Florida began its national title defense with the second-largest victory margin in NCAA Tournament history, pounding Prairie View A&M 114-55.

Family matters at High Point, enough that coach Chelsea Banbury has no problem with assistant Katie Clayman missing the Panthers’ last practice before their NCAA Tournament opener.

Chase Johnston made his first 2-point basket of the season, a fast-break layup with 11.7 seconds remaining that gave No. 12 seed High Point an 83-82 victory over fifth-seeded Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Dontae Horne scored 25 points and Cory Wells had 19 points and 11 rebounds as Prairie View A&M earned its first NCAA Tournament victory, 67-55 over Lehigh in the First Four.

Chaston Ditta threw two second-half touchdown passes, and East Carolina overcame an inadvertent whistle that negated a long touchdown in a 23-17 victory over Pittsburgh in the Military Bowl.

The AFC’s two top teams are home underdogs in Week 15.

High school football season is back and so are our weekly predictions for local games. Each Thursday during the season, News4JAX sports editor Justin Barney will offer his picks on the games.

No. 9 Notre Dame extended its winning streak to eight with a decisive 37-15 win over No. 23 Pittsburgh.

Nease didn’t downplay the desire for revenge in its playoff opener. The Panthers embraced it and used it as fuel against Oakleaf, and the result of the Varsity 4 Game of the Week was telling.

There is growing concern among college football coaches about spots in the Power Four conference title games coming down to tiebreakers instead of play on the field.

It was a fantastic start to the final week of the high school football regular season, with one team ending a near three-year losing skid and a perfect finish for another on Thursday night.

High school football season is back and so are our weekly predictions for local games. Each Thursday during the season, News4JAX sports editor Justin Barney will offer his picks on the games.

Jaguars season is back and our News4JAX sports staff is back with its predictions as well. Each week, we’ll unveil our predictions for the week’s game. Jacksonville (1-0) visits Cincinnati (1-0) in Week 2 looking to stay unbeaten.

The fourth week of the high school football season is Friday night. Here are four games to watch followed by the next four best options. All games begin at 7 p.m. unless indicated.

The Jaguars topped the Panthers 26-10 in Sunday's season opener at EverBank Stadium.

Jaguars season is back and our News4JAX sports staff is back with its predictions as well. Each week, we’ll unveil our predictions for the week’s game. Jacksonville opens its season on Sunday at home against the Panthers.

Enrique Ordonez rushed for 194 yards on 18 carries, Aiden Phifer flashed accuracy and arm strength while passing for 261 yards and the Nease defense stifled host Ponte Vedra for the opening 20 minutes on the way to a 38-28 victory in the 17th edition of the Battle of the Bridge.

Taylor Moton is staying in Carolina.

Nease's William Chaves is the Varsity 4 All-News4JAX boys tennis player of the year.

Nease senior Kylie Kochis is the Varsity 4 All-News4JAX girls tennis player of the year for the second time in her career.

This playoff run has felt different for Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.

The Dallas Stars emerged from a seven-game series against Colorado, and the Edmonton Oilers rallied from down 2-0 to eliminate Los Angeles and move on in the NHL playoffs.

The Colorado Avalanche made a big splash on the eve of the NHL trade deadline by getting center Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders.

The Varsity 4 News4JAX Super 6 boys lacrosse rankings will be published each Tuesday in the regular season. Records are through Feb. 17 games.

The News4JAX Super 6 girls high school basketball rankings will be published each Tuesday — except during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas — through the regular season. Records are through Jan. 20.

Oakleaf coach Christopher Foy wanted his team to match the way Nease played: For one another, for their coaches, a team game.

News4JAX sports editor Justin Barney reveals his predictions for the first round of the high school football playoffs. All game times are Friday at 7 p.m. unless indicated.

High school football season is back. That means our football predictions are back, too.News4JAX sports editor Justin Barney will reveal his picks for the week each Thursday. All game times are Friday at 7 p.m. unless indicated.

