HIGH SCHOOLS

Deering football coach Gallant leaves after just two seasons

Jon Gallant resigned as Deering High’s football coach after two seasons with an 11-10 record.

The Rams made the playoffs both seasons and had wins over Portland on Thanksgiving. Gallant works as the attendance coordinator at Bonny Eagle High.

There’s a possibility his Bonny Eagle job may expand. If that happened and Gallant got the position, it would prevent him from coaching.

“I wanted to give Deering enough time to find a new coach so he could get to know the kids and implement his changes,” he said.

Before becoming head coach, Gallant was an assistant coach at Deering for nine seasons.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL: Coach Tony Hamlin retired at Penquis Valley High of Milo.

Hamlin, who coached at Morse and South Portland, coached Penquis to the Class C state championship last Saturday in the final game at the Bangor Auditorium. In 31 seasons, Hamlin’s teams won 401 games and three state titles. He spent seven seasons as head coach at South Portland, winning a Class A state title in 1983.

BASKETBALL

NBA D-LEAGUE: Shelvin Mack of the Red Claws signed a 10-day contract with the Atlanta Hawks.

Mack, who has played in 23 games for the Red Claws, is third in the NBA D-League in scoring with 20.1 points per game and his 7.7 assists per game ranks third in the league.

Mack was on the bench for Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

FOOTBALL

NFL: Linebacker Bryan Scott says he’s signed a one-year contract to remain with the Buffalo Bills, and forego the chance to become an unrestricted free agent next week.

• Six-time Pro Bowl kicker David Akers was released by the San Francisco 49ers after two seasons filled with record-breaking highs and incredible lows.

TENNIS

BNP PAIRIBAS OPEN: Svetlana Kuznetsova, making a comeback after six months on the sidelines due to a right knee injury, took another step forward with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Andrea Hlavackova in the opening round at Indian Wells, Calif.

DOG SLED RACING

IDITAROD: Four-time consecutive winner Lance Mackey is leading the 1,000-mile race to Nome.

Mackey pulled into the checkpoint at Ophir, Alaska, at 5:30 a.m. and stayed for 15 minutes before getting his team back on the trail. He last won the race in 2010.

Musher Jake Berkowitz was in second place.

SKIING

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Slalom champion Marlies Schild said she will sit out the remainder of the Alpine ski season to rest the knee she hurt in a training crash in December.

n Olympic and World Cup champion Hannah Kearney of the United States won the women’s gold medal in moguls at the freestyle skiing world championships at Voss, Norway.

Mikael Kingsbury beat Canada teammate Alex Bilodeau for the men’s title.

— From staff and news services

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