ST. LOUIS (AP) — Free agent catcher Brayan Pena has agreed to a $5 million, two-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he will be the backup for All-Star Yadier Molina. The 33-year-old switch-hitter receives $2.5 million in each of the next two seasons.

Pena led Reds catchers with 86 games last season while batting .273 with a career-best .344 on-base percentage. His led the NL with a .999 fielding percentage, making one error in 715 chances.

Pena has a .260 career average, with 23 homers and 164 RBIs in 629 games over 11 big league seasons. He spent the last two years with the Reds and has played for Detroit, Kansas City and Atlanta. Tony Cruz had been Molina’s backup in recent seasons.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Bedford 68, Essex 52
Mount Ayr 46, Lamoni 36

POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS

A-H-S-T-W, Avoca vs. CAM, Anita, ppd.
Southwest Valley vs. Griswold, ccd.
Tri-Center, Neola vs. Adair-Casey, ppd.
Westwood, Sloan vs. Logan-Magnolia, ppd. to Dec 5.
Whiting vs. Woodbine, ppd.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Creston 55, Winterset 31

POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS

A-H-S-T-W, Avoca vs. CAM, Anita, ppd.
Southwest Valley vs. Griswold, ccd.
Treynor vs. Iowa School for the Deaf, ppd.
Tri-Center, Neola vs. Adair-Casey, ppd.
Westwood, Sloan vs. Logan-Magnolia, ppd.
Whiting vs. Woodbine, ppd.

Our scheduled high school basketball coverage for tonight is off.  The AHSTW @ CAM varsity doubleheader has been cancelled and they are working on a date to make up the missed contests. With no high school hoops coverage we will now be airing Hawk Talk with Iowa Men’s Basketball Coach Fran McCafferey at 7:00pm.

Following Big Ten football games on Nov. 28, the co-offensive, defensive and special teams player of the week and freshman of the week in the Big Ten were announced this morning. Iowa Defensive Parker Hesse was named Freshman of the Week for his efforts in Iowa’s win over Nebraska this past Friday.

Freshman of the Week
Parker Hesse, Iowa
DE, Waukon, Iowa/Waukon
• Returned his first career interception for a touchdown in Iowa’s win over Nebraska
• Matched a career-high with six tackles
• Hesse’s touchdown gave the Hawkeyes a lead they would never relinquish, recording the fourth defensive score for Iowa this season
• Wins his first career weekly award
• Last Iowa Freshman of the Week: Akrum Wadley (Nov. 3, 2014)

Other award winners in the Conference this week were:  Co-Offensive Players of the Week: Nate Sudfeld, QB, Indiana and Ezekiel Elliot, RB, Ohio State.  Defensive Player of the Week: Anthony Walker Jr., LB. Northwestern.  Special Teams Player of the Week: Drew Meyer, P, Wisconsin.

The Big 12 Conference announced their basketball players of the week honors.  Three players who contributed strong performances at Thanksgiving week tournaments have earned the latest Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Player and Newcomer of the Week awards. Juniors Monté Morris (Iowa State) and Wayne Selden, Jr. (Kansas) are named top player, while Eric Davis, Jr. (Texas) is the top newcomer. All three are recognized with their respective accolades for the first time.

PHILLIPS 66 BIG 12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Monté Morris, Iowa State, G, 6-3, 175, Jr., Flint, Mich./Beecher
Morris averaged 16 points, 7.7 assists and four rebounds on his way to earning Emerald Coast Classic Most Outstanding Player honors. The junior guard had his best game in the final, finishing with 20 points and a career-high nine rebounds to go along with six assists in the win over Illinois. In three games last week, he dished out 23 assists and had just one turnover. Morris has been in double figures in all five games this season.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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Iowa State has announced Matt Campbell as the next Cyclones football coach. Campbell agreed to a six-year contract with a first-year salary of $2 million. The Des Moines Register reports Campbell will be officially introduced at a news conference in Ames at noon, today (Monday). At Iowa State, Campbell will replace Paul Rhoads.

The anticipated announcement would come on Campbell’s 36th birthday, making him one of the youngest head coaches in FBS. In four seasons with the Rockets, he is 35-15. Toledo athletic director Mike O’Brien told the AP on Saturday the school had offered Campbell a contract that would make him the highest-paid coach in the Mid-American Conference.

According to USA Today’s salary database, Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck’s salary is $800,000 this season, highest in the MAC. At Iowa State, Rhoads made $2.2 million this year.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Alex Smith threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns, Spencer Ware ran for 114 yards and a score, and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills 30-22 on Sunday in a matchup of teams in the AFC wildcard race.

Jeremy Maclin had nine receptions for 160 yards and a touchdown, and Cairo Santos hit three field goals for the Chiefs (6-5), who have won five straight after a five-game skid. Tyrod Taylor had 291 yards passing and three touchdowns for Buffalo (5-6), but he was mostly held in check in the second half. So was Sammie Watkins, who had all six catches for 158 yards and his two touchdowns over the first 30 minutes.

The Bills had a chance for a tying touchdown when they took over at their own 10 with 3:25 left, but the Chiefs stopped them on fourth-and-9 with 2:16 to go to seal it.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Jarrod Uthoff scored 22 points, Adam Woodbury had 15 and Iowa beat No. 20 Wichita State 84-62 in the seventh place game at the AdvoCare Invitational on Sunday. Mike Gesell added 14 points for Iowa (4-2)

Wichita State (2-4) got 14 from Eric Hamilton. Ron Baker, who entered averaging 20.2 points, was held to eight. Both teams lost their first two game at the invitational.

Short-handed Wichita State played without forward Anton Grady, who is at an area hospital recovering from what doctors believe is a spinal cord concussion that happened during a collision with an Alabama player in Friday’s game. Doctors found no signs of spinal cord trauma.

Wichita State senior guard Fred VanVleet sat out all three games of the invitational with a hamstring injury.