HIGH SCHOOLS
Wells took a 27-23 halftime lead and survived a tightly played second half to beat Marshwood, 46-45, in a girls’ basketball game Wednesday at South Berwick.
Maren Maxon led Wells (4-0) with 20 points. Payton Maxon tossed in 11.
Isabelle Tice paced Marshwood (0-4) with 17 points, and Piper Catanese chipped in with nine.
GIRLS’ HOCKEY: Marina Bassett scored four goals to lead Portland/Cape/Deering/South Portland/Waynflete (5-1) to a 7-2 win over Biddeford/Thornton/Wells/Kennebunk (0-4) at Troubh Ice Arena in Portland.
Jane Flynn added a goal and three assists, reaching 100 points for her career. Beacons goalie Erin Winship made 27 saves.
Charlotte Lewis and Corinne Rumo scored for the Biddeford co-op, while Maria Villandry stopped 21 shots.
BOYS’ HOCKEY: Conner Boulay and Hunter Bussiere scored in the second period, Will Keach added a third-period tally, and Leavitt/GNG/Poland/Oak Hill shut out Cape Elizabeth, 3-0, at Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn.
Elijah Gosselin assisted on two goals, while Keach and Luke Gladu each had one assist. Kings goalie Kade Knight made eight saves.
Cape Elizabeth’s Nathan Hanisko stopped 25 shots.
BASKETBALL
NBA: Ben Simmons won’t return to the Brooklyn Nets until at least January because of a pinched nerve in his lower back.
The Nets said Simmons, who sustained his latest back injury Nov. 6, has shown consistent strength improvement in his back over the past two weeks. However, they added that he is still doing only individual court work and that his status would be updated again in approximately two weeks.
Simmons played in six games before he was hurt and has missed 20 games already this season after his last two seasons were cut short because of back problems.
SOCCER
ENGLAND: Curtis Jones scored twice, and Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah each added a goal as Liverpool advanced to the League Cup semifinals with a 5-1 home win over West Ham.
Liverpool will play Fulham in the two-leg semifinals, and second-division Middlesbrough will face Chelsea.
MLS: Los Angeles FC signed head coach Steve Cherundolo to a multi-year contract extension after he led the club to two MLS Cup finals and one championship in his first two seasons.
Cherundolo, 44, has been a huge success since replacing Bob Bradley before the 2022 season. He is 35-19-14 in the MLS regular season and 6-1-1 in the playoffs.
FRANCE: After watching his brother, Kylian Mbappé, score for Paris Saint-Germain, 16-year-old midfielder Ethan Mbappé made his league debut for the French champion.
The younger Mbappé, who turns 17 on Dec. 29, came on for Manuel Ugarte during stoppage time in a 3-1 home win against Metz.
Kylian Mbappé scored twice on his 25th birthday to extend his league-leading tally to 18 goals.
SPAIN: Barcelona earned a hard-fought 3-2 win over last-place Almeria to end a three-game winless streak and regain third place in the Spanish league.
Sergi Roberto scored twice and Raphinha once for Barcelona, which trails leader Girona by six points.
GERMANY: Patrik Schick celebrated his first Bundesliga start of the season with a hat trick as Bayer Leverkusen consolidated the top spot and set a record for games unbeaten with a 4-0 rout of Bochum.
Leverkusen stretched its unbeaten start to the season to 25 games across all competitions, beating the German record of 24 games without defeat set by Hamburger SV at the start of the 1982-83 season.
BASEBALL
MAJOR LEAGUES: The New York Mets acquired right-handed pitcher Adrian Houser and outfielder Tyrone Taylor from the Milwaukee Brewers for minor league pitcher Coleman Crow.
Houser, 30, went 31-34 with a 4.00 ERA while making 129 appearances and 97 starts for the Brewers from 2015-23.
Taylor, 29, batted .239 with a .294 on-base percentage, 41 homers and 136 RBI with the Brewers from 2019-23.
• Catcher Eric Haase and the Milwaukee Brewers agreed to a one-year contract.
Haase, 31, hit .201 with a .247 on-base percentage, four homers and 26 RBI in 89 games with the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians last season. He belted 22 home runs for the Tigers in 2021 and 14 homers in 2022.
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