right now -- xavier and its fans looking forward to success in the n-c-double-a tournament.the pivotal person that many say is the reason this team is succeeding. fighting against addiction...a message of hope for the tri-state heroin epidemic -- coming from people who've experienced it. "people are dying every day, every day // without hope nobody changes" changes"the bond these men share -- and the honor they're trying to win tonight. an honor for a tri-state veteran... coming decades after his service.the international visitors who delivered a medal.nine on your side at eleven starts now! there are so many stories of horror and pain from the

but tonight -- hope.and it's coming in the form of heavy metal.a band of recovering drug addicts -- using their music to spread a positive message. message.nine on your side's rose-ann aragon is live in covington... where the band is sending that message tonight. it was a high energy competition that lasted weeks--it started with 72 bands-- but only 7 left standingin tonight's final competition-- this one band though says -- the competition is just one of several challenges they've had to overcome. nats: the beat-- the lights -- the passion . this is the madison theatre band challenge. 72 bands--tonight only 7 left standing--- nats: this sound of heavy metal--is the band --"among giants." "it started as an idea we were joking around about and it escalated into this." nats: an idea that was formed in rehab. all but one of the members are recovering drug addicts. "started out young in high

people were doing to fit in." (chris wooldrige-bass player) "homeless at 22. my family washed their hands of me." it was a battle they'd fight-- together. "it took me years and years. it wasn't something i was cpable of doing in one day." "during recovery trying to change our lives we decided to take that positive energy and incorporate it into our music." nats: "it has a lot of emotion. part of our lyrics are things that we actually went through..things that we've actually seen. feelings we actually felt." "this music in this band has gotten me through some of the lowest lows of my life and they're always there for me. i'm getting ready to have a baby and they showered me with diapers. " they're strategy --in practice and in life-- "pure perseverance and never giving up." spreading hope-- one note at a time. "to change. to live a better life." "it is an extremely difficult situation and without hope there's no way that anyone can rise above." all of the members are now

more band to go in this competition-- but no matter what happens this band says they're already proud of how far they've come. reporting live ra 9 oys. their story has a good ending -- but the lives of so many other addicts are in trouble. if you or someone you know is in the clutches of heroin -- we have resources to get help *right now* on our website... w-c-p-o-dot-com-slash-heroin. tonight, expect mostly cloudy skies with a few areas of patchy fog by daybreak and and lows near 30.some sunshine returns for the first day of spring (vernal equinox) but clouds will also hang around. highs will top off in the mid to upper 40s. a below average start to spring, as we should be at 54 degrees) but we'll gradually bring in warmer

move into the lower 60s. could this be xavier's year? fans of the muskies think the man leading the basketball program is fueling the success this team is seeing.and as they play for a spot in the sweet 16 tomorrow -- chris riva shows us fans are expecting the final four. riva su open: many around the xavier basketball say the program has gone to the next level, meaning they can

championship. head coach chris mack is widely credited for xavier's next step in success. while there have been a long line of great coaches before him, xavier fans say mack is different, because he is home grown. greg christopher: "chris has done an amazing job to take this program to a new level. we obviously have an amazing history, but he has taken it to a new level." riva track: xavier fans here in st. louis feel mack as not only an apreciation for the city, but also xavier. len "i am a bomber myself. i am part of the long blue line. i think chris understands xavier and hopefully he is going to stay a xavier a long time. drew " obviously with the success a lot of people are going to come knocking at the door. rightfully so, but hopefully being a cincinnati guy he will stick around. i think he will." tom "al lot of people use xavier as a stepping stone. hopefully he will be

national titles. maybe is 20 years they will name the court after him." len "i think chris understands xavier and the benefits of greater cincinnati." riva track: fans here in stl. would like nothing better than the home town kid guide them to the final four. at the ncaa tournament - chris riva 9oys. chris riva and john popovich will be in saint louis for tomorrow's game.look for full coverage from them tomorrow on nine on your side. new at 11...police say he was trying to sell a pick-up truck on craiglist -- but ended up robbing the potential buyers instead!earl lee now faces charges of aggravated robbery. and police say he didn't act alone -- the potential buyers were held at gunpoint as two other people tried to take their money *and * their car! those two have not been caught. a scary scene -- but amazingly

