members of the Punxsutawney Area High School competitive spirit squad performing their routine at the District 9 Championships on Saturday at DuBois Area High School.

PUNXSUTAWNEY — On Monday evening, in the first of four home games this week, the Punxsy boys' basketball team relied on a pair of strong defensive stands — one in the second quarter and one in the fourth — to create separation and pull away from the visiting Marion Center Stingers for a 52-39 win. After a nearly even first quarter, Punxsy rattled off 10 unanswered points to start the second quarter and took a nine-point lead to the break; then, after another near-even quarter in the third, Punxsy scored 10 of the fourth quarter's first 11 points to effectively put the game out of reach.

Punxsy's offense was about as balanced as one could be, with no player reaching double digits but five coming within a few points of doing so and with a total of eight different players finding the score sheet. Ethan Presloid went 9-for-10 at the foul line to share the distinction of top scorer with Micah Kriebel, who provided a spark for the Chucks in the first quarter with five points in the closing minutes; both Presloid and Kriebel had nine on the night. Andrew Young and Nick Humble each added eight points, with Daren Byers adding seven of his own. Andrew Wehrle finished with five, followed by Gabe Kengersky's four, and Ethan Lainey rounded things out with two.

Punxsy continues its busy week with a challenging match-up against Elk County Catholic on Wednesday.

The Lady Chucks basketball team showed up in a big way on Wednesday while playing host to the Lady Dutch of St. Marys in a District 9 League game. Punxsy took the lead for good in a thrilling fashion — on a buzzer-beating lay-up by Chloe Presloid at the end of the first half. Then, Punxsy outscored the guests 29-11 in the second half for a 50-31 win. For more details, plus plenty of photos from the game, see Thursday's print edition of The Spirit.

The 7th-, 8th- and 9th-grade Punxsy boys' basketball teams took center stage on Monday, as they were the only events on the athletics calendar. The Chucks took two of three, with the 7th-grade boys beating Indiana 46-30, while the 9th-grade squad bested Marion Center 55-42. Indiana did pick up one win, as the visiting 8th-graders pulled out a 34-20 victory over the Chucks.

Tuesday's schedule includes the wrestling program's first home meet of the season, against Hollidaysburg, with junior high at 6 p.m. and the varsity to follow at 7 p.m. On the road, the JV and varsity girls' basketball teams head to Brookville (6/7:30 p.m.).

• Junior high wrestling: Punxsy hosted Hollidaysburg and was dominant on the mats, besting the Tigers 36-25 on the scoreboard and 30-7 in the contested matches with the Tigers. Winners for the Chucks included Hunter Dobson (80), Dysen Gould (94), Andrew Smith (108), John Elick (122), Brice Rowan (130, FFT), Landon Martz (138) and Kyle Varner (170).

• Varsity Wrestling: The Tigers and Chucks didn't match up so well in the varsity match, as a number of Hollidaysburg wrestlers were scratched with apparent illnesses. Punxsy did have four winners, including two by fall — Brady Smith (132) and Garrett Eddy (195) — and two by forfeit — Josh Miller (182) and Hunter Harris (HWT). Ultimately, though, the Tigers won out, 42-24.

• Girls' basketball: Punxsy's girls' basketball team picked up a win in Part I of the Route 36 rivalry for this season, as they traveled to Brookville and made the return trip with a 58-43 win. Riley Presloid was the top scorer for Punxsy with 16 points, with three others reaching double digits. In the JV game, Brookville secured a 33-10 victory.

• Wednesday's Schedule: On Wednesday, the Punxsy boys' basketball program will welcome the Brookville Raiders to town. The junior high boys will tip off at 4:15 p.m., with the 9th-graders at the high school at 4 p.m., the JVs at 6 p.m. and the varsity at 7:30 p.m.

On Thursday evening, with no home games on the schedule, the closest action for the Punxsy Athletics Department was a girls' basketball game at DuBois, and there, a balanced attack by the Lady Chucks that saw all five starters score at least nine points and no more than 12 led Punxsy to a 53-42 victory over DuBois. The game was closer than the final score, as the Lady Beavers had cut the lead to three points in the final four minutes, but Punxsy's clutch foul shooting down the stretch secured the win. In JV action, the Lady Chucks dropped a close decision, 32-26.

The Punxsy indoor track & field program also traveled to State College for a meet on Thursday. Results will be posted from that event on Friday.

Friday's PAHS schedule includes a special event — the crowning of the PAHS Winter Queen and Princess at halftime of the boys' basketball game against DuBois. Earlier in the day, the junior high basketball program — 7th, 8th and 9th grades — will also host DuBois at PAES and PAHS, beginning at 4 p.m. at each site.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, died in a helicopter crash Sunday. He was 41. Bryant died in a helicopter crash near Calabasas, California, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. It was unclear if family members were on the helicopter. The crash happened around 10 a.m. near about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said it was a Sikorsky S-76 and it was not known what caused the crash.

Bryant retired in 2016 as the third-leading scorer in NBA history, finishing two decades with the Lakers as a prolific scorer with a sublime all-around game and a relentless competitive ethic. He held that spot in the league scoring ranks until Saturday night, when the Lakers' LeBron James passed him for third place during a game in Philadelphia, Bryant's hometown. "Continuing to move the game forward (at)KingJames," Bryant wrote in his last tweet. "Much respect my brother."

