HIGH SCHOOLS
Dylan Blue of Lewiston, Toby Lappin of Portland/South Portland/Deering/Waynflete, Kadan Neureuther of Lake Region/Oxford Hills/Fryeburg and Timothee Ouellette of St. Dominic Academy are the finalists for the Travis Roy Award, given to the top senior player in Class A boys’ hockey.
Neureuther (18 goals, 18 assists) and Ouellette (14 goals, 22 assists) tied for the Class A scoring lead in the regular season. Lappin had 16 goals and 12 assists during the regular season, and Blue was the leading scorer for top-ranked Lewiston with 13 goals and nine assists.
The winner will be announced at the Class A hockey banquet in Brunswick on March 16.
BASKETBALL
NBA: The Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets will play in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Oct. 4 and 6 in preseason games ahead of next season, the NBA announced Wednesday.
The NBA said the two games will reach people in more than 200 countries and territories on television, digital media and social media. They are part of a multiyear collaboration between the NBA and Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism.
The NBA said the two games will reach people in more than 200 countries and territories on television, digital media and social media. They are part of a multiyear collaboration between the NBA and Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism.
FOOTBALL
NFL: The Buffalo Bills’ salary cap-related purge of players cut deep into the team’s core, with veteran safety Jordan Poyer and center Mitch Morse among five players the team announced it had released.
Cornerback Tre’Davious White is also being cut, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.
The moves were necessitated by Buffalo being a projected NFL-high $44 million over the 2024 season cap.
• The Washington Commanders are signing veteran tight end Zach Ertz, two people with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press.
One person familiar with the signing said the contract for next season is worth up to $5 million.
SOCCER
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Manchester City continued its pursuit of back-to-back Champions League titles by advancing to the quarterfinals with a 3-1 win over visiting Copenhagen.
Goals from Manuel Akanji, Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland at Etihad Stadium saw City complete a 6-2 aggregate win.
• Real Madrid drew 1-1 at home against Leipzig to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the fourth straight season, on a day in which Coach Carlo Ancelotti was accused of tax fraud by Spanish tax authorities.
Madrid advanced 2-1 on aggregate, thanks to its 1-0 win in the first leg in Germany three weeks ago.
Earlier in the day, prosecutors in Madrid accused Ancelotti of defrauding Spanish tax authorities of 1 million euros in 2014 and 2015 during his first stint with the club. Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of four years and nine months for the Italian coach, claiming he used a shell company to hide parts of his income from image rights.
• Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham was handed a two-game suspension for protesting against a referee after his late goal was waived off in a Spanish league match last weekend because the referee had already blown his whistle to end the match – a 2-2 draw against Valencia.
OLYMPICS
ISRAEL: Israel faces no threat to its Olympic status ahead of the Paris Games despite the conflict in Gaza, IOC President Thomas Bach confirmed.
Some of the scattered calls Israel has faced for sporting sanction since October have come from Russia, which is isolated in world sports because of its invasion of Ukraine.
GOLF
BRITISH OPEN: The British Open is reducing the lifetime exemption for past winners of the claret jug to players 55 and younger.
Currently, the age limit is 60. The new age limit will apply to future winners, starting with this year at Royal Troon. Phil Mickelson, who won at Muirfield in 2013, will be 54 this year at Royal Troon but will be able to play until he is 60. John Daly, who will be 58 at this year’s Open also can continue playing until 60.
SKIING
WORLD CUP: Austrian skier Manuel Feller clinched the men’s slalom title for his first career crystal globe when Saturday’s race in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, was canceled because of heavy rain at the host site.
Feller, who won four of the nine slaloms this season, now holds an insurmountable 169-point lead over Linus Strasser of Germany in the slalom standings with only one more race remaining at the World Cup finals.
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