full of high school students overturns in indiana!it was a basketball team on their way to a game in the northeast part of the hoosier state. police say the bus was sideswiped by another car.many of the students and coaches on board were taken to the hospital -- but their injuries are *not* life-threatening. a horse trainer says they were starved -- sick -- and dying.and tonight -- a clermont county neighborhood is pitching in to help save three horses. kimberly kinder bought the horses -- and is now trying to get them back to help.one of them had active lice and mites -- and visible open sores.she says she couldn't believe her eyes when she went to pick the animals up last weekend. "just utter shock....the closer we got the more emaciated they looked." looked."since then -- the community has donated thousands of dollars worth of supplies for those horses. clermont county animal control and the prosecutor's office

animals... they did not returns our calls for comment. police say it's a reminder about the dangers of technology...a northeast ohio man accused of driving to missouri to kidnap a teen girl... then holding her against her will for days! days!the suspect -- eric shotwell of minerva ohio -- charged with rape -- kidnapping -- and assault. police say he met the 14- year-old on a smartphone app called "say hi" -- and used stealth to take her from her eastern missouri home on sunday.she was found thursday at *his* home.the f-b-i is now investigating. violence outside a donald trump rally in arizona -- as groups in *two* parts of the country protest visits from the leading g-o-p candidate. but the frontrunner is remaining confident -- as the next primary draws near. a-b-c's elizabeth hur has the latest on democracy 2016.

wearing a kkk hood sparked a fight during donald trump's rally in tucson, arizona. sot donald trump "the other guy's wearing a ku klux klan outfit. he thinks it's wonderful. these are bad people. i'm telling you." earlier, in phoenix, protesters blocked the main road leading to the rally, some chaining themselves to cars. nats in new york, thousands of protesters clashed with trump supporters outside the trump tower. sot peter blewette, protester "he literally represents the worst parts of america, and he's bringing out all the garbage." but the frontrunner predicts he will win the republican presidential nomination. sot trump "but you know the expression, to be the future of the republican party you have to go through trump. right. right. gotta go through trump." ted cruz is trying to put the brakes on the trump bandwagon, now that the republican establishment is backing him. sot sen. ted cruz "we should appeal to the values that unify us, that bring us together, that we believe in." john kasich -- still in the race -- disagrees. sot gov. john kasich - "i don't, frankly

the democratic side, bernie sanders toured the border area in arizona .... dismissing any talk of of the democrats uniting behind hillary clinton. sot sen. bernie sanders "some of the largest states in this country, states like california, states like new york state, oregon, washington state, they have not yet cast a vote." the vermont senator continuing his campaign in phoenix saturday night.elizabeth hur, abc news, new york. it's incredible video -- that could be the key to solving a deadly plane crash in russia. take a look -- you see what looks like a fireball shooting toward the ground...before an explosion that lights up the sky.officials think it's the plane crash in russia that killed 61 people.tonight -- investigators don't know if it was bad weather -- human error -- or a malfunction that took down the flight. it's been two years in the making -- and tonight leaders are looking forward to construction of the new "clifton market". market". it's an important

-- because residents have been without access to dedicated grocery store since 2011.it's going up in the spot where "keller's i-g-a" stood. construction should take about four months... and then workers will get in shelving and equipment. a night of moulin rouge -- in hopes of finding the cure for pediatric brain cancer. cancer.it's the "once in a lifetime gala"... a fundraiser for "the cure starts now". their goal tonight was to raise 400-thousand dollars for the group.that money coming through raffles and auctions of prizes that really are once in a lifetime. "there's a trip to paris to see the real moulin rouge, we have a dinner with bengals player at the precinct, we have a perfume experience in new york city, so just incredible experiences that you couldn't buy if you wanted to" to"you'll remember -- lauren hill raised money for the "the cure starts now"... before d-i-p-g took her life.more than eight-hundred people took

ten years of turning dresses into dreams...and the generosity from cinderella's closet continued today. today.about four-hundred tri- state juniors and seniors got formal dresses and accessories today... teens who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford prom.erin peterson got the idea for "cinderella's closet" while working in a consignment shop -- and seeing a teen who so badly wanted to attend her prom. "i asked her if i could buy the dress for her and i didn't know how much it was -- it turned out to be 3995 and i bought it and as she left she turned around and said i'm going to look just like cinderella and i knew we could do that for some other girls" girls"those teens are referred to "cinderella's closet" by their school. when a medal really matters- matters- still to come, hear when a 91-year-old delhi township man did to earn one

