The Warner Monarchs had to be getting tired of us putting them in the American News Live Sports Game of the Week ; they were 0-2 when featured as such. But that all changed this last Saturday when Warner beat Herreid-Selby in Selby 49-37. Both teams came in with some impressive resumes as of late. Warner had won 8 of their last 10 games, including holding Eureka-Bowdle to 23 points in a win the night before, and 6-3 on the road all season. Herreid-Selby was no slouch either, winning 10 in a row and not having lost since the Game of the Week on 1/20 against Eureka-Bowdle. Warner’s defense did not disappoint. They held Wolverine scoring machines Dakota Thorstenson to only 9 points and Nick Larson to 10. Off the bench though, Cooper Schaefbauer proved to be the one saving grace for Herreid-Selby finishing the night with 14 points and 2 steals and was the main reason the Wolverines closed the gap to 2 at the half from an 11 point deficit. Both teams started to be undone by foul trouble after halftime with the Monarchs getting the worst of it. Just as Warner was looking to close out the game, leading scorer Derrek Tuszka had to sit after picking up his fourth foul in the final minute of the third quarter. The Wolverines were close to committing regicide (aka killing of Monarchs) but three men stepped up their game to fill in the void. Dirk Backman and Garret Young provided solid defensive play helping to stifle Thorstenson down low as Tuszka had all night. Jarrod Tuszka made his presence felt in a big way scoring 6 points while the younger Tuszka was on the bench. Without the play of Backman, Young, and Jarrod Tuszka we might have seen another victory fall just out of reach for the Monarchs. Now it’s Herreid-Selby’s turn to be upset with the Game of the Week as they are now 0-2.

- Will Elkins

Coming up this week on American News Live Sports…

Game of the Week: Tues. 2/21 7:30PM, Mitchell at Aberdeen Central boys

Area Spotlight: Fri. 2/24 7:30PM, Aberdeen Christian at Northwestern boys

Other games you can see on Live Sports…

Mon. 2/20 Wolsey-Wessington at James Valley Christian boys

Tues. 2/21 Brandon Valley at Watertown girls

Log on to American News Live Sports to see these games live and to watch archived game footage from this year anytime on demand! Game times subject to change. Please check listings for times and schedule changes.

People still hoping to get tickets for the 2012 London Olympics won’t get another shot at buying tickets until April.
Britain’s Olympics minister rejected demands for a full accounting of ticket sales. A London watchdog group demanded that games organizers clearly show how sales break down between expensive and affordable tickets.
London Olympics organizers said they would respond when ticket sales are done.
The London’s Olympic ticketing process has been slowed by computer problems and huge demand. A complicated lottery system in which people blindly registered for tickets and handed over their credit card details to pay for them before they knew what — if any — tickets they were getting added to public unease.
In the first round, about 22 million requests came in for the 6.6 million tickets, which range in price from 20.12 pounds ($31.60) to 2,012 pounds ($3,159). Further rounds were blighted by computer problems, and plans for future ticket sales have failed to stem public grumbling.
There is still confusion about the next ticket offering, expected in April. New figures indicate about 4 million tickets are still unsold, including many for Paralympic events and soccer matches.
The 2012 London Olympics start July 27 and end Aug. 12.
Posted by Deb Smith

A stocky man showed up in a basketball uniform for a game at Century High School in North Dakota on Feb. 4. Players and  coaches assumed he was a fan, so nobody objected when he began to pitch in around the bench.
After the game was over, the man joined the winning team on the court and asked if he could get a piggyback ride. One bemused player gave it to him.
Several days later the school found out they were dealing with the Piggyback Bandit — Sherwin Shayegan of Bothell, Wash., a 28-year-old man who ingratiates himself with high school sports teams, then hoists his 5-foot-8, 240-pound frame onto the backs of the student athletes.
Shayegan’s antics stretch back to 2008 and had been mainly confined to Washington and Oregon. But since last fall, he has worked his way east to Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota. He favors basketball games, but he also has leapt onto hockey, soccer and football players.
When contacted on Tuesday he declined to comment until he could talk to an attorney.
Shayegan has a lengthy criminal rapsheet in Washington as well as nine outstanding warrants in one town in that state. Because of his piggyback antics, he has been banned from high school sporting events in Washington, Oregon, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota.
Later that week, Shayegan turned up at three basketball games in Minnesota, including the only college game where his appearance has been noted, St. Olaf versus Concordia. At that Feb. 8 game, Shayegan sat near the St. Olaf bench. Like the Bismarck game, it was assumed he had come with the other team.
There were no piggybacks that night, nor were there any when he later appeared at high school events in St. Cloud and Minneapolis. The Minnesota State High School League joined the other states in banning him.
Posted by Deb Smith

Muhammad Ali, Bruce Jenner and Mary Lou Retton are appearing on new Wheaties boxes featuring retro images of the Olympic champions.
The boxes were unveiled Wednesday in Los Angeles and will be available on store shelves nationwide.
Ali won a gold medal in boxing at the 1960 Rome Olympics; Jenner was the decathlon champion at the 1976 Montreal Games; and Retton won the all-around gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star Bruce Jenner will be the keynote speaker at the Aberdeen Area Boys and Girls Club’s Annual Awards Night.
The event is scheduled for Feb. 18 at the Ramkota Hotel, 1400 Eighth Ave. N.W. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Jenner is known for winning a gold medal during the 1976 Olympic Games in the decathlon event and as a reality TV star on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” His talk is titled “The World’s Greatest Athlete.”
Tables are available starting at $400, and individual tickets are $50. Tickets are available by contacting the Boys & Girls Club, 1111 First Ave. S.E.
Details: 605-225-8714.

Posted by Deb Smith