RICHMOND, Va. — Two of fallen NFL star Michael Vick’s co-defendants were sentenced today to 18 months and 21 months in prison on federal dogfighting conspiracy charges.

Quanis Phillips of Atlanta and Purnell Peace of Virginia Beach could have received up to five years in prison — the same maximum Vick faces when he is sentenced Dec. 10.

Peace, Phillips and Tony Taylor of Hampton pleaded guilty last summer and agreed to testify against Vick, prompting the suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback to enter his own plea agreement a few days later. Taylor will be sentenced Dec. 14.

Peace was sentenced to 18 months and Phillips to 21 months.

“You may have thought this was sporting, but it was very callous and cruel,” U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson told Phillips.

Sentencing guidelines called for punishments of 12 to 18 months for Peace and 18 to 24 months for Phillips, who has a more extensive criminal record.

Prosecutors recommended sentences at the low end of the range because of the co-defendants’ cooperation. But Hudson said he felt sentences on the high end of the range were appropriate because of the nature of the crime.

BASEBALL

Posada gets four-year deal

NEW YORK — Jorge Posada and the New York Yankees finalized their $52.4 million, four-year contract, more than two weeks after the All-Star catcher and the team reached a preliminary agreement on the deal.

Posada gets $13.1 million in each of the four seasons, the highest average salary for a catcher.

While Posada will turn 40 in the final season of the contract, the Yankees have said they are not concerned about his age. The switch-hitter eventually could be shifted to designated hitter or first base. He hit a team-high .338 last season with 20 homers and 90 RBIs.

Torrealba stays with Rockies

DENVER — Yorvit Torrealba is staying in Colorado, agreeing to a two-year deal worth about $7 million with a mutual option for 2010.

Torrealba, who filed for free agency after helping the Rockies reach the World Series, was set to sign a three-year contract for about twice the money with the New York Mets this month. The Rockies got back into the mix when that deal fell apart and the Mets traded for Johnny Estrada instead.

This is the first multiyear contract for Torrealba, who became the Rockies’ regular catcher after rookie Chris Iannetta struggled at the plate in the spring.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Paterno’s salary revealed

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Joe Paterno’s salary is no longer one of the most closely guarded secrets in college sports — the Penn State coach will earn more than $500,000 this year.

The State Employees’ Retirement System released Paterno’s salary, more than a week after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that his salary and other top Penn State officials are public information.

Paterno was paid $427,220 in the first 10 months of 2007— putting his year-end salary on track to be $512,664. He was paid $490,638 last year, according to the retirement system.

PRO BASKETBALL

Phil Jackson gets extension

LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he has agreed to terms of a two-year contract extension believed to be worth about $24 million, putting him under contract through the 2009-10 season.

The Hall of Fame coach announced his decision and discussed his contract situation before the Lakers’ game against the Denver Nuggets.

The 62-year-old Jackson signed a five-year, $30 million contract with the Lakers in June 1999, and coached them to three championships before they lost to San Antonio in the Western Conference semifinals in 2003 and were beaten by Detroit in the NBA finals in 2004.

TENNIS

Russia keeps Davydenko out of singles for Davis Cup

PORTLAND — Russia pulled a surprise at the draw for the Davis Cup final, leaving fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko out of the singles matches.

Davydenko — at the center of a gambling investigation — was relegated to playing doubles with Igor Andreev, and captain Shamil Tarpischev picked Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny for singles.

Many expected Davydenko, as the highest-ranked player on the Russian team, to play singles in the competition, which runs today through Sunday at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum.

Instead, Tursunov will face sixth-ranked Andy Roddick in the opening match Friday, followed by 13th-ranked James Blake against Youzhny.

Davydenko and Andreev are slated to play the top-ranked duo of Bob and Mike Bryan on Saturday. The singles’ opponents are reversed on Sunday.

SKIING

Albrecht gets World Cup win

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — Switzerland’s Daniel Albrecht won a super-combi for his first career World Cup victory.

American Bode Miller finished fourth, just more than a second slower than Albrecht. Olympic combined champion Ted Ligety of the U.S. finished eighth.

Albrecht, who was fifth after the morning’s downhill leg, delivered a stunning slalom run to win with a combined time of 2 minutes, 0.26 seconds.

Jean-Baptiste Grange of France, the world championship slalom bronze medalist, posted his first career World Cup podium result, finishing second in 2:00.93.

HOCKEY

NHL approves Predators’ sale

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The NHL’s board of governors approved the sale of the Nashville Predators and changed the league’s scheduling format Thursday night to allow every team to face each other at least once every season.

Paul Kelly, the new executive director of the NHL Players Association, also addressed the league’s owners during a late-afternoon session to open the board’s two-day meeting at an elite resort on the Northern California coast.

After a three-year experiment in developing rivalries in hockey’s far-flung outposts, the NHL voted to go back to the scheduling format used before the 2004-05 lockout, most notably decreasing the current eight games against every team’s divisional opponents to six.

Starting next season, teams will play just 24 total games against their four divisional foes, 40 against the rest of the conference and 18 against the other conference — one game against all 15 foes, and three home-and-home series against wild-card opponents.