Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray is dealing with plantar fasciitis, he said Friday night.

Murray, 27, returned from an injury that was officially designated as right hamstring inflammation to score 20 points in Denver’s win over the Clippers. He had missed the last two games and was a partial participant in the team’s practice on Wednesday.

The hamstring pain was not his only injury, though, he revealed after also amassing four steals.

“I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel going into the game,” Murray said when asked about his hamstring. “I didn’t know how many minutes I was going to play. I just kind of went out there and said, ‘I’m gonna give it what I’ve got.’ Fresh legs. Had energy. Feel good now. Some plantar fasciitis. Everybody’s going through something. But I’m good, man. Excited to be back.”

Murray is averaging 17.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game this season. He’s having his least efficient season so far since he was a rookie, shooting 42.5% from the field and 33.7% from the 3-point line. But in the last nine games that he’s played, the numbers have gradually improved. He’s 37.3% from three in that stretch.

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Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray is dealing with plantar fasciitis, he said Friday night.

Murray, 27, returned from an injury that was officially designated as right hamstring inflammation to score 20 points in Denver’s win over the Clippers. He had missed the last two games and was a partial participant in the team’s practice on Wednesday.

The hamstring pain was not his only injury, though, he revealed after also amassing four steals.

“I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel going into the game,” Murray said when asked about his hamstring. “I didn’t know how many minutes I was going to play. I just kind of went out there and said, ‘I’m gonna give it what I’ve got.’ Fresh legs. Had energy. Feel good now. Some plantar fasciitis. Everybody’s going through something. But I’m good, man. Excited to be back.”

Murray is averaging 17.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game this season. He’s having his least efficient season so far since he was a rookie, shooting 42.5% from the field and 33.7% from the 3-point line. But in the last nine games that he’s played, the numbers have gradually improved. He’s 37.3% from three in that stretch.

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Scores and statistics from Friday’s high school sports events:

Boys Basketball

Windermere 77, Olympia 67

Buzz: TJ Drain led Windermere with 37 points while Sean Owens added 18 points. James Nowells led Olympia with 20 points while Bishop Wenze chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds. JJ Watts had 14 points and 7 rebounds and Carson Punt 12 points and 8 rebounds for Olympia.

Foundation Academy 62, Trinity Prep 41

Buzz: Alex Nichols led Foundation (8-2) with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Riley Michels chipped in  with 20 points and 5 assists.

Lake Highland Prep 61, Bishop Moore 35

Buzz: Mikey Madueme led the Highlanders (6-2) with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Robert Oskarsson added 11 points and 3 assists. RJ Ingram chipped in with 7 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals.

Apopka 59, Mount Dora 34

Buzz: Jude Angervil led Apopka (6-3) with 19 points while Jahi Bowden added 11 points. DaQuavious Taylor led Mount Dora (3-7) with 14 points.

Timber Creek 44, Wekiva 32

Buzz: JJ Perry led Timber Creek with 13 points while Noah Taylor had 11 points and 6 rebounds.

South Lake 84, East Ridge 55

Buzz: Isaiah Pina led South Lake (8-2) with 36 points and 14 rebounds.

Winter Park 56, Boone 29

Buzz: Will Ryan led Winter Park (5-3) with 15 points while Hatcher Nordquist added 12 poinntd and Jake Baker had 11 points. Connor Summer scored 10 points for Boone (2-7).

Other scores:

Poinciana 57, Liberty 46

St. Cloud 61, Harmony 52

Orange City University 62, Pine Ridge 58

Ocoee 56, West Orange 52

East River 63, Cypress Creek 45

Lake Nona 73, Hagerty 54

Legacy Charter 63, Faith Christian 46

South Lake 84, East Ridge 55

New Dimensions 69, Four Corners 62

Belleview 45, Seven Rivers Christian 42

Heritage Christian School 74, North Kissimmee Christian 62

Girls Basketball

South Lake 46, Windermere  31

Buzz: Jazmyn Robles led South Lake (4-2) with 16 points while Ale Franceschi added 12 points. Victoria Azevedo had 15 points for Windermere (2-5).

Other scores:

Dr. Phillips 74, Cardinal Mooney 73

Trinity Catholic 51, Lake Howell 38

Space Coast 52, Pine Ridge 44

Gateway 65, East River 21

West Port 44, The Master’s Academy 20

City of Life Christian Academy 56, Trinity Christian Academy 2

Boys Soccer

Bishop Moore 3, Orangewood Christian 2

Buzz: John Gardner scored two goals and David Quintero added another goal for the Hornets (10-2-2).  Parker Huertas and Jace Henriques scored goals for Orangewood Christian (7-2).