you're watching 9 on your side at 11 most of us weren't even a thought when he was off risking his life to protect our democracy. today in delhi a world war 2 hero who witnessed the unthinkable...g ot a thank you...from france. order! this is one of the greatest honors of my life. 72 years later...a salute to that 18-year-old soldier who traveled to france fighting on its border with germany.it would be wrong to say that i wasn't frightened.because it's a horrid experience to realize that number one someone is shooting at you and number 2 you have to shoot back. now 91...and surrounded by loved ones and dignitaries at grace covenant church in delhi... command sergeant major henry armstrong remembers well that first night in france...on a

us in the detail killed a tree. there was a tree that looked like a human being on the opposite of where we were and i think everybody there shot that tree that night. (laugh)some memories bring laughter...others bring pause...the saddest part was the concentration camp of course. and to see - we found a pile of rags that contained the bodies of women and children that had been machine gunned. and i often wonder about the guy behind the machine gun. how he felt about thatarmstrong helped liberate a concentration camp...and helped liberate france. france. every french person has a special place in their heart for you.and so all these years later...a member of the french consul pins on armstrong his country's prestigious french legion of honor medal. a thank you sir...for your

armstrong was a founding member of the delhi township veterans association and is still serving, supporting fellow vets...and talking at schools tonight, expect mostly cloudy skies with a few areas of patchy fog by daybreak and and lows near 30.some sunshine returns for the first day of spring (vernal equinox) but clouds will also hang around. highs will top off in the mid to upper 40s. a below average start to spring, as we should be at 54 degrees) but we'll gradually bring in warmer

move into the lower 60s. monday, sunshine returns resulting in a rise in temperatures towards. highs

coming up, ken broo is in tonight with the latest in sports....the reaction from indiana's big win over kentucky today in the ncaa tournament tournament and the waiting

musketeers. they play wisconsin sunday night.

this time tomorrow night, it'll be either/or. like the line in that steve miller band song...you might get rich, you might bustedxavier hopes to be the former, when it takes on wisconsin in the round of 32. our john popovich is at the ncaa tournament site in st. louis. it's the nature of tournamnet week..you play like heck for forty minutes..you lay it all on the line..and then you're done.....-you walk off the stage...enjoy the vicory and

-this is what it looks like inside the scottrade center on saturday.half the teams are gonehalf the fans are gonehalf the reporters are gone..it's quiet....you just site and you wait..and you wait some more- of there is a practice for the players and there are media obligations. they're brought to a press conference to try to say something different than what they said the night before after the game-but most of the time, they're just out there chillin..passing the time and the times goes slow- jalin reynolds:the time does go by slowly.....but you try to get your rest...take a nap and eat rightkaiser gates:upi kist sit back...take a nap and get some foodplayers come with their music and their headphones-there's the ever present smart phones...messa ges...texts all gt deal with. you learn how to deal with a lot of idle time-trevon bluiett it's a sacrifice you

it up-sometimes the madness of march can be a bit boring...it won't be that way sunday night. john popovih nine on your side with the musketeers in st louis shock has given way to realization for every uc player and fan: it's over. the bearcats season ended late friday night, when this last second dunk by octavius ellis was ruled 'after the horn'. and st. joe's knocked uc out of the tournament with a two point win. trt :10outcue:...it's just tough, just tough"((caupain: i said it to myself about 50 times, not again. it's been happening all year. it's just tough, just tough )) yale pulled off a big upset in round one, today, it ran into franklin's luke kennard and duke. kennard had 13.but duke had more than that. bobby ingram was seven of 19, lot of

that with the kid who's a dead ringer for ted cruz, grayson allen and his 29and duke marches into the sweet 16, 71-64 final. and in des moines tonight, indiana knocked kentucky out of the tournament. the hoosiers move onto the sweet 16 after a 73-56 win. trt :12outcue:..locked into the concentration"((crean: and our guys did a great job in a short period of time for getting ready for what we knew would be a great physical and mentaly battle. and they really stayed locked into the concentration.)) and in columbus tonight, thomas more's sydney moss scored 39-of the saints 74- points. and the saint march into the ncaa division iii title game, with a 74-65 win over amherst. the championship game is next weekend. newcath's run in the sweet 16 is over.tonight, against dunbar, ben weyer delivered another strong game.... but dunbar was strong inside tonight and that was the

season ends for the thorobreds, 55-47 is the final. out west, the headline from the reds today raisel iglesias training start. nothing great, two innings, walked two, struck out one, allowed a couple of unearned runs. but he seems to be over his shoulder fatigue. the a's beat the reds, 7-6 and at the arnold palmer invitational, the lead belongs to jason day. here's a reason why: on the eighth today, day pulled this shot out of his bag.he leads henrik stenson by