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Saturday Boys Hoops — Corning at Pierce Tournament Boys Hoops — Mercy v. Liberty Christian at Los Molinos, 6:30 p.m. Boys Hoops — Red Bluff at Argonaut Tournament Boys Hoops — Williams at Los Molinos, 2 p.m. Girls Hoops — Red Bluff vs. Central Valley, at P.V., 5:30 p.m. Wrestling — Corning, Red Bluff at Orland Tournament, 9 a.m. Sports 1B Weekend December 4, 2010 Mercy downs U-Prep Tehama Tracker GIRLS HOOPS Lassen 55 Red Bluff 47 The Lady Spartans couldn’t overcome a poor start, Fri- day, and fell 55-47 to Lassen at the Pleasant Valley tourna- ment. Red Bluff will play in third place game at 5:30 p.m. Sat- urday against Central Valley. The Lady Spartans missed their first nine shots of the game as they couldn’t make a bucket against Lassen’s zone. Red Bluff was down by as much as 20 in the third quar- ter when they began to rally. Lily Brose scored 11 of her 23 in the fourth quarter, and Cori Schatz added a pair of three-point plays to bring Red Bluff back. A Roxy Luppino 3-pointer cut the deficit to four points with 40 seconds left, but Lassen was able to make its free throws down the stretch. Corning 49 Live Oak 43 The Lady Cardinals knocked off tournament host Live Oak, Thursday, 49-43. Corning improved to 2-0 on the season. Daily News photo by Rich Greene Mercy center Michael Wang blocks University Prep’s Matt Youngman’s shot, Friday night. BOYS HOOPS Mercy 57 University Prep 45 By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor LOSMOLINOS — The Mercy Warriors advanced to the Block LM Tournament championship game with a 57-45 win, Friday night, over Tri- Cities League rival University Prep behind another strong second half effort. Another league rival awaits in Sat- urday’s 6:30 p.m. championship game after Liberty Christian ripped past Sut- ter in Friday’s first Block LM semifi- nal. Mercy point guard Mitchell Lopez dealt with University Prep’s press effi- ciently and Michael Wang dominated the glass on his way to a 16-point, 14- rebound performance. Isaac Williams chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds and Steven Rodriguez and Lopez both scored 10 points. University Prep led 28-25 at half- time, with Ryan O’Toole finding suc- cess driving into the paint on his way to 15 points and Cody Warren knocking down a trio of 3-pointers. The Warriors’ defense clamped down in the second half and held the duo to just four points the rest of the way. Mercy outscored University Prep 14-7 in the third quarter to take a four- point lead and quickly pushed their advantage to double digits in the open- ing minutes of the fourth with Wang, Rodriguez and Jarrett Gash finding easy buckets in the paint. Gash finished with six points and Leon Liu added four for Mercy, who is off to a 2-0 start to the season. Bulldogs win behind strong effort BOYS HOOPS Live Oak 39 Corning 69 Corning picked up its first win of the season by beating Live Oak 69-39 on the first day of the Pierce Tournament, Thursday. The Cardinals were playing Winters, Friday. Brazile wins his record 8th world all-around title National Finals Rodeo LAS VEGAS (AP) — Trevor Brazile won his record eighth all-around gold buckle Friday night during the second round of the National Finals Rodeo, breaking a tie for the mark with Ty Murray. Cottonwood’s Nellie Williams was eighth in barrel rac- ing, Friday, one day after taking second place in the first round of the NFR. Brazile, the Decatur, Texas, cowboy who has 12 world titles — in steer roping, team roping, tie-down roping and all-around — overall, finished second in team roping and sixth in tie-down roping Friday night to wrap up the all- around title earlier than he ever has. With season earnings of $323,526, he has a $186,065 lead over second-place Curtis Cassidy of Donalda, Alberta. ‘‘It’s pretty amazing (to clinch in the second round),’’ Brazile said. ‘‘They told me I had a chance to clinch tonight, but Ryan (Jarrett in tie-down roping) had made a good run right in front of me. I was out back getting my horse situat- ed, and I heard everybody talking about it and I thought, ’No way.’ ‘‘It makes me feel great. Awkward, but great, I’ve been chasing the greatest cowboys that have ever lived. That’s what my career has been about. It’s awesome to know that I’ve met that milestone, not only for me but for pro rodeo.’’ Brazile, who missed 40 days of competition this year because of a partially torn tendon in his right elbow, official- ly clinched the all-around crown when fellow tie-down roper and brother-in-law Clif Cooper, also from Decatur, missed his calf with his first loop. Cooper was the final competitor in tie-down roping. ‘‘I’ve got one title down and a couple to go,’’ Brazile said. Daily News photo by Rich Greene BOYS HOOPS Los Molinos 47 By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor LOSMOLINOS — The Bulldogs rebounded nicely from losing to their country rivals and throttled Champi- on Christian 47-33, Friday, to earn a spot in the fifth place game at their own Block LM Tournament. “We lost a heartbreaker to Mercy (Thursday) so we wanted to come out and punch them in the mouth,” Los Molinos guard Reggie Isidro Madrigal looks up at a Champion Christian player after diving for a steal, Friday. Points said. Points led the Bulldogs’ Champion Christian 33 fighting spirit in the opening minutes, racking up 10 first quarter points on his way to a game-high 19. Eric Blanchard had another