Sports
Prep basketball roundup: EJ Vernon is making an impact for Crossroads
EJ Vernon, a 6-foot-8 senior at Crossroads, has no time to be nice. He missed the first four games of this season with an ankle injury. Since he’s returned, he scored 31 and 20 points before Tuesday’s 28-point performance against a Sun Valley Poly team that faced an overwhelming height disadvantage.
Vernon offered no sympathy to the Parrots, going inside repeatedly. He’ll save his outside shot for future opponents. “I’ve got to take what a team gives me,” he said.
Crossroads (4-3) won its Beverly Hills tournament game 70-32 over the Parrots. Vernon’s 6-9 teammate Cheikh Diebakhate was a perfect six for six shooting, including five dunks.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias 88, St. Anthony 85: In the game of the night, Jaden Erami made a three-point shot with one second left to send the game into overtime. He finished with 25 points, keeping St. Pius unbeaten in Del Rey League play during the last two seasons. Kayleb Kearse had 23 points. Aman Haynes and Donovan Pitts finished with 20 points apiece for St. Anthony.
JSerra 67, St. Paul 52: BJ Davis-Ray had 17 points and Earl Bryson added 16 points to rally the Lions at Beverly Hills.
Valencia 80, Golden Valley 69: Dabe Princewell had 16 points to lead four Valencia players in double figures. Valencia is 3-0 in the Foothill League.
Saugus 64, West Ranch 56: Bryce Mejia scored 18 points for the Centurions.
Golden Valley 76, Hart 63: Alexander Villejo scored 27 points and Zachary Christoffersen had 25 for Golden Valley.
Harvard-Westlake 83, Long Beach Poly 51: Joe Sterling scored 19 points, Nikolas Khamenia had 18 and Dominique Bentho 14 for the Wolverines (8-0).
Sierra Canyon 98, Blair 42: Chris Nwuli and Maximo Adams each scored 23 points for the Trailblazers.
Manual Arts 69, Crenshaw 63: Devin Moody scored 30 points for Manual Arts at Beverly Hills. Jaelen Washington had 32 points for Crenshaw.
Viewpoint 58, Milken 37: Wesley Waddles had 27 points and Aeneas Grullon added 26 for 8-1 Viewpoint.
Brentwood 93, Chino 60: Freshman Ethan Hill scored 19 points and Shane Frazier had 17 for Brentwood.
Eastvale Roosevelt 110, Norco 31: Brayden Burries finished with 33 points for Roosevelt.
Damien 97, Franklin 41: Jacob Allen scored 18 points and Eli Garner and Elijah Smith had 15 apiece for Damien.
Los Alamitos 97, Cerritos 50: Samori Guyness scored 24 points for Los Alamitos.
St. Francis 71, Aquinas 33: Ben O’Connor led St. Francis with 18 points.
Oaks Christian 74, El Camino Real 54: Nick Giarrusso had 21 points for the Lions.
Girls’ basketball
Mater Dei 65, Fairmont Prep 46: Kaeli Wynn had 26 points for the Monarchs in a game matching two of the top teams in Orange County.
Sports
Chiefs and Browns make first trade of 2026 draft and both eventually fill needs
The Cleveland Browns, rumored to be willing to trade down from their No. 6 overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft, did just that Thursday evening when the traded the pick to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cleveland traded the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to the Chiefs, in exchange for the ninth overall pick, as well as pick No. 74 in the third round and No. 148 in the fifth round.
The Browns now hold the No. 9 and No. 24 picks in the first round of the draft. They have a total of 11 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
So the Chiefs gave up three picks in making the first trade of the first round.
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And we know what the fan bases of both clubs were thinking prior to the selection:
Chiefs fans were thinking we know something they don’t. And then the Chiefs selected cornerback Mansoor Delane from LSU — a move no doubt forced by the club’s trade of Pro Bowl cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the offseason.
So, the Chiefs fill a major need, assuming Delane is indeed the quality corner they believe.
LSU Tigers CB Mansoor Delane celebrates a defensive stop against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in South Carolina. (Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY Network)
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ESPN’s Mel Kiper didn’t like the pick, by the way. He had Delane as the 14th best player in the draft.
“It was a necessity,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, a former NFL defensive back, responded.
Browns fans weren’t thinking that way.
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They were probably thinking something akin to “We screwed up.”
This is understandable because they’re Browns fans and this could have been the Browns Browning.
