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ByAnthonySlater BayAreaNewsGroup OAKLAND Zaza Pachulia and David West both returned to Golden State Warriors practice on Wednesday. The team listed them as questionable against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday. West is due for an X-ray on his right thumb later in the day. If it checks out fine, he will play. Pa- chulia chatted with reporters af- ter practice and said he's a full go on Thursday night. So with the center spot re- turning to full strength, there's an expectation that the big man rotation will revert to its origi- nal form: Pachulia starting, Ja- Vale McGee getting those mid- quarter bursts and West starting the second and fourth quarters with that veteran second-unit. But … not so fast. Steve Kerr said he "hasn't decided yet" if Pachulia will immediately hop back over McGee into his start- ing role. "I want to make sure, first, that he's healthy," Kerr said. "Then it matters what happens with David. Are they both play- ing? There's kind of a domino ef- fect on all this stuff." Kerr then added that he "would anticipate that ulti- mately Zaza will be back start- ing" because "I liked that whole rotation." But Kerr cracked the door ever so slightly, giving the lob-loving portion of the War- riors fanbase, swooning over the JaVale dunk machine, a window of hope that he can stick in that starting role. The numbers are attrac- tive. Before the All-Star break, across the NBA, 90 different lineups played at least 100 min- WARRIORS Pachulia may not just take back starting job By Chip Thompson editor@redbluffdailynews.com @editorchip on Twitter CORNING The Corning Lady Car- dinals came out on top Tuesday night in the opening round of the Division 4 playoffs, taking a 53-37 win over the Oroville Tigers. In a physical match-up, the Cards went up early and finished with an 11-6 lead at the end of the first quarter — five points from Kirstie Barr, four from Mariah Castle and a pair from Nancy Sa- las. "Our senior point guard, Kirstie Barr, just really stepped up," said coach Kol Zuppan. BASKETBALL LADY CARDS BLAST OROVILLE, MOVE ON CastleleadsCorningtosectionplayoffvictorywith27points,14rebounds PHOTOSBYCHIPTHOMPSON—DAILYNEWS Corning's Mariah Castle goes up for a shot Tuesday night against Oroville. Corning's Kirstie Barr puts up a shot Tuesday night against Corning. Corning's Elter Bright shoots Tuesday night against Oroville. CORNING53,OROVILLE37 Up next: Corning at Live Oak, 7p.m. Thursday. THESCORE JOHN RAOUX — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Dale Earnhardt Jr. answers questions during an interview at NASCAR Daytona 500media day on Wednesday. Earnhardt says he'd retire if he wins the title this season. By Jenna Fryer The Associated Press DAYTONABEACH,FLA. Upon further review, hoisting a championship tro- phy is exactly how Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants to end his career. NASCAR's most popular driver caused a stir on "The Dan Patrick Show" when he claimed he would immediately retire if he wins the ti- tle this year. The statement followed him to media day for the Daytona 500, and there was no question about it. "Hell, yeah. I would definitely not want to come back and try to race anymore if I won the championship. I would be outta here," he said. "That's the last box I don't have checked, re- ally. There's a few races I'd like to win. The championship would def- initely be the icing on the cake for my career." Earnhardt is the son of Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt, who won a record-tying seven championships over his career. As Earnhardt enters the 18th season of his Cup career, he's still seeking his first title. He's said repeatedly that retire- ment is not on his radar, and at just 42 years old, he should have many years ahead in his career. But Earn- hardt has had concussion issues and missed the second half of last season recovering from one. He is also newly married and says he is looking at life differently. Knowing how hard he worked to get healthy and back in the race car, he really just wants to dictate his fi- nal racing years himself and not have a doctor be the one to end his career. "To come back this year, win a championship, it would be hard not to hang it up," he said. "This is the last year of my (contract). I would like to race more. But if I win the championship, I'd have to consider going out on top." Earnhardt qualified second for Sunday's season-opening Daytona 500 — on the front row next to Hen- drick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott — and is the star of Speed- weeks. All the drivers had a chance to address a variety of topics Wednes- day. The highlights: DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY IfEarnhardtwinstitle,he'dretire At 42, NASCAR's most popular driver still seeks first Cup championship Staff Report CHICO The Los Molinos Lady Bulldogs beat the Mercy Lady Warriors 53-44 Tuesday night in a game that was supposed to be played in Los Molinos but had to be moved to Pleasant Valley due to the Bulldogs' home gym being used as a shelter for those dis- placed by floods. The teams played even through most of the first quarter, with the Bulldogs up 15-13 by the end of the period. The second period went to the Bulldogs, who outscored the Warriors 12-6 to go up 27-19 at the half. The Warriors made up some of the margin in the third, finish- ing the period down 37-32, but the Bulldogs stretched their lead in the closing period to take the win. Kay Chen led the Warriors with 18 points, Annie Feser had 10, Mary DiMaggio had six and Julia O'Neal had five. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, no stats were posted for the Bulldogs. The No. 6 Lady Bulldogs will travel to Redding to take on the No. 3 Redding Christian Lions at 7 p.m. Friday. Bulldogs55,Maxwell44 CHICO The Los Molinos Bulldogs boys took a 55-44 win Tuesday night over the Maxwell Panthers at Pleasant Valley High School to advance to the second round of the Division 6 playoffs. The No. 5 Bulldogs will visit Bieber to take on the No. 4 Big Valley Cardinals at 7 p.m. Thurs- day. BASKETBALL Bulldogs girls and boys win at 'home' The Associated Press NEW YORK There won't be any wild pitches on intentional walks this season. The players' association has agreed to Major League Base- ball's proposal to have intentional walks without pitches this year. "It doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I know they're trying to cut out some of the fat. I'm OK with that," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. While the union has resisted many of MLB's proposed innova- tions, such as raising the bottom of the strike zone, installing pitch clocks and limiting trips to the mound, players are willing to ac- cept the intentional walk change. "As part of a broader discus- sion with other moving pieces, the answer is yes," union head Tony Clark wrote Wednesday in an email to The Associated Press. "There are details, as part of that discussion, that are still being BASEBALL MLB players' union agrees to intentional walks change CORNING PAGE 2 PITCHLESS PAGE 2 NASCAR PAGE 2 WARRIORS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, February 23, 2017 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1