Championships

Suzann Pettersen won the LPGA Lotte Championship in Kapolei, Hawaii, beating Lizette Salas with a par on the first hole of a playoff after Salas chunked her approach shot into the water. Charley Hoffman 's quick start gave him a 2-shot lead over U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson after three rounds of the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island, S.C., on Saturday. Esteban Toledo , a rookie looking for his first win on the Champions Tour, has a 1-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Greater Gwinnett Championship in Duluth, Ga. Mark Warren of Scotland shot a 4-under 68 to take a 2-shot lead after the third round of the Spanish Open in Valencia, Spain.

ATLANTA - At 11:45 a.m. Monday, in a ballroom with a few hundred people, Rick Pitino was officially announced as part of the Nasimith Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2013. At 11:45 p.m., 1.5 miles away before 75,000 fans in a giant dome, Pitino became the first coach to win an NCAA championship with two schools. His Louisville team withstood an incredible offensive assault from Michigan and won, 82-76. Pitino grew up in the shadow of Madison Square Garden, was a freshman point guard at Massachusetts on a team that had a senior named Julius Erving.

In 2006, Dan Fowler was a senior goalie for the Lenape boys' lacrosse team. He knows what "long-term" goals used to mean for most South Jersey boys' lacrosse programs. A division title. A conference title. Then try not to make it look so obvious when your team is fed to the North Jersey wolves in the state playoffs. "A lot of teams from this area were going to the playoffs and opening with teams who were years and years ahead of them as a program," Fowler said. Before the NJSIAA's decision to establish sectional championships in boys' lacrosse before this season, there essentially was no postseason for most of the top programs in South Jersey boys' lacrosse.

In 2006, Dan Fowler was a senior goalie for the Lenape boys' lacrosse team. He knows what "long-term" goals used to mean for most South Jersey boys' lacrosse programs. A division title. A conference title. Then try not to make it look so obvious when your team is fed to the North Jersey wolves in the state playoffs. "A lot of teams from this area were going to the playoffs and opening with teams who were years and years ahead of them as a program," Fowler said. Before the NJSIAA's decision to establish sectional championships in boys' lacrosse before this season, there essentially was no postseason for most of the top programs in South Jersey boys' lacrosse.

Like an offense stuffed at the line of scrimmage, proponents of state championships for public-school football re-huddled, drew up a new play, and are set to try again. A group of coaches and athletic directors from the Big North Conference has drafted a proposal that would change the bylaws of the NJSIAA and allow for state championships in public football. The proposal was presented for discussion at the annual athletic directors meeting last week at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.

HERSHEY - Nothing like a last memory that's also the best. Yes, Roberts Vaux High will be closing its doors this June, but the basketball team made its final game oh-so-special by storming to a state championship. In its seventh season of Public League membership, the former junior high, stationed at 23rd and Master in North Philly, used a 32-point outburst by superguard Rysheed Jordan, among other positives, to claim PIAA Class A honors Friday with 83-63 win over Johnsonburg (up toward Erie; not that close to it, though)

NEW YORK - In one locker room, there was a familiar chant, the most familiar one for all St. Joseph's Hawks fans, this time chanted by the Hawks players themselves after they doused their coach with a Gatorade shower, an NCAA tournament celebration. Down the hall, quiet. A last shot, season on the line, so much history backing it up. You wouldn't bother making up the plot. . . . . . . Then a whistle blew. Instead of Fordham trying for a game-winner, St. Joe's walked down to the other end to take free throws with a one-point lead, with 3.8 seconds left in the Atlantic Ten championship game at the Barclays Center.