HOCKEY

Maineiacs rally for a win, lead Montreal 3-1 in series

The Lewiston Maineiacs scored three goals in the third period and beat the Montreal Junior 4-1 Wednesday night to take a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven Quebec Major Junior Hockey League quarterfinal series at the Colisee.

Kirill Kabanov scored two of the third-period goals and Antoine Houde-Caron added an empty-netter.

Michael Chaput scored in the first period and Nicholas Champion made 31 saves for the Maineiacs.

Game 5 is scheduled at 7:05 p.m. Friday at Montreal.

HIGH SCHOOLS

SOFTBALL: Katlin Norton of South Portland signed a letter of intent to play softball at the University of Maine.

Norton, a senior catcher, hit .608 last season with three home runs and 33 RBI to help the Red Riots win their first Class A state championship. She drove in the winning runs in the regional and state finals against Scarborough and Bangor.

BASKETBALL

NBA D-LEAGUE: Maine Red Claws forward DeShawn Sims was the only rookie to receive all-league honors from the NBA Development League.

The 6-foot-8 Sims, who signed as a free agent with the Red Claws on Nov. 24, was named to the D-League’s third team. He averaged 20.3 points along with 7.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists a game.

COLLEGES

WOMEN’S LACROSSE: Alyssa Marchant had 10 goals to lead St. Joseph’s (4-4, 1-4 GNAC) to a 17-11 win over Emmanuel (2-7, 1-5) at Boston. Erika Waterhouse and Megan Cutter each had two goals for the Monks.

MEN’S LACROSSE: John Jennings had five goals, helping Colby (5-5) to a 19-5 win over USM (3-7) at Waterville. Nate Prince had two goals for the Huskies.

FOOTBALL: Former Army head coach Homer Smith, regarded as one of keenest offensive minds in the history of college football, died at 79 after a four-year battle with cancer.

Smith coached the Black Knights from 1974-78 and was an assistant at several schools in his 39-year career. As UCLA’s offensive coordinator, Smith developed seven future NFL quarterbacks, including Tommy Maddox, Jay Schroeder and Rick Neuheisel.

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Florida State junior Chris Singleton said he’ll forgo his final year of college eligibility to enter the NBA draft. He said he has not yet signed with an agent but is unlikely to change his mind about leaving school early.

HORSE RACING

TRAINER SUSPENDED: The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s license review committee denied trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. a license to race in the state in 2011.

The decision is the latest setback for the successful but controversial Dutrow, who won the Derby and the Preakness in 2008 with Big Brown but has been in and out of trouble since. New York racing officials suspended him twice in February for hypodermic needles in his barn and for a winning horse’s positive test for a banned painkiller at Aqueduct last year.

TENNIS

MONTE CARLO MASTERS: Top-ranked Rafael Nadal opened with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Jarkko Nieminen at Monaco.

Richard Gasquet defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-1 and advanced to face Nadal.

FED CUP: U.S. team captain Mary Joe Fernandez said 19-year-old Melanie Oudin and 18-year-old Christina McHale will play singles in the best-of-five series against Germany this weekend at Stuttgart, Germany.

Vania King will replace Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who is sidelined by an injury, and Liezel Huber completes the American squad.

CYCLING

VUELTA DE CASTILLA AND LEON: Fran Ventoso won the first stage at Palencia, Spain, and defending champion Alberto Contador placed 15th in his final tuneup for the Giro d’Italia. 

– From staff and news services