Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/19587
Weekend SAT — NBA—Warriors at Bucks, 5:30 p.m., CSNB SAT—NCAAF — Oregon at Cal, 4:30 p.m., VERSUS SUN—NFL— Rams at 49ers, 1 p.m., FOX SUN— NFL— Patriots at Steelers, 5 p.m., NBC SUN— NBA— Pistons at Kings, 3 p.m., CSNC SUN — NASCAR—Kobalt Tools 500, Noon, ESPN Sports 1B Weekend November 13-14, 2010 PV slips by Corning Mercy advances, upsets Westwood 8-MAN Mercy 40 Westwood 22 The Mercy Warriors Daily News photo by Rich Greene Pleasant Valley running back Josh Kopeck escapes a tackle, during Friday’s playoff game. FOOTBALL Pleasant Valley 14 Corning 6 By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor CORNING — The Cardinals played the game they wanted to, Friday night, but failure to convert a pair of fourth-and-one plays in the final quar- ter cost them in a 14-6 loss to Pleasant Valley in the first round of the NSCIF Division-I playoffs. Twice in the fourth quarter, Pleasant Valley stopped fourth-and one plays. The first came at their own 1-yard line as the Cardinals threatened to pull even with 6 minutes remaining in the game. After Jonathan Jones stripped Pleasant Valley quarterback Will Christensen at the Vikings 34-yard line, the Cardinals rode Tyler McIntyre down to the Vikings goal line. But on fourth-and-goal from the 1, Cameron Nye tripped in the backfield, turning the ball back over to the Vikings. Corning would get one more chance in the game, taking over at their own 21 following a Viking punt with 1:50 left. Three plays into the drive, the Car- dinals again faced a fourth-and-one. This time they handed the ball to McIntyre and once again the Viking defense held. “You can’t overlook those at all,” Pleasant Valley coach Sterling Jackson said of the pair of fourth-and-one defensive stops. As successful as Pleasant Valley’s defense was when it needed to be, they sure had trouble containing the Cardi- nals rushing game in the first half. On the game’s first drive, McIntyre broke a draw play on third-and-seven for a 53-yard gain to set up Corning’s only touchdown of the game as Ryan Holland found McIntyre on a 12-yard pass. The Cardinals missed the 2-point conversion, but they had sent the mes- sage they weren’t going to be intimi- dated by the Vikings’ size. Corning finished the first half with 154 yards on the ground, compared to Daily News photo by Rich Greene J.D. Whited is brought down during Friday’s playoff game. Valley Oak women capture league title just 36 for the Vikings, who instead relied on Christensen’s arm. Battling a fierce crosswind, Chris- tensen hooked up with passes to Dar- ren Thomas and Geoff Swaim on the Vikings’ second drive of the game to move the ball down to the Cardinals’ 11. Swaim then took a Christensen pass down the left side and dove into the end zone to get the Vikings on the board. Brody Hill’s extra point would turn out to be the game winner. Despite Christensen handling the weather conditions well, finishing 8- for-11 for 112 yards, Jackson said the crosswind changed the Vikings’ offen- sive approach. Shut down in the first half, the Vikings rushing game came alive in the final two quarters — especially the running of Josh Kopeck. The Vikings sophomore was held to just eight yards on nine carries in the first 24 minutes, but in the second half he rushed 17 times for 131 yards and helped tick off the clock. Riding Kopeck, the Vikings expanded their lead with 3:31 left in the third quarter on a drive helped by a pair of Corning penalties. Kopeck took in the game’s last touchdown from seven yards out and Hill’s kick made it 14-6. Pleasant Valley’s defense did the rest as Corning only produced a first down on one of their four second half drives — the drive that was stalled a yard away from the end zone. “I feel frustrated, because I couldn’t find a niche offensively — something we could exploit,” Corning coach John Studer said, who credited the Vikings defense for making on-the-fly adjust- ments. With the win the Vikings (7-4) earn a trip to Paradise in the semifinals. Corning (8-3) moved up to D-I last season and have fallen on their home turf in the first round both years. This year the Cardinals left every- thing out on the field. “This is a game they’re going to look back at, maybe not tomorrow or next week, but in a few weeks or a year from now and when they watch the tape they’re going to be proud of the way they played,” Studer said. knocked off the 8-Man South League champion Westwood Lumberjacks 40- 22, Friday night in the first round of the Division-VI playoffs. Mercy quarterback Mitchell Lopez rushed for 200 yards and two touch- downs and also threw for a score. Running back Royce Crane picked up 102 yards on the ground and scored three times. Mercy will again be on the road next week in the semifinals, either traveling to play a rematch against Butte Valley or to Princeton. FOOTBALL Week 1 Playoffs Friday’s