The high school football regular season is off and rolling. News4JAX Varsity 4 Super 10 is here. It will be published on Tuesday through the end of the regular season. Think we’ve got a team ranked too high or a program not ranked at all? Send us a message on Instagram (@Sports4Jax) or sports@wjxt.com.

The high school football regular season is almost in the books.

The high school football regular season is off and rolling. News4JAX Varsity 4 Super 10 is here. It will be published on Tuesday through the end of the regular season. Think we’ve got a team ranked too high or a program not ranked at all? Send us a message on Instagram (@Sports4Jax) or sports@wjxt.com.

High school football season is back. That means our football predictions are back, too.News4JAX sports editor Justin Barney will reveal his picks for the week each Thursday.

The high school football regular season is off and rolling. News4JAX Varsity 4 Super 10 is here. It will be published on Tuesday through the end of the regular season. Think we’ve got a team ranked too high or a program not ranked at all? Send us a message on Instagram (@Sports4Jax) or sports@wjxt.com.

Varsity 4 has you covered every step of the way for Week 6 of the high school football season. We’ll have four games to watch, a couple of other notable games and the full schedule in our Thursday coverage. All game times are 7 p.m. unless indicated. Due to Hurricane Helene, the schedule covers three nights.

It was a wild Week 5 of the high school football season as the halfway mark officially arrived. Here’s a glance at notables, scores and schedules from Friday night.

The puck went into the corner, to the left of Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, with 14 seconds left in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

High school football season is back. That means our football predictions are back, too. News4JAX sports editor Justin Barney will reveal his picks for the week each Thursday. All game times are Friday at 7 p.m. unless indicated.

The high school football regular season cranks up in full this week and News4JAX/Varsity 4 have you covered every step of the way. We’ll have four games to watch, the next four best best and the full schedule in our Thursday coverage. All gametimes are 7 p.m. unless indicated.

Birmingham-Southern is still swinging.

Birmingham-Southern is down to one last swing.

Birmingham-Southern is going down swinging.

A slew of big NHL names will be heading back onto NHL playoff ice on Tuesday night with 1-0 series leads.

The News4JAX boys lacrosse Super 6 rankings will be published Tuesday's during the regular season. Records are through Feb. 26 games.

First-time candidate Julius Peppers headlines the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame class that has a distinctive defensive feel.

Blake Hinson scored 24 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting from 3-point range as Pittsburgh won in Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time since 1979, beating No. 7 Duke 80-76 on Saturday night.

The News4JAX Super 6 girls high school basketball rankings will be published each Tuesday — except during Christmas week — through the regular season. Records are through Dec. 18.

The way Tyreek Hill and A.

After Bryce Frick transferred to Nease, all the quarterback wanted was an opportunity. With his team trailing late in the game Friday night, he just wanted one more.

The AFC came into the season with the lion’s share of the top quarterbacks and Super Bowl contenders led by passers like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow.

High school football season is back. That means our football predictions are back, too. News4JAX sports editor Justin Barney will reveal his picks for the week each Thursday. All game times are 7 p.m. unless indicated.

Quarterback C.

The Carolina Panthers have given rookie quarterback Bryce Young the first-team reps in practice this week, a move that coach Frank Reich said is the next step in his progression.

The Vegas Golden Knights were flying high after Game 1 in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.

The Clay softball team went on the road and pulled a massive upset in the opening round of the high school softball playoffs on Thursday night.

Quarterbacks are back on top in the NFL draft.

Boston captain Patrice Bergeron is not accompanying the Bruins on their trip to Florida for Games 3 and 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Jamarius Burton made a go-ahead jumper with 10 seconds left and Pitt edged Mississippi State 60-59 in a back-and-forth First Four game that featured 21 lead changes — most in the NCAA Tournament in five years.

Wooga Poplar made a career-best six 3-pointers for 18 points, and 16th-ranked Miami captured the No. 1 seed for the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament with a 78-76 win over No. 25 Pittsburgh on Saturday night.

The final week of the regular season is here, the calendar rounding toward March Madness.

