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Saturday Boys Hoops — Corning at Colusa Tournament Boys Hoops — Mercy vs Faith Christian, 4:30 p.m. Girls Hoops — Mercy vs TBD at Providence, 6 p.m. Wrestling — Corning at Wheatland Invitational, 9 a.m. Wrestling — Red Bluff at Healdsburg Duals, 9 a.m. Sports 1B Weekend Saturday 18-19, 2010 Turnovers doom Lady Spartans GIRLS HOOPS Shasta 52 Red Bluff 46 By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor The Lady Spartans simply beat themselves in a 52-46 loss to Shasta in Friday’s Holiday Classic Semifinal. Shasta didn’t play poorly — they knocked down the open jump shot when it was available, pressed hard on defense and made their free throws down the stretch, but the Lady Spartans were by far their own biggest enemy. Turnovers plagued the Lady Spar- tans over and over again against Shasta pressure that was constant, but not crip- pling. Red Bluff rallied back several times throughout the game, but each time they closed the gap they reverted back to giving up the ball and their chances at a win. “The kids heads were in it. We did- n’t give up” coach Kathy Brandt said. “We really need to win close ones, but we can’t do it with 36 turnovers.” While it’s easy and probably tire- some to call out a certain injury, on Fri- day night it wasn’t so much a 20-point scorer that was missed as it was a play- er who could handle the ball. During their second game of the season without their starting point guard, Red Bluff lacked the confidence they had shown during Wednesday night’s win to move the ball effectively and above all else safely. The Lady Spartans inability to get into their sets took shooting guard Roxanne Luppino completely out of her offensive game. She finished with only one field and five points. To her credit, Luppino spent her energy instead on defense, wrecking havoc throughout the night and playing all 38 minutes. “She has a heart of gold,” Brandt said. “She’s our only senior and she leads by example.” Lottie Jones and Cori Schatz were both effective down low for the Spar- tans, which only further added to the frustrations Red Bluff couldn’t get their offense set up to utilize them more. Jones had a team-high 12 points and seven rebounds, while Schatz came off the bench to record 10 points and five rebounds. Alana Hinkston had seven points. Jordan Henry, Elise Crosby and Allie Maxwell all were able to knock down open outside shots for Shasta, who had trouble converting lay-ups off Red Bluff turnovers, which allowed the Spartans to constantly hang around. Henry finished with 23 points, including 7-for-8 free throw shooting Holiday Classic Scoreboard Friday’s results Girls Semifinals Paradise 66, Enterprise 41 Shasta 52, RED BLUFF 46 Boys Semifinals South Medford 66, Lake Oswego 57 Pleasant Valley 52, Helix 50, 8:30 p.m. Boys Consolation Semifinals Paradise 51, Enterprise 42 RED BLUFF 51, Marshall 48 Saturday’s games Boys Championship South Medford vs Pleasant Valley, 7:30 p.m. Girls Championship Paradise vs Shasta, 6 p.m. Boys Third Place Game Lake Oswego vs Helix, 4:30 p.m. Girls Third Place Game Enterprise vs RED BLUFF, 3 p.m. Boys Consolation Championship Paradise vs RED BLUFF, 1:30 p.m. Girls Consolation Championship CORNING vs West Valley, Noon Boys Seventh Place Game Enterprise vs Marshall, 10:30 a.m. Girls Seventh Place Game Etna vs Central Valley, 9 a.m. Daily News photo by Rich Greene Red Bluff’s Mariah Smith is fouled driving to the basket. in the fourth quarter alone to ice the game. Maxwell poured in 13 points and Crosby chipped in with nine points. Red Bluff plays in today’s third place game at 3 p.m. They’ll run into a press oriented team again as the Enter- prise Lady Hornets use their athleti- cism to trap opponents the length of the floor. Shasta will have an opportunity for their first Holiday Classic title since 2002 when they meet the defending champions Paradise at 6 p.m. Red Bluff boys squeak by Marshall BOYS HOOPS Marshall 48 Red Bluff 51 By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor Carlos Tapia found his shot in the opening minutes of the game. Ian Hill didn’t rediscover his own shot until late in the fourth quarter. In between the Spartans offense did just enough, Fri- day, to squeak by Marshall 51-48 in a Holiday Classic consolation semifinal. The win earns Red Bluff a showdown with Paradise in Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. fifth place game and a preview of the team they’ll most likely compete with for an Eastern Athletic League — South title. Eighteen hours earlier, Red Bluff had one of it’s poorest offensive perfor- mances in at least recent memory, when they man- aged just 23 points in a loss to Helix. It seemed as if the shot of each Spartan had been stolen, perhaps by the same