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Christmas Day NBA— Bulls at Knicks, 9 a.m., ESPN NBA— Celtics at Magic, 11:30 a.m., ABC NBA— Heat at Lakers, 2 p.m., ABC NBA— Nuggets at Thunder, 5 p.m., ESPN NBA — Trail Blazers at Warriors, 7:30 p.m., CSNB NCAA Hoops — Diamond Head Classic, 4:30 p.m., ESPN2 Sports 1B Weekend December 25, 2010 2010: Champions and change By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor Those San Francisco Giants sure made 2010, a memorable year, but a bit closer to home there were plenty of athletes who had shining moments over the past 12 months. The Mercy Warriors boys basketball team, Red Bluff Lady Spartans soft- ball team and Corning Cardinals boys soccer team all captured section titles. Like any year, 2010 was full of success sto- ries, of change and even some disappointment. The Mercy Warriors tasted all of those emo- tions on their way to the Northern Section Divi- sion VI basketball cham- pionship. The Warriors ended their regular season with a 13-12 record and were handed the fifth seed in the playoffs. They made the most of it — with upset road wins at Loyalton and a thriller at top-seeded Hayfork as part of their journey to the championship game. Even in the title game the Warriors faced adver- sity. They overcame a halftime deficit, blew a double-digit lead of their own until finally they pulled away in the final 90 seconds to claim the school’s first boys basket- ball title in a decade. A section title was pretty much expected out of the Red Bluff Lady Spartans’ softball team in 2010. After winning the title in 2009, the Spartans returned a deep pool of talent led by one of the section’s best in shortstop Emily McEnaney. As if coach J Howell needed more help, Red Bluff had an influx of freshmen with talent enough to start for the defending champions. Sure enough, Red Bluff grabbed the Eastern Athletic League title and hosted Chico in the cham- pionship game. In a dramatic extra- inning game, the Lady Spartans scratched out a 2-1 win behind an eighth inning Danisha Slay bloop single to score Megan McColpin. With just two seniors on the team, the repeat in 2010 might just be the beginning. Just like the Spartans softball team, the Corning Cardinals boys soccer team was regarded as one of the section’s best enter- ing 2010. Except the Cardinals had gone without a title in 2009 — taking their only loss that year in the cham- pionship game. With vindication as their motive all season, the Cardinals cruised back to the championship in 2010 and made the most of a second opportu- nity with a 5-0 victory over West Valley behind a Jose Arce hat trick. Several teams across Tehama County fell short of section titles, but still had success in 2010. Red Bluff’s golf team captured a Division I championship with a mix of seniors and freshmen as Daniel Frantz won the individual Eastern Athlet- ic League title. The Bulldogs golf team were Mid-Valley League champions and Mercy’s Esteban Rodriguez individually qualified for the section championships. It was also a strong spring for the Red Bluff Spartans baseball team under first-year coach Joe Gallaty. A talented and deep senior class powered the Spartans to an undefeated home record and a trip to the section championship. Tehama County was once again home to a number of wrestling accomplishments. The Los Molinos Bull- dogs won their first league title in school his- tory. Trevor Chamberlain, Justin Emerson, Jacob Haley, T.J. Larson and Trevor Wilson were all Mid-Valley champs. Richie Lakin was not only a league champion, but won the Division III- IV title at 152 pounds. Billy Crawford, Nathan Fultz, Nick John- son, Tanner Johnson and Thomas Marshall claimed Northern Athletic League titles for Corning. Marshall went onto to win the Division-I 191- pound title and also joined Red Bluff’s Dillon Reid and Sultan Beards- ley in qualifying for the state championship. Spartans wrestler Tay- lor Wilson won the 215- pound Eastern Athletic League title. Red Bluff wrestling coach Dave Rottenberg was inducted into the state’s wrestling Hall of Fame over the summer. Corning continued success across a lot of its sports programs. The boys and girls basketball teams won Northern Ath- letic League titles. The girls tennis team also claimed a league title behind the duo of Victoria Owens and Elle Davis. In track and field Car- olyna Salazar won