NATRONA HEIGHTS — Mars senior Kehle Pelles was selected MVPof the West team after a 73-64 loss to the East in the recent AKValley Cager Classic at Highlands High School.

Pelles recorded 13 points and six rebounds in the game.

In the boys contest, the East defeated the West by a 117-95 count. Vinny Smith of Mars and Harrison Wood of Freeport scored 12 points each while Michael Gallagher of Knoch scored 10 for the West.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Slippery Rock High graduate Jence Rhoads, a member of the Vanderbilt women's basketball team, has helped the squad reach the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season.In a 73-44 first-round victory Saturday against Western Carolina, Rhoads had six points, two assists, two steals and one turnover in 28 minutes.In the second round Monday, a 74-61 victory over Kansas State, Rhoads had six points, seven rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal in 36 minutes.Vanderbilt (26-8), the No. 4 seed in the South Region, will face Mo. 1 seed Maryland (30-4) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Raleigh, N.C.

TAMPA, Fla. — Johnny Blanchard, who played in five consecutive World Series for the New York Yankees in the early 1960s, died Wednesday of a heart attack in Minnesota. He was 76.A key player off the bench when the Yankees won five AL pennants from 1960-64, Blanchard batted .345 (10-for-29) in the World Series overall and hit a pair of home runs as New York defeated Cincinnati in the 1961 Series."This is a sad day," Hall of Famer Yogi Berra said. "Johnny was a good friend and a great teammate. He was proud of being a Yankee and always fun to be around. We'll miss him."

Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun said Wednesday he and the university are looking into a Yahoo! Sports report claiming the school broke NCAA rules during the recruitment of former basketball player Nate Miles, but added Miles is not at UConn and his team remains focused on the NCAA tournament.Yahoo reported that Miles, a 6-7 guard from Toledo, Ohio, was given lodging, transportation, meals and representation by sports agent Josh Nochimson, and a UConn assistant coach knew about the relationship between the player and the agent. The story cited interviews, documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws and other sources.