productive outing with 15 points and 15 rebounds and up-and-down the entire Bulldogs roster gave a solid effort. Los Molinos will play Williams, 2 p.m. Saturday, in the tournament’s fifth place game. Williams defeated Hamilton earlier on Friday. “We wanted it after (Thursday) night,” forward Ryan Mekech said, who fin- San Francisco Giants SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pat Burrell had earned more than enough money in his 11-year big- league career to know that playing for a contender with teammates he’s close to was far more important than maximizing his value on the free-agent market. Burrell signed a $1 mil- lion, one-year contract with the World Series champion Giants on Fri- day, taking a below-mar- ket deal to remain in San Francisco. ‘‘The truth of it is that 10 years ago it would probably be a different sit- uation,’’ he said. ‘‘At this point in my career, play- ing somewhere special is more important than test- ing out free agency and all that goes along with that.’’ The deal does not include any incentives. Burrell will likely be in the mix for a starting out- field spot for the Giants ished with seven rebounds before tweaking an ankle in the second half. The Bulldogs mixed in traps throughout the night to effectively force a much taller Mustangs team into poor passes and shots. Champion Christian fought back from an 11- point third quarter deficit to give the Bulldogs a wake-up call in the fourth, cutting the game to 36-33 with under five minutes to go. The Mustangs wouldn’t score again as the Bulldogs turned up their defensive pressure sparked by strong plays from forward Kevin Garnica. next season. Andres Tor- res is expected to remain the starting center fielder. Postseason star Cody Ross was tendered a con- tract for 2011 on Thurs- day and will likely start in right field. Aaron Rowand, who has two years left on his $60 million, five-year contract, and Nate Schier- holtz also return from last season’s team. Prospect Brandon Belt could also get an opportunity to com- pete for a starting spot in Blanchard then took over the offensive glass and padded the Bulldogs lead with all the insurance points they needed. Sean Conrad had five points, Garnica four and Isidro Madrigal and Ryan Perez each added a bucket for the Bulldogs. Los Molinos coach Christian Cumpston said there’s still work to do on the offense end, but he’s confi- dent it will come around. “(We need to) keep improving on defense and get more continuity and rhythm on offense,” he said. Los Molinos is 1-1 on the season. Giants finalize deal with OF Pat Burrell spring training. ‘‘One thing we estab- lished here early on in the season and carried through the playoffs is no matter what your baseball card said the previous year, we’re going to play the best people,’’ general manager Brian Sabean said. ‘‘Pat knows that he’s the incumbent left fielder and we’ll go to spring training and see how this develops.’’ See GIANTS, page 2B ‘‘I’ve got a tie-down roping championship to win, and with the team roping, you never know. Patrick (Smith) and I were the high-money winners here two years ago, but we were the low money guys last year. We’re off to a good start.’’ In tie-down roping, Fred Whitfield of Hockley, Texas, making his 19th NFR appearance, tied for first with Jerome Schneeberger of Ponca City, Okla., at 7.6 seconds. Brazile, who was timed in 8.1, is the world standings leader with $145,561. In team roping, header Luke Brown and heeler Martin Lucero, both of Stephenville Texas, won with a 3.9-second run. Brazile and Patrick Smith of Midland, Texas, finished second in 4.3. They moved into fourth place in the both the header and heeler world standings. Header standings leader Clay Tryan of Billings, Mont., and heeler leader Travis Graves of Jay, Okla., earned a pay- check by coming in fifth in 4.7. In saddle bronc, Cody Wright of Milford, Utah, won with an 87 on Friendly Fire and took over the world lead from Wade Sundell of Boxholm, Iowa, who tied for eighth with an 81.5 on Lori Darlin. Wright leads the world standings at $120,476, while Sundell dropped to seconds with $116,777. In bareback, Kaycee Feild of Payson, Utah, won with an 88 on RD Mercer. ‘‘Once you start winning in the first of the week, it just keeps on carrying on and snowballs,’’ Feild said. Defending world champion Bobby Mote of Culver, Ore., was second with an 86 on Night Bells and moved into third place in the world standings with $117,065. Ryan Gray of Cheney, Wash., leads with $159,024, but he did not place among the top six during the first two rounds of the NFR. In steer wrestling, two-time world champ Luke Bran- quinho of Los Alamos and NFR rookie Ethen Thouvenell of Napa, tied for first at 3.9 seconds. ‘‘Ethen’s been very capable of making the finals,’’ Bran- quinho said. ‘‘This year, he decided to go hard, and he made it. That goes to show you his talent level. Just to be here with two other Californians, him and Billy (Bugenig, who won the first round), it’s great to have California represented like this in the bulldogging.’’ World standings leader Cassidy and second-place Trevor Knowles of Mount Vernon, Ore., tied for third at 4.0. In bull riding, defending world champion J.W. Harris of Mullin, Texas, won with an 89.5 on Red Onion. In barrel racing, Kelli Tolbert of Hooper, Utah, won at 13.68. World standings leader Sherry Cervi of Marana, Ariz., was sixth in 13.93. Williams turned in a time of 14.00 to place eighth.