The News4JAX Super 6 girls basketball rankings will be published each Tuesday during the regular season. Records are through Jan. 2.

Pittsburgh got off to as fast a start as a defense can at Virginia.

The first of two weekends of the state swimming and diving championships went very well for several area programs.

Two teams go head-to-head in Putnam County for their last game of the regular season for this week’s Football Friday on 4 when Palatka High School takes on St. Augustine in one of the area’s oldest rivalries.

If Collin Drafts had to do it again, the Nease coach still would go for the fake extra-point attempt his team tried Friday night. But maybe, in hindsight, he would try it a little earlier and on a field goal instead.

High school football season is back. That means our football predictions are back, too.News4JAX sports editor Justin Barney will reveal his picks for the week every Thursday during the season.

On the first of five days of high school football this week, nearly a dozen area teams picked up district victories.

It’s Week 3 of the high school football season. We take a look at the top four games, the next four options and the full schedule for teams in north Florida and south Georgia.

High school football season is back. That means our football predictions are back, too. Each Thursday during the season, News4JAX sports editor Justin Barney will reveal his picks for the week.

Pitt and West Virginia renew one of college football's oldest rivalries this week when “The Backyard Brawl” returns.

The Carolina Panthers now have two of the top three overall picks from the 2018 draft class on their roster, and both happen to be quarterbacks.

Eight area high school softball teams were in action during the second night of the opening round of the state playoffs. Only four managed to move on.

Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves as the Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers 6-1 in Game 3 to take a lead in their first-round playoff series.

The News4JAX Super 6 softball rankings will be published each Monday through the end of the regular season. Results are through March 20 games.

Defending state champion St. Thomas Aquinas rolled into the state title game with a 63-45 win over Nease in the Class 6A state semifinals on Thursday night.

The Nease girls basketball team is in the state semifinals in Lakeland this week. The Panthers face Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas on Thursday at 6 p.m. A glance at the game.

Bishop Kenny, Nease and University Christian are the three girls basketball teams left standing in the state playoffs.

Bartram Trail, Ponte Vedra and Ridgeview wrapped up the High School 9:12 Baseball Classic with two wins apiece after wrapping things up on Saturday at Sans Souci.

The girls high school soccer state playoffs begin Tuesday night. A glance at the first-round matchups. All games are 7 p.m. unless indicated.

The Jaguars know their opponents for the 2022 season, and they include six games against five playoff teams.

Dom Henry had big goals. They also seemed unrealistic. Henry, a Nease senior, headlines the All-News4JAX offense.

Payton Thorne’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Reed gave No. 11 Michigan State the lead with less than three minutes remaining and the Spartans overcame an 11-point deficit to beat No. 13 Pittsburgh 31-21 on Thursday night in the Peach Bowl.

Darren Grainger passed for 203 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 122 yards and a fourth score to lead Georgia State to a 51-20 victory over Ball State in the Camellia Bowl on Saturday.

Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was taken to a hospital for a head injury after he was carted off the field in the third quarter of Denver’s 15-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The area is down to its final four high school football teams.

Football practice on Thanksgiving is customary at Trinity Christian and Bolles, even Baker County and Union County to some degree. At Nease, it hasn’t happened that often at all.

High school football is now in the state playoffs and our weekly predictions will cover each of those.

Only six area teams survived the second round — Baker County, Bolles, Nease, Pierce County, Trinity Christian and Union County.

The remaking of the Nease football program started the hard way. One win in 2019. One in 2020.

A glance at how area teams did in the second round of the high school volleyball playoffs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

High school football season is back, and with it, our weekly predictions on games in the area. News4Jax sports editor Justin Barney reveals his weekly high school football picks every Thursday.

The Ridgeview softball team finally ran out of comebacks.

They’re back, maybe a bit unexpectedly, but they're back, and ready to chase a spot in the softball state championship game. Ridgeview (26-3) faces Eustis (25-1) in the Class 4A state semifinals on Thursday morning at 10 a.m.