Grinch who donned their spirited socks. “It was a miserable night last night,” Tapia said. “Thinking about missing every shot.” The Red Bluff senior wasted no time putting his previous performance behind him as he paced the Spartans with seven first quarter points to open up a 14-12 lead. But while Tapia had his stroke back, the rest of the Spartans still appeared frus- trated as easy buckets rimmed in and out and rou- tine passes into the paint were dropped or simply missed. Helix meanwhile was finding success with John Sears and Theo Hill against a Spartans defense that at Daily News photo by Rich Greene Red Bluff’s Ian Hill guards Marshall’s Travail Johnson, Friday. times lacked the intensity they had brought the previ- ous night. By the end of the third period the Phoenix had grabbed the lead and momentum thanks in part to a thunderous Sears dunk Marshall was clinging to a 44-39 lead with four min- utes to play when Hill sparked the Spartans and himself with a steal and uncontested layup for his first points of the Holiday Classic. Following a Spartans stop, great passing led to an easy Jonah McInnis bucket, — part of a 14-point game for the junior — and the Spartans were down 44-43. Marshall responded with a bucket, but Hill with his game lifted from the steal and layup, finally had a 3- pointer drop. Red Bluff forced a stop the other way and Tapia tripled for the fourth time in the game to give Red Bluff a 49-48 lead with a minute to play. Following a missed Phoenix field goal and a pair of missed free throws, Red Bluff had the ball under their own basket with 19 seconds to play and a one-point lead. Coach Stan Twitchell called in a courageous set play as Tapia hurled the ball over the Marshall defense and to a streaking Zane Medeiros who layed it in for the final touch of a Spartan comeback. “When you’re struggling that much, they really showed me something to come back from five points down,” Twitchell said of his Spartans. Eric Vidal and Storm Lewis each pulled in 10 rebounds for Red Bluff, who evened their record at 4-4 on the season. Tapia finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead Red Bluff, but more importantly it was his first quarter shooting that helped ease Spartan tensions. “It was Sunday hoops open gym,” Tapia said. “It took a big weight off my shoulders when I hit the first one.” While Tapia found out his shot was never lost, it was always right in his head where he left it — Hill found his by working hard on defense to create it. Both seniors were deter- mined not to lose it again. Following Friday’s game, the pair, still dressed in their uniforms, headed off to the field house to take some extra shooting time. Daily News photo by Rich Greene South Medford’s Kevin Thibeault takes the ball in the post, Friday, against Lake Oswego. BOYS HOOPS Lake Oswego 57 South Medford 66 DN STAFFREPORT The two Oregon schools put on another show at the Hol- iday Classic with South Medford coming from behind in the fourth quarter to knock off the defending champions Lake Oswego 66-57. South Medford will play in their fourth consecutive Hol- iday Classic championship game, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. South Medford won the 2005, 2007 and 2008 titles. Lake Oswego held a 45-40 lead at the end of three quar- ters, before South Medford roared back with a 26-point fourth quarter. Josh Havrid led the way with 25 points and Mike Brassel added 12. Connor Griffin had 13 points for Lake Oswego and T.J. Dorado and Max Livingston each had 12 points. GIRLS HOOPS Paradise 66 Enterprise 41 Enterprise kept it close for a quarter, but Paradise was too much, Friday, and knocked off the Hornets 66-41 to earn an opportunity to defend their Holiday Classic title. The Lady Bobcats had balanced scoring up-and-down their lineup. Hannah Roberts had 16 points, Stephanie Vestnys 12, Brienna Churchill 10 and Kailey Williams and Jasmine McKay each added eight points. Paradise outscored Enterprise 16-6 in the second quarter to take command of the game. Jaclyn Vanshooten had 12 for Enterprise and Jordan Kimbrough had 10 points. ELSEWHERE Providence Christian Tournament DN STAFF REPORT Both the Mercy boys and the Lady Warriors won their opening games at the Providence Christian Tournament and will play in championship games on Saturday. The boys walloped American Christian Academy 62-25 with five Warriors reaching double-digits. Michael Wang had 14 points and 14 rebounds and Isaac Williams had 10 points and 12 rebounds. The Lady Warriors defeated American Christian Acade- my 46-34 behind a 29-point performance from Morgan Hampton-Glines. Diana Van Ert had 13 points and Maggie Keller had 11 rebounds. Sophomore Stephanie Cheek and freshman Julia Misslin each came off the bench to collect seven boards.