Bryant had one of the greatest careers in recent NBA history and became one of the game's most popular players as the face of the 16-time NBA champion Lakers franchise. He was the league MVP in 2008 and a two-time NBA scoring champion, and he earned 12 selections to the NBA's All-Defensive teams. He teamed with Shaquille O'Neal in a combustible partnership to lead the Lakers to NBA titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. He later teamed with Pau Gasol to win two more titles in 2009 and 2010. Bryant retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his final NBA game.

Bryant looms large over the current generation of NBA players. After James passed Bryant on Saturday, he remembered listening to Bryant when the superstar came to speak at a childhood basketball camp. "I remember one thing he said: If you want to be great at it, or want to be one of the greats, you've got to put the work in," James said. "There's no substitution for work." James later teamed up with Bryant on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team in Beijing. "He had zero flaws offensively," James said. "Zero. You backed off of him, he could shoot the 3. You body him up a little bit, he could go around you. He could shoot from mid-range. He could post. He could make free throws. ... He was just immortal offensively because of his skill set and his work ethic."

Bryant was a basketball superstar for his entire adult life. He entered the NBA draft straight out of high school in 1996 after a childhood spent partly in Italy, where his father, former NBA player Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, played professionally. The Lakers acquired the 17-year-old Bryant in a trade shortly after Charlotte drafted him, and he immediately became one of the most exciting and intriguing players in the sport alongside O'Neal, who had signed with the Lakers as a free agent. Bryant won the Slam Dunk Contest as an upstart rookie, and the Lakers gradually grew into a team that won three consecutive championships. Bryant and Gasol formed the nucleus of another championship team in 2008, reaching three straight NBA Finals and eventually winning two more titles.

It's Groundhog Week! That's right, at the end of this week, Punxsutawney Phil will emerge from his burrow and make his prediction, which means town will be a little busier place this week. And in the midst of the winter sports season, PAHS' athletics programs will keep themselves busy as well.

-- Girls' Basketball: The Lady Chucks get the ball rolling on a three-game week on Monday, when they play host to Elk County Catholic. All three games will be at home, as they'll welcome Route 36 rivals Brookville to town on Wednesday and West Shamokin on Friday.

-- Wrestling: After spending the first six weeks of the season on the road, the Chucks wrestlers are in the midst of a home-heavy portion of their duals schedule, and this week, they'll host a pair of home matches -- against the Raiders of Brookville on Tuesday and Indiana on Thursday.

-- Boys' Basketball: The Chucks have the lightest schedule of the week, as they're idle through Thursday, when they'll travel to Hollidaysburg for their only contest.

-- Junior High Boys' Basketball: The younger Chucks, though, will be a bit busier, as they travel to DuBois Central Catholic on Monday for a triple-header with the Cardinals, then host Altoona-White on Wednesday to wrap up their week.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — When the Arizona Diamondbacks landed ace Madison Bumgarner in free agency last month, the three-time World Series winner made a surprising offer, one that came with a very urgent catch.
Bumgarner told the Diamondbacks they could defer some of the money on his five-year deal if they promised to spend the up-front savings on making the club better in 2020. Arizona followed through Monday, acquiring two-time Gold Glove outfielder Starling Marte from the Pittsburgh Pirates. "He fits a lot of what we're trying to do," Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen.

Though the Pirates have fallen well off the pace in the NL Central over the last four years, Marte has been one of the few bright spots. The 31-year-old hit .295 in 2019, setting career highs with 23 home runs and 82 RBIs. It wasn't nearly enough, however, to help Pittsburgh avoid finishing dead last in the division, a plummet that led to a massive leadership overhaul. New Pirates general manager Ben Cherington reached out to Hazen — the two previously worked together in Boston — shortly after taking over last October. Talks broke off over the holidays but picked back up this month, with Arizona receiving Marte as well as $1.5 million from the Pirates due on Sept. 15. In return, the Diamondbacks sent shortstop Liover Peguero and pitcher Brendan Malone — both 19-year-old prospects — to Pittsburgh. "It was painful giving up the players we did ultimately give up," Hazen said. "We just felt like we have a duty to both the present and the future and we felt like we were going to have to give something good up in order to get a good major league player."

The Diamondbacks selected Malone with the 33rd overall pick in the draft last season and signed him for a bonus of $2,202,200. The hard-throwing right-hander was considered one of the top prospects in the Arizona system. Malone went 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in seven appearances in Class A. Peguero signed in August 2017 for $475,000 and hit .326 (74 for 227) with 11 doubles, five triples, five home runs and 38 RBIs in 60 games in the low minors last season. Both players figure to rank among the Pirates' top 10 prospects.

On Monday evening, the Lady Chucks basketball team played host to Elk County Catholic and poured it on en route to a 69-35 victory. Other scores from Monday included:
• JV girls’ basketball: Punxsy 27, Elk County Catholic 12
• 7th-grade boys’ basketball: Punxsy 33, DuBois Central Catholic 24
• 8th-grade boys’ basketball: Punxsy 54, DuBois Central Catholic 40
• 9th-grade boys’ basketball: DuBois Central Catholic 49, Punxsy 26

Tuesday's Punxsy athletics schedule is all wrestling, as the junior high squad will host Brookville at 6 p.m., followed by the varsity bout between the Route 36 rivals at 7 p.m.