HS assistant suspended for hit on referee

Football: Two Texas football players accused of intentionally ramming into a referee during a high school game allege the referee directed racial slurs at them, San Antonio school district officials said Tuesday.

The district, which suspended the two players, has placed an assistant coach on paid leave while it investigates allegations that he suggested there should be retaliation against the referee for missed calls.

The two suspended John Jay High School students, whose names aren’t being released, will go through a disciplinary hearing and the incident will be treated as an assault on a school official, according to the district.

The district, which has 105,000 students, is in the process of filing a complaint about the racial slur allegation with the Texas Association of Sports Officials, Woods said.

Video from Friday’s game between John Jay High School and Marble Falls High School showed the referee watching a play, and his head snapping back when he is leveled from behind. The other player then dove on top of him. The game took place in Marble Falls, located about 90 miles north of San Antonio.

Northside school district officials said that during the game, the suspended players “were feeling lots of frustration by what they perceived to be missed or wrong calls by the refs.” The players also alleged the referee directed racial slurs at them.

DA postpones Kane grand jury hearing

Hockey: The Erie, N.Y., County District Attorney has postponed grand jury proceedings into a sexual assault allegation against Chicago Blackhawks star forward Patrick Kane, a person familiar with the investigation confirmed to the AP.

The hearings were postponed for about two weeks.

Kane is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in her 20s at the player’s offseason home overlooking Lake Erie outside of Buffalo, a second person familiar with the investigation told the AP, also on the condition of anonymity because police have not revealed the nature of their investigation.

Lynx top Storm, clinch top seed in West

WNBA: Maya Moore had 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Minnesota beat the Seattle Storm 73-67 in Minneapolis to secure the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.

• Mystics clinch: Ivory Latta scored a season-high 25 points and Washington beat visiting Indiana 76-72 in overtime to clinch their third straight playoff spot.

• Shock get third seed: Odyssey Sims had 27 points and seven rebounds, and Tulsa beat San Antonio 74-64 to clinch the Western Conference’s third seed. San Antonio is 0-16 on the road and closes its season at Seattle on Sunday. The 1998 Washington Mystics are the only team in league history to go winless away from home.

NBA to seed playoff teams by record

Miscellany: The NBA will now seed playoff teams solely by their record, throwing out the top-four protection for teams who win their divisions.

The expected change was unanimously approved by the league’s Board of Governors. Teams in each conference will be seeded from one to eight by their won-loss record.

• Brazil whips U.S. in soccer: Neymar scored twice after entering at the start of the second half, Rafinha got his first international goal and Brazil routed the United States 4-1 in Foxborough, Mass., in the Americans’ last game before meeting Mexico next month in a playoff for a 2017 Confederations Cup berth.

• Mickelson makes team: Phil Mickelson was selected to the Presidents Cup as a captain’s pick even though he was 30th in the standings and hasn’t won in two years.

U.S. captain Jay Haas also picked his son, Bill Haas, though that was expected in most corners. Bill Haas played on the last two teams and was 11th in the standings.

International captain Nick Price selected Sang-moon Bae of South Korea and Steven Bowditch of Australia.

The Presidents Cup is Oct. 8-11 in South Korea.

• Kansas State fined for band: Kansas State says it will pay a $5,000 fine after its marching band shaped itself into the rival Jayhawk mascot and what appeared to be a large phallus during a halftime show.

The school said that band director Frank Tracz (trays) will miss the Nov. 28 game against Kansas and that university officials must approve future halftime shows.

The university says it decided to pay the self-imposed fine after the Big 12 Conference warned of potential sportsmanship and ethical conduct violations.

The controversy erupted after Saturday’s space-themed halftime show during the team’s home opener against South Dakota.