SPORTS ITEMS

Sumter Middle School Conference title games on Thursday at SHS

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The championship games of the Sumter Middle School Conferencce basketball tournaments will be played on Thursday at the Sumter High School gymnasium beginning at 5 p.m.

Alice Drive will be represented in both games. AD will take on Chestnut Oaks in the girls game starting at 5. The boys championship game will follow, pitting AD against Manning Junior High.

JV GIRLS BASKETBALL

Darlington 32

Crestwood 18

DARLINGTON -- Sedajah Rembert had 15 points, but it was not enough as the Crestwood junior varsity girls basketball team ended its season with a 32-18 loss to Darlington at the DHS gymnasium on Monday.

The Lady Knights finished 9-7 overall and 5-5 in the region.

Agent says Lynch intends to retire


SEATTLE — Marshawn Lynch intends to retire from football.

Doug Hendrickson, the agent for the Seattle Seahawks star running back, confirmed his client’s plans to The Associated Press on Monday.

Lynch had indicated as much Sunday night by tweeting a picture with a pair of cleats hanging from a power or telephone line, along with an emoji depicting a peace sign. The Seahawks official Twitter account later added the hashtag (hash)ThankYouBeastMode to Lynch’s original message. A spokesman said the tweet stood as the team’s comment.

Lynch won a Super Bowl with Seattle and played nine seasons in the NFL. He arrived in Seattle in 2010 and his attitude and bruising running became the foundation for two straight NFC championships and the franchise’s first Super Bowl title.

Ex-USC coach Spurrier to serve as ambassador

COLUMBIA — Steve Spurrier has a new role at South Carolina — special assistant to President Harris Pastides and athletic director Ray Tanner.

Spurrier resigned as football coach last October. He had a contract clause that allowed him to assume such a role if he wanted. Tanner said Spurrier recently accepted the position and has met with donors and boosters at a few basketball games this season.

Spurrier and wife Jerri were on hand Monday night when the second-ranked Gamecocks hosted No. 1 Connecticut in women’s hoops.

Spurrier spent 10-plus years in charge of the football program, becoming the winningest coach in school history. However, he stepped away in mid-season this past fall — “I fired myself,” Spurrier says — when the Gamecocks struggled.

Will Muschamp took over as coach in December.

Knicks fire Fisher; Rambis interim head

NEW YORK — Derek Fisher was fired as New York Knicks coach Monday, with his team having lost five straight and nine of 10 to fall well back in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Associate head coach Kurt Rambis was promoted to interim head coach. He went 56-145 in two seasons as Minnesota’s coach.

Fisher was midway through his second season. The Knicks are 23-31 and went 40-96 under Fisher. Team President Phil Jackson hired his former player in June 2014 shortly after Fisher ended his playing career.

Fisher thanked Jackson, Madison Square Garden Chairman James Dolan, along with his players and staff.

“This is a very talented team with strong character and I am confident they will succeed,” Fisher said in a statement. “Obviously, I’m disappointed, but have learned an immense amount from this experience and hope to grow from it.”

The Knicks went 17-65 last season but upgraded their roster during the summer with the drafting of Kristaps Porzingis and the signing of veterans Arron Afflalo and Robin Lopez.

They had the look of a playoff team most of the season but are stumbling into the All-Star break, and fans loudly booed when they fell behind by 19 points Sunday during a 101-96 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Matsuyama beats Fowler in Phoenix Open playoff

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Rickie Fowler hit two balls into the water on the par-4 17th hole to give Hideki Matsuyama an unexpected victory Sunday in the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

After blowing a two-shot lead on the 317-yard hole in regulation when he blasted a driver through the green and into the water, Fowler pulled a 5-wood into the lake on the fourth hole of a playoff to set up the deciding bogey. Matsuyama birdied the hole in regulation and two-putted for par from 6 feet in the playoff.

Fowler forced the playoff with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th after Matsuyama made an 18-footer. They each shot 4-under 67 to finish at 14-under 270.

Matsuyama won the 2014 Memorial for his only other PGA Tour title, beating Kevin Na on the first extra hole. The 23-year-old Japanese player tied for second last year at TPC Scottsdale, a stroke behind Brooks Koepka.

Jang’s late birdie leads to 1st LPGA Tour title

OCALA, Fla. — Ha Na Jang won her first LPGA Tour title by making a late birdie to take the lead and closing with an even-par 72 for a two-shot victory Saturday over Canadian teen Brooke Henderson.

Jang played the final 36 holes with Lydia Ko, but it was the No. 1 player in women’s golf who buckled.

They were tied for the lead after finishing the third round in the morning. Ko dropped five shots in five holes, and only three late birdies kept her hopes alive. Ko closed with a 75 and finished three shots behind.

Henderson had a pair of three-putt bogeys over the final five holes and shot 72. Jang had a one-shot lead playing the par-5 18th and hit wedge to a back pin for a 5-foot birdie.

From staff, wire reports