divi- sion titles in the 100- meter hurdles and discus and was a league champi- on in the triple jump. Fellow Bulldog, Kevin Garnica was the boys dis- cus league and division champion. Red Bluff’s Devin Shoop placed second in the section in the 800 meters, Taylor Hickson won four medals at the section championships and Corning’s Mattie Maloney was third in the pole vault. Mercy and Los Moli- nos split the Tri-Cities League soccer title. While there were a ton of accomplishments in 2010, there was also plen- ty of change. League re-alignment shook things up at the start of the 2010-2011 school year. NFL Christmas Day game Dallas at Arizona, 4:30 p.m., NFLN Sunday’s games San Francisco at St. Louis, 10 a.m.,FOX Indianapolis at Oakland, 1:05 p.m.,CBS Baltimore at Cleveland, 10 a.m. Detroit at Miami, 10 a.m. New England at Buffalo, 10 a.m. N.Y. Jets at Chicago, 10 a.m. Tennessee at Kansas City, 10 a.m. Washington at Jacksonville, 10 a.m. Houston at Denver, 1:05 p.m. N.Y. Giants at Green Bay, 1:15 p.m., FOX San Diego at Cincinnati, 1:05 p.m. Seattle at Tampa Bay, 1:15 p.m. Minnesota at Philadelphia,5:20 p.m.,NBC Monday’s game New Orleans at Atlanta, 5:30 p.m. NCAA BASKETBALL Christmas Day Top 25 games No. 15 Baylor vs. TBA, TBD BOWLS Sunday’s Bowl Scoreboard NBA Christmas Day games Little Caesars Pizza Bowl At Detroit Toledo (8-4) vs. Florida International (6-6), 5:30 p.m.(ESPN) Portland at Golden State,7:30 p.m.,CSNB Chicago at New York, 9 a.m., ESPN Boston at Orlando, 11:30 a.m., ABC Miami at L.A. Lakers, 2 p.m., ABC Denver at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ESPN Sunday’s games Phoenix at L.A. Clippers, Noon Chicago at Detroit, 3 p.m. Minnesota at Cleveland, 3 p.m. Red Bluff saw veteran football coaches John Schwabauer and Rich Hassay along with volley- ball coach Kim Wheeler step down in January. Wheeler’s daughter Jaklyn started her colle- giate career as an Oregon Duck. Greg Dohemn walked onto the Boise State foot- ball team. John Miller took over the Spartans football team and Angie Miller took the reins of the volleyball team. After a year absence, Mercy brought back it’s football program with an 8-man team and first-year coach Paul Vietti guided the Warriors to the semifi- nals behind a powerful running game. Outside of prep sports, Bob and Pat Carrel hand- ed the keys to the Red Bluff Outlaws over to Ali Abbassi and a BMX course was constructed at the Tehama District Fair- grounds. Barrel racer Nellie Williams qualified for the National Finals Rodeo, something Red Bluff’s Casey Meroshnekoff might do one day in bare- back riding. The Red Bluff teen won the 2010 National High School Rodeo Asso- ciation title. Local youngsters Julia Brandt, Chelsey Bushnell, Emily Clendenen, Erin Clendenen and Cameron Jones qualified for regional and national competitions in their respective sports. The Pearce family con- tinued to break local, state and even world archery records. Away from the playing fields there was the uplift- ing story of motocross racer Garrett Jones win- ning his battle with can- cer. There was also the tragic loss of John Fox. The youth sports advo- cate would have been among the first people to insist any list of accom- plishments include Red Bluff Little League’s dis- trict titles in 11-12 and 9- 10 baseball and 9-10 soft- ball as well as football championships for the Red Bluff Jr. Spartans peewee team and Corning Lions Jr. midget team. All just a typical sports year in Tehama County. Editor’s Note: There’s sure to have been some accomplishments missed on this list. If you know of one e-mail sports@redbluffdailynews.com — I’d love to include it in a future column. Atlanta at New Orleans, 4 p.m. Memphis at Indiana, 4 p.m. Washington at San Antonio, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Denver, 5 p.m. Thursday’s late results Milwaukee 84, Sacramento 79 Miami 95, Phoenix 83 NHL Sunday’s games Columbus at Chicago, 4 p.m. Detroit at Minnesota, 4 p.m. Montreal at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Nashville at St. Louis, 4 p.m. Pittsburgh at Ottawa, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Toronto at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Washington at Carolina, 4 p.m., CSNB Phoenix at Dallas, 5 p.m. Anaheim at Los Angeles, 6 p.m. Edmonton at Vancouver, 6 p.m. Thursday’s late results San Jose 4, Phoenix 1 Los Angeles 3, Edmonton 2, SO.