High school softball season is in full swing and so are our News4Jax Super 6 rankings. They will be published every Wednesday during the regular season. Records are through April 13.

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)SAN ANTONIO – UConn did just fine without coach Geno Auriemma. Bueckers scored 24 points — the most by a UConn player in her first NCAA Tournament game — and the top-seeded Huskies routed High Point 102-59 in the first round Sunday. “We just want to continue to win for him so he can get out here with us,” Bueckers said. Muhl injured her left ankle in the Big East Tournament opener, but returned for the Huskies' game the next night. “I think that was a little bit of improv from some of the players," High Point coach Chelsea Banbury said.

The social justice movement in college athletics has popped up in most unusual place: gymnastics. From UCLA to Pittsburgh, Black gymnasts and the programs they represent are using their platform to empower and uplift. Her experience at Arkansas was simply reflective of the culture at large in the sport at the time. From Pittsburgh to California, female gymnasts are using their platform to empower, educate and bring light to causes they believe in. “Personally I would say (gymnastics) is a predominantly white sport,” Ward said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In what has been a slow offseason for high school football coaching movement, Palatka made the first hire of the new year on Wednesday. Turner heads to Putnam County from his athletic director role at Menendez, although he has a football background. Turner coached Menendez for five seasons from 2013-17, going 31-24 and reaching the state playoffs three times. Turner coached for three seasons in North Carolina prior to his arrival at Menendez and went 14-19. Turner will replace Willie Fells, a Palatka alum who went 6-24 in his three seasons there.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The News4Jax Super 6 girls basketball rankings will be published each Wednesday during the regular season with the exception of a break for the holidays. (1) Oakleaf (13-0, Class 7A)Notable wins: Bishop Kenny, Jackson, Mandarin, Orange Park, Ponte Vedra. They have two more games this week, including a Thursday home game against Super 6 team Nease. (3) Raines (13-4), Class 4ANotable wins: Bishop Kenny, Flagler Palm Coast, Hawthorne, Jackson, Lake Mary, Ribault, Sandalwood, Valdosta. (4) Ribault (12-3, Class 4A)Notable wins: Bartram Trail, Bishop Kenny, Colonial, Dr. Phillips, Fletcher, Legacy Early College, Mandarin, Parker.

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) drives against Washington Wizards' Davis Bertans and center Moritz Wagner (21) in the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The Boston Celtics listed seven players as unavailable for Sunday’s game against the Miami Heat in accordance with the NBA’s health and safety protocols that were installed to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. The Celtics ruled out Jaylen Brown, Javonte Green, Semi Ojeleye, Jayson Tatum, Tristan Thompson, Grant Williams and Robert Williams. A pair of other Celtics are injured, which leaves Boston with the minimum eight players available on Sunday. Players having to miss multiple days is a very real possibility even if they were exposed to someone with the virus.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The News4Jax Super 6 girls basketball rankings will be published each Wednesday during the regular season with the exception of a break for the holidays. (1) Oakleaf (12-0, Class 7A)Notable wins: Bishop Kenny, Jackson, Mandarin, Orange Park, Ponte Vedra. Two very tough opponents to end the week in Spruce Creek on Friday and Bishop Kenny on Saturday. (3) Raines (10-4), Class 4ANotable wins: Bishop Kenny, Jackson, Lake Mary, Ribault, Sandalwood, Valdosta. But their most impressive win of the season came earlier this week against a full-strength Bishop Kenny squad in a 51-50 overtime thriller.

It was the Panthers' second game this season that they had lost due to COVID-19. — Collin Drafts (@CoachDrafts) November 12, 2020According to Josh Wilson with FloridaHSFootball.com, a total of 17 playoff games this week had been canceled this week. Baker County’s first-round playoff opponent, Panama City Beach Arnold, was forced to forfeit due to COVID-19 issues. Instead of opening the postseason up this week, both Oakleaf and Baker County will have the week off. Baker County will travel to face the winner of the Raines-Westside game next Friday in the Region 1-5A quarterfinals.