Other scores:

Orlando Science 3, Wekiva 0

Oviedo 5, Sanford Seminole 1

International Community 3, The Master’s Academy 1

Crooms Academy 7, First Baptist Christian Academy 1

Gulliver Prep 5, East Ridge 1

Leesburg 1, Lake Weir 0

Eustis 1, North Marion 1

Dr. Phillips 1, Edgewater 1

Bartram Trail 1, Ocoee 0

Lake Buena Vista 6, East River 0

Olympia 1, Windermere 0

Lake Nona 0, Innovation 0

Girls Soccer

Montverde Academy 2, Lake Highland Prep 1

Buzz: In a matchup of the two top-rated teams in the area, Isabella Igua and Joy Palacios each scored in the first half to help Montverde (12-0) in a 2-1 win over Lake Highland Prep (7-1-1). The Lady Eagles led in shots attempted 6-4 while both teams were equal in shots on target with two apiece. The loss is Lake Highland’s first of the season.

Harmony d. St. Cloud

Buzz: Harmony won the Orange Belt Conference Championship with a last-minute game-winning goal. This is Harmony’s second straight OBC title and 12th of the last 14.

Other scores: 

Celebration 1, Tohopekaliga 0

The Master’s Academy 8, International Community 0

South Lake 0, The Villages Charter 0

Viera 6, East Ridge 1

Cypress Creek 4, Orlando University 0

Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.

A game that wasn’t on the schedule two weeks ago could maybe — just maybe — end up being one of the most impactful results of the Nuggets’ season.

After getting eliminated from the NBA Cup in the group stage, they needed to be scheduled for two make-up games in December. One of those was Friday night’s 120-98 win over the Clippers at Ball Arena.

The original 2024-25 NBA calendar featured three matchups between the Nuggets and Clippers — two of them at altitude. The first two meetings were already losses for Denver, meaning Los Angeles had clinched a hypothetical tiebreaker in the standings. Until this new development. Now, the Nuggets (13-10) have a chance to escape the season series with a 2-2 tie despite a skewed home-court advantage in the four matchups.

“The league gave us a gift,” coach Michael Malone acknowledged before the game. “It’s up to us if we want to take advantage of that gift.”

Denver did, with a dominant second half. Jamal Murray led the team with 20 points after missing the last two games with a hamstring injury. Michael Porter Jr. scored 12 of 17 in the last eight minutes of the third quarter, while Denver was building a 14-point lead. And Nikola Jokic didn’t have to play in the fourth, thanks to a jolt of scoring from Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther and defense from Russell Westbrook. The MVP center followed his 104-point back-to-back with 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

He played just shy of 30 minutes.

James Harden and Norman Powell, who eviscerated Denver in the last two matchups, combined for 31 points on 28 shots. Denver forced 19 turnovers to cancel out 21 giveaways at the offensive end.

Playing their only home game in a 19-day stretch, the Nuggets logged consecutive wins for the first time in more than a month. They are 8-0 this season when they lead after the first quarter.

They also won the first half for only the sixth time in 23 games this season, but the way they pulled it off was about as peculiar as they could’ve drawn it up. They committed 14 turnovers, giving Los Angeles 18 points, shot 3-for-15 from beyond the arc and had zero double-digit scorers at the break. They surrendered an 18-0 run in the middle of the second quarter, going 4 minutes, 54 seconds without a point and 5:32 without a field goal.

Even weirder: Most of that drought occurred with Jokic on the floor. He attempted only four shots in the half, and one of them was determined by his computer programming. On a sideline out of bounds play with 31 seconds left, he caught at the top of the key and immediately released, trying to engineer two possessions out of the situation. He made the three, then the Clippers coughed it up to give Christian Braun an easy dunk. Mission accomplished. The 5-0 burst was enough for a 48-47 lead.

Jokic’s six rest minutes almost added to the backwardness of the half. Almost. With Murray staggering and Westbrook lobbing to DeAndre Jordan, the Nuggets in control for the majority of the stint, until the last 45 seconds. The Clippers hadn’t taken advantage of Denver’s turnovers yet — but they did just in time. With their own 5-0 mini-run, the non-Jokic minutes ended in a tie. Alas, man’s search for meaning continued. There might have been a breakthrough in the fourth quarter.

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A game that wasn’t on the schedule two weeks ago could maybe — just maybe — end up being one of the most impactful results of the Nuggets’ season.

