Sports: Pistons win. Wings lose.

Detroit Pistons

The Pistons held on for a 98-95 over the Knicks last night at the Palace of Auburn Hills as Detroit got its first win under new coach Stan Van Gundy.   Greg Monroe dropped in 23 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.  Kentavious Caldwell-Pope broke his shooting slump knocking down four from deep. Caldwell-Pope finished with 20 points.  It was a second straight off night for Carmelo Anthony, who shot 5-of-21 from the field for 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds.  Former Wolverine Tim Hardaway Junior came off the bench to score 20 points.  The Pistons will host the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.

Red Wings

The Red Wings lose to the Rangers 4-3 in overtime.   Derick Brassard hit the game-winner early in overtime at Madison Square Garden.  The Rangers jumped out to a 2-0 lead but Jakub Kindl and Daniel Cleary scored 13 seconds apart in the second to tie the game at two. But the Rangers went ahead 3-2.  Then Wings’ Tomas Tatar found the back of the net on a power play with 7.7-seconds left in the third to tie it at three-all.   The Wings head home for four games at Joe Louis Arena starting tomorrow night against the New Jersey Devils.  The Wings also host Tampa Bay, Chicago and Montreal on the home stand.

Tigers Awards

Tigers’ third baseman Nick Castellanos was named the Tigers Rookie of the Year by the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association.  Castellanos hit .259 with 46 extra base hits including 11 home runs and 66 RBI in 148 games.

MSU Basketball

The Michigan State Spartans next exhibition game is Friday night against St. Cloud State in East Lansing.   MSU begins the regular season November 14th against Navy.

NFL Football

The battle for Ohio has key AFC North implications as the Cleveland Browns visit the Cincinnati Bengals on "Thursday Night Football" at Paul Brown Stadium.

Former Wolverine QB to Start in Houston

Former Wolverine QB Ryan Mallett is the new starting signal-caller for the Houston Texans.  Head coach Bill O'Brien is putting the 4th year pro in to replace Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Lions

The Lions host the Dolphins on Sunday.    Detroit Lions star wide receiver Calvin Johnson says he will return to the playing field this Sunday.  Johnson told reporters he feels close to full strength, and is set to return when the Lions host the Miami Dolphins in Week 10. Detroit is on top of the NFC North at 6-and-2 and has won all three games with Johnson on the shelf with an ankle injury.

College Football

#8 Michigan State hosts #16 Ohio State Saturday in East Lansing in a battle of 7-1 teams.

Michigan will try to even their record at 5 and 5 against Northwestern.

Volleyball

In District Volleyball ….

Harper Creek beat Delton Kellogg in three.  Charley Andrews had 21 kills, three aces, two blocks and nine digs.  Olivia Leson had 20 kills, two aces.

Marshall beat Pennfield in a tough 3-set match, winning 25-13, 26-24 and 26-24. Logan Kiessling had 14 kills and nine digs, Nicole Tucker had seven blocks and six kills, Kaylie Bates had 27 assists and seven digs. Marshall faces Harper Creek tonight.

St. Philip rolled over Jackson Christian in three.  Abby McKinzie had 14 kills, eight digs and an ace.

Bellevue beat Tekonsha in 3.  St. Phillip will host the Bellevue Broncos tonight in the District Championship game.

Olivet defeated Leslie in three sets. The Eagles advance to face Eaton Rapids in Friday’s district final.

Bronson beat Homer in 3.  Jill Pyles with nine kills and five digs.

Athens beat Burr Oak in 3. Teasha Swank with 18 kills, eight digs and five blocks. Hailee Hurst had nine aces, four kills and six digs.

Galesburg-Augusta beat Springport 3-0.

Calhoun Christian plays at Climax-Scotts tonight.

High School Football

Friday Night….Lakeview hosts Portage Northern. The Spartans’ lone loss this season was to Portage Northern in the opening game of the season.  We’ll have the game at 6:35 on WBCK.

Harper Creek is at Eaton Rapids.

St. Philip will host Lawrence, the only team to beat them this season.

Olivet plays at Lansing Catholic.

On Saturday, Climax-Scotts travels to Mendon.

Wow! A-Rod Lied

Alex Rodriguez has maintained that he never took performance-enhancing drugs from Biogenesis of America or its disgraced founder, Anthony Bosch.  According to a Miami Herald report, though, the Yankees third baseman told the Drug Enforcement Agency in January that he paid cash to Bosch for PEDs and received injections of human growth hormone.  "Rodriguez injected the HGH into his stomach," the 15-page DEA report said, according to the Herald.  "Rodriguez said Bosch told him the HGH would help with sleep, weight, hair growth, eyesight and muscle recovery."  Bosch also apparently advised Rodriguez on how to "beat" baseball's mandated drug tests.

Athlete of the Week

This week's Meijer Athlete of the Week is St. Philip Tigers' sophomore Ava Strenge.  Ava continued her fantastic 2014 Cross Country season by wrapping up the Class D Individual state championship last weekend at Michigan International Speedway.  Last Spring, Ava was runner-up at State in track in the 16-hundred and 32-hundred meter races.

Go on line today to nominate our WBCK/Meijer Athlete of the Week!   We want to salute local kids who are working hard both on and off the field, and it’s easy to nominate someone you think is deserving of an award.  The winner will get mentioned on WBCK and at wbckfm.com and also get a trophy from Recognition Inc. in Battle Creek. We’ll announce a new WBCK/Meijer Athlete of the Week each Wednesday.