results Division-I Playoffs Pleasant Valley 14, Corning 6 Next: Pleasant Valley at Paradise Shasta 49, Chico 10 Next: Shasta at Foothill Division-II Playoffs West Valley 35, Central Valley 6 Next:West Valley at Lassen Sutter 42, Anderson 0 Next: Sutter at Wheatland Division-III Playoffs Trinity 50, Esparto 6 Next:Trinity at Durham Willows 46, Williams 8 Next: Willows at Live Oak Division-IV Playoffs Hamilton 20, Fall River 12 Maxwell 43, Portola 3 Modoc 38, Chester 12 Quincy 52, East Nicolaus 21 Division-VI Playoffs Mercy 40,Westwood 22 Dunsmuir 55, Champion Christian 30 Hayfork 2, Loyalton 0, forfeit Princeton at Butte Valley, late Nash has big night after big day, Suns beat Kings Kings 89 Phoenix 103 PHOENIX (AP) — Steve Nash ended his big day with a big night. The 36-year-old two-time league MVP had 28 points, 14 assists and even seven rebounds on the day of the birth of his son, and the Suns beat the Sacramento Kings in Phoenix for the 10th straight time, 103-89 on Friday night. Nash, whose wife Alejandra gave birth to Mat- teo Joel Nash early Friday, made 11 of his first 12 shots and finished 13 for 18 to lead Phoenix to its third win in four games and send the Kings to their fourth loss in a row. ‘‘We were the victim of a Hall of Fame player having a Hall of Fame night,’’ Sacramento coach Paul Westphal said. ‘‘Steve Nash was unspeakably sensational.’’ Hakim Warrick added 18 points for the Suns, most of them on feeds from Nash. ‘‘It’s like having that big brother out there just making everything easy for you, and all you have to do is go out there and finish,’’ said Warrick, acquired by the Suns in the offseason. ‘‘And he takes control as the general out there. He saw that they were out there blitzing and he makes adjust- ments just like a great quarterback.’’ Tyreke Evans had 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Kings. Carl Landry had 20 points and 11 boards. Beno Udrih added 17 points. Nash was gone from the locker room before reporters got in, leaving others to speak about him. ‘‘First of all, any time it’s the birth of a child you’re fired up,’’ teammate Grant Hill said. ‘‘He came out and hit his first couple shots and you’re ‘OK, he’s going to be aggressive.’’’ The Suns led by as many as 14 in the third quar- ter but it shrank to 77-75 when Sacramento opened the fourth with a 7-0 spurt. That’s when Nash re-entered the game. Channing Frye made a 3-pointer to start a 15-5 run dominated by the ageless Phoenix playmaker. On consecutive possessions to end the run, Nash had a three-point play, hit Warrick for a fast-break layup and lobbed one above the rim to Jason Richardson for a dunk and Phoenix led 92-80 with 5:12 to play. ‘‘I thought we played good,’’ said Evans, last season’s Rookie of the Year and 15 years Nash’s junior. ‘‘Nash was being Nash, hitting shots in the lane, pull-ups. We couldn’t stop him tonight and that was pretty much it.’’ Nash made it clear he was in for a big night from the start with 10 points, six assists and four rebounds in the first quarter. After sitting much of the second quarter, he fin- ished the half with consecutive mid-range jumpers to put Phoenix ahead 52-43 at the break. The only blemish came at the free throw line, of all places, where the No. 2 free throw shooter of all time missed two of three. The Suns opened the second half with seven straight points to lead 59-45 on Nash’s 17-footer. The Kings, who dominated the offensive boards 21-13 against their shorter opponent, battled back and twice cut it to four in the quarter before Phoenix scored the last five points to take a 77-68 lead into the fourth. Nash had five assists after he came in the game the last time. ‘‘Nash was having an unbelievable night,’’ Landry said. ‘‘He was playing like — Steve Nash.’’ Courtesy photo The Valley Oak Racquet Club's Women's 7.5 United States Tennis Association (USTA) Team won the North County League. The team’s record was 7-2. The last time a Valley Oak Team played in districts was in 2003 when the Women's 2.5 won their league and districts before losing at sections. In 1997 the Men's 4.0 team won league. This year’s Women’s 7.5 team will play Dec. 3-5 for the District Championships. The team is comprised of: (pictured from left to right) Leah Gott, Rosie Gilbert-Ahrens, Stacey Miller, Karen Shaffer, Kris McGie, Lynn Varner, Captain Janay Twitchell and Jeanie Poulton. Notes: Sacramento last won in Phoenix on Nov. 6, 2005. ... This was the only road contest in a nine-game stretch for the Kings. ... Nash and Alejandra have twin 6-year-old daughters Lola and Bella, well known for their appearance on their dad’s lap at a postgame news conference in last season’s Western Conference finals. ... Phoenix has won 12 of 13 overall against Sacramento and the last six in a row. ... Phoenix is 19-0 at home since the start of the 2007-08 season against divisional opponents not named the Lakers.