After getting eliminated from the NBA Cup in the group stage, they needed to be scheduled for two make-up games in December. One of those was Friday night’s 120-98 win over the Clippers at Ball Arena.

The original 2024-25 NBA calendar featured three matchups between the Nuggets and Clippers — two of them at altitude. The first two meetings were already losses for Denver, meaning Los Angeles had clinched a hypothetical tiebreaker in the standings. Until this new development. Now, the Nuggets (13-10) have a chance to escape the season series with a 2-2 tie despite a skewed home-court advantage in the four matchups.

“The league gave us a gift,” coach Michael Malone acknowledged before the game. “It’s up to us if we want to take advantage of that gift.”

Denver did, with a dominant second half. Jamal Murray led the team with 20 points after missing the last two games with a hamstring injury. Michael Porter Jr. scored 12 of 17 in the last eight minutes of the third quarter, while Denver was building a 14-point lead. And Nikola Jokic didn’t have to play in the fourth, thanks to a jolt of scoring from Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther and defense from Russell Westbrook. The MVP center followed his 104-point back-to-back with 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

He played just shy of 30 minutes.

James Harden and Norman Powell, who eviscerated Denver in the last two matchups, combined for 31 points on 28 shots. Denver forced 19 turnovers to cancel out 21 giveaways at the offensive end.

Playing their only home game in a 19-day stretch, the Nuggets logged consecutive wins for the first time in more than a month. They are 8-0 this season when they lead after the first quarter.

They also won the first half for only the sixth time in 23 games this season, but the way they pulled it off was about as peculiar as they could’ve drawn it up. They committed 14 turnovers, giving Los Angeles 18 points, shot 3-for-15 from beyond the arc and had zero double-digit scorers at the break. They surrendered an 18-0 run in the middle of the second quarter, going 4 minutes, 54 seconds without a point and 5:32 without a field goal.

Even weirder: Most of that drought occurred with Jokic on the floor. He attempted only four shots in the half, and one of them was determined by his computer programming. On a sideline out of bounds play with 31 seconds left, he caught at the top of the key and immediately released, trying to engineer two possessions out of the situation. He made the three, then the Clippers coughed it up to give Christian Braun an easy dunk. Mission accomplished. The 5-0 burst was enough for a 48-47 lead.

Jokic’s six rest minutes almost added to the backwardness of the half. Almost. With Murray staggering and Westbrook lobbing to DeAndre Jordan, the Nuggets in control for the majority of the stint, until the last 45 seconds. The Clippers hadn’t taken advantage of Denver’s turnovers yet — but they did just in time. With their own 5-0 mini-run, the non-Jokic minutes ended in a tie. Alas, man’s search for meaning continued. There might have been a breakthrough in the fourth quarter.

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MIAMI — Dereon Coleman was the hero for Jones High all night Friday in the Class 4A state championship game against Plantation American Heritage.

Running and throwing the ball, the junior quarterback was doing it all. But the guy whom the Tigers wanted to have the ball in his hand at all times proved he’s capable of a mistake. The one miscue Coleman made in the game turned out to be the turning point that helped the Patriots put Jones away, leading to a 40-31 victory at Pitbull Stadium on the Florida International University campus.

Previously unbeaten Jones (14-1) finally got a defensive stop in the second half and rallied from a two-touchdown deficit to tie the game 31-31 with 9:07 remaining. And even though Heritage running back Byron Louis answered that touchdown with an 80-yard touchdown run, the Patriots missed the extra point, opening the door for Jones to possibly take the lead.

The Tigers had a first down at midfield after a pass-interference penalty and had some momentum. But Coleman, scrambling out of trouble as he had all night long, fumbled the football as he was sacked and Heritage defensive tackle Isaac Tannis recovered.

“He played lights-out. They dropped eight trying to stop our receivers and he kept running. They kept dropping and he kept running,” Jones coach Elijah Williams said. “In the second half, they put a spy on him. and he started making those throws. He’s a great talent.

“The O-line gave him time, the receivers got open and they made plays. I’m just so proud of our whole team.”

American Heritage claimed its sixth state title since 2013. Jones, also a runner-up in 2019, was seeking its first championship.

Coleman, a Miami commit, almost single-handedly rescued Jones time after time. He ran for 110 yards on 13 carries and scored three rushing touchdowns, both career highs for a game.

He’ll remember the fumble, but his future looks bright.

“I feel like this is the best I’ve ever played in my whole career,” Coleman said. “When the team was down, I just had to put them on my back. I can’t hang my head from this game. I did everything I could, being the leader of this team, I did everything I could.”

