ON THE FLY

HARTFORD COURANT

The Oklahoma City Blue beat the Santa Cruz Warriors in three games to advance to the Western Conference finals in the NBA Development League. Former UConn player Daniel Hamilton had consecutive double-doubles, including 30 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in the clinching game Monday night. Needless to say, the Huskies could have used him this season. ... Some years the WNBA draft is a big thing around here. This is not one of those years. It would be nice to see UConn's Saniya Chong drafted Thursday night, a reward for a fine senior season. Other than that, there isn't much to hold one's interest. ... Dave McGillivray, the longtime race director of the Boston Marathon, will do what he always does after Monday's race is over. He'll head to Hopkinton, Mass., and run the course in the dark. The male and female winners each get $150,000. Bill Rodgers won the first of his four titles in 1975; there was no prize money until 1986. ... Which team UConn safety Obi Melifonwu goes to in the NFL draft depends on what mock draft you look at, but one thing seems certain: He will be a first-round pick on April 27. ... The top-selling NHL jersey this year. He had 44 goals during the regular season for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The official magazine of the Baseball Hall of Fame had a spread on major league players in World War I, writing that 27 future Hall of Famers served, including Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Tris Speaker, Larry MacPhail and Casey Stengel. MacPhail also served in World War II. ... Shohei Otani of the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan was on "60 Minutes" Sunday night. He is 22, and an outstanding pitcher and hitter. He says he will sign with an MLB team after a final season in Japan. Closer to home, there is Louisville's Brendan McKay. In an Associated Press feature on McKay, Louisville coach Dan McDonnell says, "If you put Brendan the pitcher on one side and Brendan the hitter on the other side, they could almost have their own competition to see who's better at that craft." McKay, a lefty, is 25-9 with a 1.93 ERA in his pitching career at Louisville. He also is a career .336 hitter with 16 homers, 40 doubles and 102 RBI in 156 games. Someone will make him rich, too. ... Add Brett Gardner to the Yankees' injury list. He sustained a bruised jaw and strained neck in Wednesday's win.