Well, the Browns, moving down three slots, gave up a shot to draft linebacker Sonny Styles of Ohio State to the Washington Commanders, receiver Jordyn Tyson to the New Orleans Saints and then the Browns got their chance with the newly acquired No. 9 pick:
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Offensive tackle Spencer Fano of Utah.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 24, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Fano is good. And he makes the Browns offensive line instantly better because he’s going to likely start at left tackle for them.
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So what will Browns fans think of this pick?
They’ll probably wonder why the Browns didn’t pick Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, who went with the No. 10 pick to the New York Giants and promised “to die for” Jaxson Dart if necessary. They’ll wonder this because Browns fans expect the worst.
Sports
Defending champion UCLA women’s basketball lands top transfer, continues roster overhaul
UCLA women’s basketball team has added some star power as its revamped roster begins to take shape.
Former Iowa State forward Addy Brown announced Thursday she is committing to UCLA, giving the Bruins one of the top players in the portal.
Brown averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 33.8% from three-point distance with the Cyclones last season. She played just 21 games due to injury, but she is one of the better two-way players in the nation on the transfer market.
The 6-foot-2 forward co-starred with Audi Crooks for Iowa State the past few seasons and was a part of the mass exodus from the Cyclones’ program.
The Bruins reeled in former North Carolina junior guard Elina Aarnisalo and former Texas Christian senior guard Donovyn Hunter a few weeks ago, adding two more experienced players to the depleted starting lineup after a record six UCLA players were selected in the WNBA draft.
UCLA also signed Arkansas sophomore guard Bonnie Deas earlier this month. She is likely to start at point guard for the Bruins and is one of the best rebounding guards in the nation.
Along with returner Timea Gardiner, the Bruins are starting to form somewhat of a core to defend their national championship. Gardiner was a starter during UCLA’s 2024-25 Final Four run, but missed all of this past season with injury and has one season of eligibility left.
A lineup with Deas and Aarnisalo in the backcourt, Hunter at the three and Gardiner or Brown at the four and adding another big or Sienna Betts at the five would be a competitive lineup in the Big Ten.
Before going to TCU, Hunter played two seasons at Oregon State where she earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honorable mention and All-Pac-12 Freshman team honors. This past season with a Horned Frogs team that went to the Sweet 16, she was third in scoring with 10.2 points per game and averaged 3.2 rebounds per contest. She also shot 45.7% from the field and was 33.7% from beyond the arc.
Aarnisalo played her freshman year in Westwood after she originally committed to UCLA in 2025. Due to injuries from point guard Kiki Rice at the start of the 2024-25 season, she was forced into action early her freshman season and finished the year averaging 5.1 points per game.
The Helsinki, Finland, native averaged 10.2 points per game for the Tar Heels as a sophomore last season while shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.3% from the arc. The Bruins will desperately need to replace the three-point production lost with the departure of Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker.
UCLA coach Cori Close said she wanted to sign five players from the portal. She probably needs one more guard and a little more forward depth coming off the bench following the departures of Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic.
Lena Bilic and Amanda Muse are returners coming off the bench who got a little bit of playing time in the tournament and should have much larger roles, but they are still relatively unproven in late-game situations. They will get a chance to develop as backups with some more Power Four experienced starters now in the fold.
Sports
WWE to hold premium live event in Saudi Arabia amid Iran ceasefire
Trump says there’s ‘no time frame’ to secure Iran deal
Republican Minnesota Senate candidate Tom Weiler joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iranian conflict continues and react to Gov. Tim Walz’s, D-Minn., criticism of the president.
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Saudi Arabia was among the countries seeing missiles fly into their airspace as a conflict broke out in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.
The prospect of Iran targeting its Middle Eastern neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates put some sporting events on hold and questioned others. Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were canceled and rumors swirled around whether future WWE events could be held in the kingdom.
Roman Reigns celebrates his win during WWE’s Royal Rumble at Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
As the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire with Iran, WWE announced on Thursday that its Night of Champions premium live event will be held in Riyadh on June 27.
“We are proud to welcome Night of Champions back to Riyadh and look forward to delivering another unforgettable night of WWE action for fans in the Kingdom and around the world,” General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said in a news release.
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Sami Zayn makes his entrance during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
The release touted that WrestleMania 43 will still be held in Riyadh in 2027. It will be the first time that WrestleMania is held outside the U.S.
WWE president Nick Khan was adamant before WrestleMania 42 that the event will still take place in Saudi Arabia despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi,” he said at a Sports Business Journal event, via The Sporting Tribune. “First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. And we’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”
John Cena wrestles CM Punk during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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He added that those complaining about WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia were a “vocal minority.”
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