Coleman had two carries for 52 yards on the opening drive, including a 16-yard TD run that put Jones up 7-0 early.

Heritage quarterback Malachi Toney guided Heritage to a pair of touchdown drives in the second quarter. He hit Jeffar Jean-Noel with a 26-yard touchdown pass and capped an 84-yard drive with 1-yard TD run to give Heritage a 17-10 lead at the half.

Jones had trouble stopping Louis, a 6-foot, 204-pound senior who hit the line of scrimmage with an explosive burst. He ran for 223 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries.

Heritage led 24-7 after a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Brandon Bennett opened the second half. The Patriots threatened to blow this game open. But Jones kept battling.

“We fought back and we blocked the extra point and it was a six-point game with seven minutes, but we just had the costly turnover,” Williams said. “We had the momentum shifted to our favor and we had the ball, down six. We just came up short.

“Our kids are tough. They fought the whole entire game. It comes down to inches. Defense played well. That’s a tough offense.”

Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.

By MIKE FITZPATRICK AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK — Same iconic statue, very different race.

With two-way star Travis Hunter of Colorado and Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty leading the field, these certainly aren’t your typical Heisman Trophy contenders.

Sure, veteran quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel from top-ranked Oregon and Cam Ward of No. 15 Miami are finalists for college football’s most prestigious award as well, but the 90th annual ceremony coming up Saturday night at Lincoln Center in New York City offers a fresh flavor this year.

To start with, none of the four are from the powerhouse Southeastern Conference, which has produced four of the past five Heisman winners — two each from Alabama and LSU.

Jeanty, who played his home games for a Group of Five team on that peculiar blue turf in Idaho more than 2,100 miles from Manhattan, is the first running back even invited to the Heisman party since 2017. After leading the country with 2,497 yards rushing and 29 touchdowns, he joined quarterback Kellen Moore (2010) as the only Boise State players to be named a finalist.

“The running back position has been overlooked for a while now,” said Jeanty, who plans to enter the 2025 NFL Draft.

“There’s been a lot of great running backs before me that should have been here in New York, so to kind of carry on the legacy of the running back position I think is great. … I feel as if I’m representing the whole position.”

With the votes already in, all four finalists spent Friday conducting interviews and sightseeing in the Big Apple. They were given custom, commemorative watches to mark their achievement.

“I’m not a watch guy, but I like it,” said Hunter, flashing a smile.

The players also took photos beneath the massive billboards in Times Square and later posed with the famous Heisman Trophy, handed out since 1935 to the nation’s most outstanding performer.

Hunter, the heavy favorite, made sure not to touch it yet.

A dominant player on both offense and defense who rarely comes off the field, the wide receiver/cornerback is a throwback to generations gone by and the first full-time, true two-way star in decades.

On offense, he had 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns this season to help the 20th-ranked  Buffaloes (9-3) earn their first bowl bid in four years. On defense, he made four interceptions, broke up 11 passes and forced a critical fumble that secured an overtime victory against Baylor.

Hunter played 688 defensive snaps and 672 more on offense — the only Power Four conference player with 30-plus snaps on both sides of the ball, according to Colorado research.

Call him college football’s answer to baseball unicorn Shohei Ohtani.

“I think I laid the ground for more people to come in and go two ways,” Hunter said. “It starts with your mindset. If you believe you can do it, then you’ll be able to do it. And also, I do a lot of treatment. I keep up with my body. I get a lot of recovery.”

Hunter is Colorado’s first Heisman finalist in 30 years. The junior from Suwanee, Georgia, followed Coach Deion Sanders from Jackson State, an HBCU that plays in the lower level FCS, to the Rocky Mountains and has already racked up a staggering combination of accolades this week, including The Associated Press Player of the Year.

Hunter also won the Walter Camp Award as national player of the year, along with the Chuck Bednarik Award as the top defensive player and the Biletnikoff Award for best wide receiver.

“It just goes to show that I did what I had to do,” Hunter said.

Next, he’d like to polish off his impressive hardware collection by becoming the second Heisman Trophy recipient in Buffaloes history, after late running back Rashaan Salaam in 1994.

“I worked so hard for this moment, so securing the Heisman definitely would set my legacy in college football,” Hunter said. “Being here now is like a dream come true.”

Jeanty carried No. 8 Boise State (12-1) to a Mountain West Conference championship that landed the Broncos the third seed in this year’s College Football Playoff. They have a first-round bye before facing the SMU-Penn State winner in the Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal on New Year’s Eve.

