Harnett Central has announced three athletes for the next level including baseball pitcher C.J. Gaudet for UNC Pembroke, outfielder Micah Gaspar for Rockingham Community College and Emma Fish for the N.C. State dance team. … The Carolina Hurricanes took a 2-0 first period lead on a pair of goals by Sebastian Aho in Raleigh on Wednesday night but Florida rallied to close out the Eastern Conference final series of the Stanley Cup playoffs by a 4-1 margin with a 5-3 victory. … Oklahoma City won the Western Conference final series of the NBA playoffs, 4-1, with a 124-94 defeat of visiting Minnesota on Wednesday night as league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 34 points and eight assists. … Indiana takes a 3-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA playoffs to New York tonight (TNT, 8 p.m.). … Veteran left-hander Carlos Rodon (N.C. State) improved to 7-3 for the New York Yankees on Tuesday night in a 3-2 road win over the Los Angeles Angels as he started and went seven innings with five hits, no runs, no walks and 10 strikeouts. … For the first time since 1919, N.C. State will not play UNC in Chapel Hill during the men’s basketball regular season. … The Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour gets underway at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, today (Golf Channel, 2 p.m.).