ON THE SCHEDULE TODAY AT FCHS:
Mules Basketball at Eldorado – All 3 Levels 5pm
OTHER AREA SPORTS FOR TODAY:
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL:
Cisne vs. Woodlawn
JR HIGH BOYS BASKETBALL:
SIJHSAA JR HIGH BOYS CLASS M STATE TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS:
Wayne City vs. Pinckneyville
NCOE vs. Chester
Nashville vs. Unity Point
Shiloh vs. St. Clare
AREA SPORTS RESULTS FROM THURSDAY:
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL:
On Thursday night, the Fairfield Lady Mules were in action at the Mule Barn on Senior Night versus the Hamilton County Lady Foxes. In between the JV and Varsity games, Fairfield recognized it’s two Senior players, Riley Jolly and Mabrey Foster. The JV team started off the evening with an impressive 46-14 win over Hamilton County. In the Varsity matchup, both teams struggled to score early in the game with the Lady Mules up 12-4 at halftime. Fairfield’s offense came alive in the 3rd quarter with the Lady Mules outscoring the Lady Foxes 18-8 before eventually pulling away for a 47-26 victory. Fairfield was led in scoring by Mabrey Foster with 21 points. The Lady Mules will be back in action on Monday on the road at Benton.
OTHER AREA HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL SCORES FROM THURSDAY:
Wayne City-Cisne 44, South Central 35
Carmi-White County 69, Flora 34
Harrisburg 59, Herrin 34
Vienna 62, Goreville 37
Pope County 62, Christian Fellowship 56
Webber 60, Sandoval 36
Anna-Jonesboro 40, West Frankfort 34
BOYS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL SCORES FROM THURSDAY:
Century 82, Egyptian 23
Cobden 59, Dongola 41
Crab Orchard 57, Pope County 41
Marion 49, Effingham 35
Maryville Christian 49, Dupo 35
Shawnee 54, Joppa 46
Thompsonville 72, Carrier-Mills 24
JR HIGH GIRLS VOLLEYBALL:
Fairfield over Grayville in 3 Sets: 21-25, 25-19, 15-11
JV: Grayville over Fairfield in 2 Sets: 25-13, 25-19
NCOE over New Hope in 2 Sets: 25-23, 25-23
JV: NCOE over New Hope 25-16, 25-18
Cisne over Clay City in 2 Sets: 25-10, 25-10
JV: Clay City over Cisne in 2 Sets: 25-16, 25-19
***NATIONAL SPORTS***
THURSDAY’S SCOREBOARD
NBA
——-
Toronto Raptors 123, Chicago Bulls 107
The Chicago Bulls watched their comeback bid fall apart late during a 123-107 loss to the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. The Bulls rallied back from a 15-point first-half deficit to tie the game in the third quarter. However, Toronto went on a 24-12 run through the rest of the third and led the rest of the way. Anfernee Simons led Chicago with 22 points, and Matas Buzelis finished with 18. The Bulls are tied for tenth place in the Eastern Conference at 24-and-28. They host the Nuggets tomorrow night. In other team news, Chicago traded guard Ayo Dosunmu to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for second-year guard Rob Dillingham yesterday.
Washington Wizards 126, Detroit Pistons 117
Orlando Magic 118, Brooklyn Nets 98
Atlanta Hawks 121, Utah Jazz 119
Charlotte Hornets 109, Houston Rockets 99
San Antonio Spurs 135, Dallas Mavericks 123
Golden State Warriors 101, Phoenix Suns 97
Los Angeles Lakers 119, Philadelphia 76ers 115
NHL
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Pittsburgh Penguins 5, Buffalo Sabres 2
New York Islanders 3, New Jersey Devils 1
Carolina Hurricanes 2, New York Rangers 0
Ottawa Senators 2, Philadelphia Flyers 1 (F/OT)
Washington Capitals 4, Nashville Predators 2
Tampa Bay Lightning 6, Florida Panthers 1
Vegas Golden Knights 4, Los Angeles Kings 1
The St. Louis Blues are at a crossroads as they enter the Olympics Break. The Blues ended the first half of the season on a three-game losing streak after falling to Dallas 5-4 on the road on Wednesday. St. Louis is in last place in the Central Division with 49 points. The Blues will return from the break with a game against the Kraken on February 26th.
Men’s College Basketball (Top-25 Coaches’ Poll)
——-
#2 Michigan 110, Penn State 69
>>Illini Visit Michigan State
(East Lansing, MI) — The number-six Illinois Fighting Illini go for their 13th win in a row when they visit number-ten Michigan State at Breslin Center tomorrow night. The Illini just destroyed Northwestern 84-44 at home on Wednesday. Illinois is 11-and-1 in Big Ten action and 20-and-3 overall. Tomorrow night’s game tips off at 7:00pm and can be heard on WFIW-AM 1390 and FM 103.3 on the Illini Sports Radio Network. Pre-game show begins at 6pm.