The 5-foot-9, 215-pound junior from Jacksonville won the Maxwell Award as college football’s top player and the Doak Walker Award for best running back. Jeanty has five touchdown runs of at least 70 yards and has rushed for the fourth-most yards in a season in FBS history — topping the total of 115 teams this year. He needs 132 yards to break the FBS record set by Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders at Oklahoma State in 1988.

In a pass-happy era, however, Jeanty is trying to become the first running back to win the Heisman Trophy since Derrick Henry for Alabama nine years ago. In fact, quarterbacks have snagged the prize all but four times this century.

Gabriel, an Oklahoma transfer who started at UCF, led Oregon (13-0) to a Big Ten title in its first season in the league and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.

The steady senior from Hawaii passed for 3,558 yards and 28 touchdowns with six interceptions. His 73.2% completion rate ranks second in the nation, and he’s attempting to join quarterback Marcus Mariota (2014) as Ducks players to win the Heisman Trophy.

“I think all the memories start to roll back in your mind,” Gabriel said.

Ward threw for 4,123 yards and led the nation with a school-record 36 touchdown passes for the high-scoring Hurricanes (10-2) after transferring from Washington State.

The senior from West Columbia, Texas, won the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Year award and is looking to join QBs Vinny Testaverde (1986) and Gino Torretta (1992) as Miami players to go home with the Heisman.

“I just think there’s a recklessness that you have to play with at the quarterback position,” Ward said.

The mantra around Vermont’s men’s soccer team during its incredible and still-alive NCAA Tournament run has been, “Underdogs? Nope, just dogs.”

Well, cats, technically. But give the Catamounts a chance late, and they’ll bury you like a bone. In a 1-1 (4-3 PKs) loss, the University of Denver Pioneers’ chase for a title ended just before the peak.

In another world, the Pioneers ran away with the national semifinal. Just ask senior forward Oje Ofunrein, who missed three glancing headers by a total of approximately 10 inches. Or Trevor Wright, who had a flicked-on header of his own hit the crossbar in the 6th minute.

If not for a player standing in the sightline of referee Sorin Stoica during a corner kick, a clear and obvious handball in the box upon replay may have put DU ahead in the 50th minute.

Then midfielder Sam Bassett’s 78th-minute stunner may have been icing on the cake: A cross-turned-shot from 25 yards and an incredible angle which tucked into the side-netting on the opposite side of goal.

Being up a goal with just a handful of minutes to go is never a guarantee. In the 84th minute, Vermont capitalized with its only shot on goal — DU had six — via a chested touch and nearly point-blank finish from redshirt senior Yaniv Bazini.

Both teams survived the two 10-minute slugfests that followed. Then Wright was denied by the crossbar again in penalties and senior captain Ben Smith had his shot saved by Niklas Herceg. Vermont went perfect from the spot.

After beating San Diego in overtime in the round of 16, jumping on two mistakes over No. 2 Pittsburgh and besting the Pioneers in penalties, Vermont will face the winner of No. 1 Ohio State and No. 13 Marshall.

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The mantra around Vermont’s men’s soccer team during its incredible and still-alive NCAA Tournament run has been, “Underdogs? Nope, just dogs.”

Well, cats, technically. But give the Catamounts a chance late, and they’ll bury you like a bone. In a 1-1 (4-3 PKs) loss, the University of Denver Pioneers’ chase for a title ended just before the peak.

In another world, the Pioneers ran away with the national semifinal. Just ask senior forward Oje Ofunrein, who missed three glancing headers by a total of approximately 10 inches. Or Trevor Wright, who had a flicked-on header of his own hit the crossbar in the 6th minute.

If not for a player standing in the sightline of referee Sorin Stoica during a corner kick, a clear and obvious handball in the box upon replay may have put DU ahead in the 50th minute.

Then midfielder Sam Bassett’s 78th-minute stunner may have been icing on the cake: A cross-turned-shot from 25 yards and an incredible angle which tucked into the side-netting on the opposite side of goal.

Being up a goal with just a handful of minutes to go is never a guarantee. In the 84th minute, Vermont capitalized with its only shot on goal — DU had six — via a chested touch and nearly point-blank finish from redshirt senior Yaniv Bazini.

Both teams survived the two 10-minute slugfests that followed. Then Wright was denied by the crossbar again in penalties and senior captain Ben Smith had his shot saved by Niklas Herceg. Vermont went perfect from the spot.

After beating San Diego in overtime in the round of 16, jumping on two mistakes over No. 2 Pittsburgh and besting the Pioneers in penalties, Vermont will face the winner of No. 1 Ohio State and No. 13 Marshall.

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