HIGH SCHOOLS

The James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy, given annually to Maine’s top senior in high school football, will be awarded Sunday, March 6.

The award banquet was postponed from its original Jan. 16 date because of a surge of COVID-19 cases across the state.

The banquet will feature the three finalists, Bonny Eagle two-way lineman Thomas Horton, who won the Gaziano Offensive Lineman Award in January; quarterback Will Ledbetter, who led Windham to the Class B North championship; and quarterback Caden McDuffie, who led Cape Elizabeth to the school’s first state championship in football and was named the Varsity Maine Player of the Year.

The Fitzpatrick Trophy dinner will begin at noon at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland.

BASKETBALL

G LEAGUE: The Maine Celtics began a five-game trip with a 129-118 loss to the Grand Rapids Gold, ending a three-game winning streak.

Former Boston Celtic Isaiah Thomas led the Gold with 33 points. Petr Corneli added 31 points for the Gold, who had five players in double figures.

Chris Clemons had 37 points for Maine, which plays at Windy City on Saturday and Sunday.

WORLD CUP: Joe Johnson scored 18 points and the United States overcame a 10-point first-half deficit to beat Puerto Rico 93-76 in World Cup qualifying at Washington.

The Americans (2-1) only need to avoid finishing last in their four-team group to advance to the next round of qualifying, and they look eminently capable of clearing that bar despite the absence of NBA players.

GOLF

PGA: Kurt Kitayama came into the Honda Classic with 25 previous appearances on the PGA Tour, most of them ending by missing the cut.

He’s on track to do a bit better this week in the Honda Classic.

Kitayama – ranked No. 289 in the world – was nearly flawless at PGA National, shooting a 6-under 64 to take a one-shot lead over Daniel Berger, Chris Kirk and Rory Sabbatini. It was Kitayama’s best score in 69 rounds on the PGA Tour, fueled by a career-best run of four consecutive birdies on his second nine.

And he qualifies as a surprise leader, considering even he didn’t expect a start like this.

“Maybe not a start like that, but I felt like I’ve been playing well, and I’ve started to figure out my putting to kind of find this kind of round,” said Kitayama, a California native and former UNLV player who has missed cuts 64% of the time – 16 out of 25 – in tour events.

Berger also was bogey-free, and missed an 8-foot birdie try on the par-5 18th to settle for 65.

Peter Uihlein and Danny Willett were among the group at 67. Brooks Koepka, a Palm Beach County native basically playing a home game this week, was in a group at 68.

TENNIS

DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIPS: Novak Djokovic will fall from No. 1 in the ATP rankings and be replaced by Daniil Medvedev after losing 6-4, 7-6 (4) to Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely in the quarterfinals.

Djokovic’s latest stay atop the rankings began on Feb. 3, 2020, and his total of 361 weeks there are the most for any man since the tour’s computerized rankings began in 1973.

On Monday, Medvedev will move up from No. 2 for the first time and become the 27th man to reach No. 1. He won the U.S. Open last September and was the Australian Open runner-up each of the past two years.

Medvedev is the first man other than Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray to be No. 1 since Feb. 1, 2004.

MENTAL HEALTH: Nick Kyrgios says he had “suicidal thoughts” and dealt with depression and abuse of drugs and alcohol in the past, the latest in a series of high-profile athletes to speak publicly and frankly about their mental health.

The 26-year-old Australian, who has been ranked as high as No. 13 in singles and recently won the Australian Open men’s doubles title, wrote in a message posted on his verified Instagram account that he now is “proud to say I’ve completely turned myself around and have a completely different outlook on everything.”

MEXICAN OPEN: Alexander Zverev was fined $40,000 by the men’s professional tennis tour and will forfeit more than $30,000 in prize money and all rankings points from the Mexican Open after hitting the chair umpire’s stand with his racket following a loss in doubles.

In addition to those penalties, the ATP announced it would undertake “a further review of the incident.”

The 24-year-old German was kicked out of the tournament after yelling and cursing at official Alessandro Germani and violently striking the umpire’s chair no fewer than four times.

• A few hours after clinching top spot in the ATP rankings, top-seeded Daniil Medvedev eased into the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Yoshihito Nishioka.

FOOTBALL

NFL: Former Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace has accepted a senior executive position on the Atlanta Falcons’ scouting staff.

Pace is reuniting with Falcons GM Terry Fontenot. The two previously worked together in New Orleans.

Pace was fired by the Bears on Jan. 10 following seven seasons as general manager. His exit was accompanied by the firing of Coach Matt Nagy following a 6-11 finish in 2021.

• Buffalo Bills linebackers coach Bob Babich has retired and is being replaced by his son, Bobby.

• The Baltimore Ravens re-signed safety Tony Jefferson.

• Ken Burrough, the former Houston Oilers receiver who was the last NFL player to wear No. 00, died Thursday. He was 73.

Burrough’s family announced the death, saying died at his home in Jacksonville, Florida.

Burrough was the 10th overall pick in 1970 by New Orleans, but played just one season for the Saints before being traded to the Oilers. He spent the next 11 seasons in Houston, where he was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1975 and 1977.

SOCCER

PUNISHMENT: FIFA suspended Zimbabwe and Kenya from international competitions for government interference in the running of their national soccer bodies.

Zimbabwe was banned after its government-run Sports and Recreation Commission refused to relinquish control of the Zimbabwe Football Association and reinstate the federation’s leadership.

ZIFA officials were removed from office in November on allegations of corruption.

Kenya was banned after its sports ministry also removed the soccer federation’s leaders and accused them of corruption. Kenyan soccer president Nick Mwendwa is facing criminal charges.

BRAZIL: Brazilian soccer players at Ukraine’s two biggest clubs issued an appeal to the Brazilian government, saying they are trapped by the Russian military attack on Ukraine.

A group of players from Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv posted a video together with their families from a hotel where they called for support from the Brazilian authorities, joined by Uruguayan player Carlos de Pena of Dynamo. They said the borders were closed and fuel supplies had run out.

“We are really desperate. We are going through chaos,” Shakhtar defender Marlon Santos wrote on Instagram. “We have the support from our club. But the desperation is agonizing. We wait for the support from our country. We speak in the name of all the Brazilians in Ukraine.”

ROAD RACING

NYC MARATHON: The New York City Marathon on Nov. 6 will return to full capacity with 50,000 runners this year after the race was canceled in 2020 and limited last fall due to the coronavirus.

After the 2019 NYC Marathon set a world record with 53,627 finishers, the 2020 race was called off that June as the city dealt with a public health crisis created by COVID-19.

The marathon returned for its 50th running in November with a shrunken field of 25,010 runners, all of whom were required to show either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of the race.

AUTO RACING

FORMULA ONE: Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel says he will not race in the Russian Grand Prix in September after Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine.

F1 said in a statement that it is “closely watching the very fluid developments” but made no further comment on whether the race in Sochi would be canceled.