PGA
——-
Waste Management Phoenix Open (at Scottsdale, AZ)
1. Chris Gotterup (-8)
2. Matt Fitzpatrick (-6)
***Top Sports Headlines***
>>Patriots, Seahawks Clash In Super Bowl 60 From Santa Clara On Sunday
(Santa Clara, CA) — The wait for Super Bowl 60 is almost over. Drake Maye and the Patriots square off against Sam Darnold’s Seahawks from Santa Clara on Sunday. The Pats are appearing in their 12th Super Bowl in franchise history, which is four more than any other team. They can move past the Steelers for most championships all-time with a victory on Sunday. Meanwhile, Seattle hopes to bounce back from a horrible mistake against its opponent. The Hawks fell to the Patriots in Super Bowl 49 where Russell Wilson got picked-off by Malcolm Butler on the goal line. This is the first time the Seahawks are back in the big game since that moment in 2015. Their dreams of repeating as Super Bowl champions were crushed following the heartbreaking defeat.
>>Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Today
(Undated) — The 2026 Winter Olympics will officially kick off with the Opening Ceremony today at the Milano Cortina Games. Some events already began this week including the U.S. women’s hockey team, which crushed Czechia 5-1 in their first preliminary round game yesterday. Team USA will be back on the ice to face Finland tomorrow. The team figure skating event gets going today, while the action heats up Saturday with the first full day of competition. The Opening Ceremony begins today at 2pm Eastern.
>>Brees, Fitzgerald Lead 2026 NFL HOF Class
(Undated) — New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald are headlining the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. Joining them will be kicker Adam Vinatieri, running back Roger Craig, and linebacker Luke Kuechly [[ keek-lee ]]. The newest members’ enshrinement will take place August 8th in Canton, Ohio.
>>Bears Re-Sign OL Benedet
(Lake Forest, IL) — The Chicago Bears are hanging onto one of their offensive linemen. The Bears signed Theo Benedet to a one-year, one-million dollar deal yesterday. Benedet was an exclusive-rights free agent and unlikely to leave the team. The 24-year-old made eight spot starts for Chicago last season.
>>49ers To Play Rams In NFL’s First Game In Australia
(Undated) — The matchup for the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia has been announced. The Los Angeles Rams will take on the San Francisco 49ers in an NFC West clash during the 2026 season. The date and time are still to be determined, but the game will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The game is part of what will be a league-record nine international games scheduled for next season. The Rams will serve as the home team for the game as they hold international marketing rights in Australia along with three other teams.
>>Cowboys To Play NFL’s First Game In Rio de Janeiro
(Undated) — America’s Team is heading to Brazil to make history next season. The Cowboys have been announced as one of the teams that will compete in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Rio de Janeiro. It will be the third straight year the NFL will have a regular-season game in Brazil after the first two were played in Sao Paulo. The game will mark the first time that Dallas will be the home team internationally and its first international matchup overall since 2014. The date an opponent for the Cowboys will be released in the spring.
>>NBA Trade Deadline Recap
(Undated) — The NBA trade deadline is now in the rearview mirror. The final day to make a trade saw the LA Clippers send center Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown to the Indiana Pacers for Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson and three draft picks. This followed two days after the Clippers exchanged future Hall of Famer James Harden for Cleveland’s Darius Garland. In another move, the Lakers acquired sharpshooting guard Luke Kennard from the Atlanta Hawks for Gabe Vincent a future second-round selection. The Warriors have added Kristaps Porzingis from the Hawks for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield, while the Wizards acquired Anthony Davis from the Mavericks in an eight-player deal. The next major event on the NBA schedule is All-Star Weekend beginning on February 13th.
>>NHL Taking Olympic Break (Undated) — The NHL is on pause. After Thursday night’s games, the league will cease play for the Olympics as NHL players are returning to the Games for the first time since 2014 in Russia. At least one player from all 32 NHL teams will be competing in Italy this month. Teams will return to action February 25th after the conclusion of the Games.
>>Report: Arbiters Side With Skubal
(Undated) — The Tigers’ ace reportedly set a record in arbitration. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Tarik Skubal was awarded at $32 million salary for this season. The deal is $1 million more than the previous high salary awarded through arbitration, which was given to Juan Soto. Skubal has won the past two American League Cy Young Awards, going 31-and-10 with a 2.30 ERA in 62 starts over that span.
>>WM Phoenix Open Round One Recap
(Scottsdale, AZ) — Chris Gotterup is sitting atop the leaderboard after the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open was suspended due to darkness. Gotterup shot an eight under 63 for a two-stroke lead over the field. Matt Fitzpatrick is in second at six under par. Several others including Michael Thorbjornsen and Sam Stevens are tied for third at five under. Round one resumes Friday morning at TPC Scottsdale.