SPORTS FOLDEROL

  Briefly told … at least that’s the plan (subject to change): Life has taken some cruel twists and turns for Atlee  High School coach  RALLY AXSELLE  … but now,  here he is, a game away from winning his – not to  mention the Raiders’ – first boys basketball  championship … and, suddenly, it all seems  worthwhile. Win or lose Friday night, Axselle will  have accomplished a lot, more than most of us. For  one thing, in the midst of this living-the-dream  season, he left his day job as middle-school teacher,  to help out at home … where sister  ANNE MARIE  AXSELLE  was coming to the premature end of a  life that could only be described as  INSPIRING . We didn’t have to ask Rally if Friday’s game with  Varina at the Siegel Center in downtown Richmond  will be dedicated to Anne Marie. Come to think of it,  she would have loved just being there. To Anne  Marie, her brother already was a w...

Frankly, I haven’t kept up with Virginia Tech  basketball … so I’m not sure why the Hokies are  having a down season … but one thing is for sure: they made a great choice in signing Churchland High  School’s  SINCERE JONES  for the class of 2025 …  I know, I know … being virtually unstoppable in  high school doesn’t necessarily translate into  undergraduate phenom or, for that matter, four-year  starter. Still, based on what he did Tuesday night,  virtually a one-man gang against Atlee High in the  quarterfinals of the state tournament, Jones qualifies  as the real deal. Against a team that obviously was better (and won  63-54 on its home floor), the 6-7, 200-pound player  his coach calls “distinctly different,” scored 28  points and left Atlee senior  KNOX AXSELLE ,  assigned the unenviable chore of going one on one  defensively with Jones, admitting … “He’s the best  I’ve faced in high schoo...

  How in the world did we manage to get along without  being able to overturn a goal after a check of instant  replay? For example, pro soccer (English Premier  League) has taken it to ridiculous lengths when VAR  detects a player offsides by a silly millimeter – even less,  if that’s possible. Saturday afternoon it was hockey’s turn. The Washington  Capitals had an early goal by  JACOB   CHYCHRUN  taken away. At first it appeared Tampa Bay coach  JON  COOPER ’s challenge was based on goaltender  interference … which was questionable, at best, because  Lightning defenseman  RYAN McDONAGH  clearly  knocked  PIERRE-LUC DUBOIS  into  ANDREI  VASILEVSKIY  who couldn’t recover in time to keep the  puck out of the net … But, no, Cooper’s complaint was  based on Chychrun knocking the puck down with a high  stick – likewise a no-no – 13 seconds earlier … Come on!  Yo...

  After much speculation, mostly wrong, the New York  Rangers continued to alter their lineup Saturday with a  multi-player deal with Colorado … that, unfortunately,  did not include  ZAC JONES . Going to the Avalanche was top four defenseman  RYAN  LINDGREN  and seldom-used forward  JIMMY VESEY  along with the rights to unsigned  HANK KEMPF , a  defenseman who played the past four years for Cornell U.  In return the Rangers got  JUUSO PAR S SINEN , a 24- year-old forward who began 2024-25 with Nashville;  veteran defenseman  CALVIN de HAAN , 33, and a  couple of provisional choices in next month’s NHL draft. The Rangers also reportedly agreed to pay half of the  remaining balance of Lindgren’s $4.5 million salary. You  might recall the often-injured veteran of seven years  signed a one-year deal that presumably would be his last  in New York. Lindgren spent most of the past two seas...