Sports: Wings win in Shootout!

Red Wings

The Red Wings beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 in a shootout at Joe Louis Arena.

Teemu Pulkkinen scored the first goal of his NHL career for Detroit. Jonathan Ericsson, Gustav Nyquist and Xavier Ouellet also lit the lamp in regulation. Pavel Datsyuk and Gustav Nyquist scored in the shootout round, while goalie Petr Mrazek stopped both Wild attempts.  The Wings head into the All-Star break with 63 points, one behind Atlantic Division leaders Tampa Bay.   Detroit returns to the ice next Tuesday in Florida, when they face off against the Panthers.

College Basketball

The Wolverines beat Rutgers 54-50.  It was their first action without leading scorer Caris LeVert, who is out for the season after having surgery on his foot.  Michigan trailed by 5 with three minutes left, but reeled off 11 straight points.  Derrick Walton junior led the Wolverines with 12 points. Aubrey Dawkins added 11 and Zak Irvin finished with ten points. Michigan, 12-7 overall and 5-2 in Big Ten Play, will tip off against Wisconsin at the Crisler Center Saturday. The Michigan State Spartans are home tonight against Penn State. Broadcast time is 6pm on WBCK.

Tonight in the MAC…

Buffalo at Central Michigan, Eastern at Akron, and Western Michigan is at Miami of Ohio.

Pistons

The Detroit Pistons return to The Palace floor as they host the Orlando Magic tonight.
The Detroit Pistons have recalled guard Spencer Dinwiddie and forward Luigi Datome from Grand Rapids. Detroit is coming off a loss to the Hawks in Atlanta on Monday, while Orlando has lost its last two games. The Pistons, who are 16-26 and in fourth place in the Central, have won seven of their last ten.

Boys Basketball

Pennfield 45, Jackson Northwest 42 (P 6-2)  Senior center Ryan Lowe scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Battle Creek Central 62, Gull Lake 39 (BC Central 4-6, Gull Lake 0-8) Juan Warren led the Bearcats with 17 points and six rebounds

Parma Western 78, Harper Creek 67 (Harper Creek 7-1)

Charlotte 78, Marshall 64 (Marshall 6-2)

Burr Oak 80, Calhoun Christian 22.

Jackson Christian 56, Climax-Scotts 34 (Climax-Scotts 8-1)

Kalamazoo Christian 68, Galesburg-Augusta 37 (Galesburg-Augusta 1-8)

Homer 66, Athens 38 (Homer 6-3, Athens 2-5)  Caleb Drumm had 17 points for Homer.

Delton 52, Maple Valley 36 (Delton 3-4, Maple Valley 1-5) Landon Grizzle finished with 17.

Lakewood-Lake Odessa 70, Olivet 69 (Olivet 4-4)

Quincy 70, Springport 25 (Quincy 7-0)

Reading vs. Union City (Union City 6-1)

Girls Basketball

Harper Creek 40, Parma Western 27 (Harper Creek 5-4)  Jacey Bowers with 13

Gull Lake 55, Battle Creek Central 38 (Gull Lake 5-5, BC Central 4-7)

Jackson Northwest 53, Pennfield 36 (Pennfield 5-4)

Marshall 56, Charlotte 23 (Marshall 9-1)  Chelsea Tobias had 11.

Calhoun Christian 37, Burr Oak 33 (Calhoun Christian 5-5)  Abby Parks finished with 10 points.

Delton 47, Maple Valley 43 - OT (Delton 2-5, Maple Valley 2-7)

Galesburg-Augusta 46, Kalamazoo Christian 34 (Galesburg-Augusta 8-3)

Homer 54, Jackson Vandercook Lake 42 (Homer 7-3)

Olivet 56, Lake Odessa Lakewood 51 (Olivet 7-3)  Teona Feldpausch finished with 21 points.

Boys Swimming

Battle Creek Central 108, Eaton Rapids 76

Harbaugh hires Harbaugh

Jim Harbaugh's son is joining Michigan's new football staff as a tight ends coach. The school says Tuesday that Jay Harbaugh will also be an assistant special teams coach. He spent the 2014 season as an offensive quality control coach for the Baltimore Ravens, who are coached by his uncle, John Harbaugh.

ESPN: Balls were Flat

ESPN reports nearly all of the New England Patriots' footballs for last Sunday's AFC Championship Game were under-inflated. According to the network, 11 of New England's 12 allotted game balls were under-inflated by two pounds of air.  Game balls are required to be inflated between 12-and-a-half and 13-and-a-half pounds per square inch, and most also weigh between 14 and 15 ounces.  It's unclear what punishment could be handed to the Pats, who pounded the Colts 45-7 on Sunday to advance to Super Bowl 49.

Tigers Spring Training

30 days until pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training in Lakeland.

Athlete of the Week

The Lakeview Spartans have always been known for their swimming teams, and this year is no different. The fourth-ranked team in Division 2 rolled easily Thursday over Portage Northern before winning their 24th consecutive All City title on Saturday. One of those key components is this week's Meijer Athlete of the Week - Senior John Vann. The Florida State commit was part of three State qualifying runs against Portage Northern, including his signature 100-meter butterfly, running at 51.54 seconds. He also qualified as part of the 200-meter medley relay and the 200-meter individual medley. On Saturday, he finished first in four races, giving him a career total of 14 first place medals.