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Valentine’s Day NBA— Spurs at Nets, 4 p.m., NBATV Men’s NCAA— West Virginia at Syracuse, 4 p.m., ESPN Men’s NCAA— Kansas at Kansas State, 6 p.m., ESPN2 Women’s NCAA— Oklahoma at Connecticut, 4 p.m., ESPN2 NHL— Capitals at Coyotes, 5 p.m., VERSUS EPL — Fulham v. Chelsea, 11:55 a.m., ESPN2 Points wins Pebble Beach with Murray PEBBLE BEACH (AP) — Sunday at Pebble Beach turned out to be a real Cin- derella story. D.A. Points captured his first PGA Tour victory and dragged along his amateur, Bill Murray of ‘‘Caddyshack’’ fame, to the pro-am title. One shot behind as he played the second-toughest hole on the course, Points holed out for eagle from 100 yards on the 14th hole and followed that with a bending 30-foot birdie putt. He closed with a 5-under 67 for a two-shot victory in the Pebble Beach National Pro- Am. Points became only the fourth player in the last 20 years to make Pebble Beach is first PGA Tour victory. It was a rare occasion when the winner wasn’t even the biggest star. Murray, famous for his role as assistant greenskeep- er Carl Spackler in ‘‘Cad- dyshack,’’ has become a sta- ple at this celebrity-rich tournament over the last two decades and once even tossed an elderly woman into the bunker. He now gets his name on a plaque in the wall of pro- am champions below the first tee at Pebble Beach. ‘‘Pebble Beach may be the most iconic place in America to play golf, and to win here, it’s just a dream come true,’’ said Points, who finished at 15-under 271 and earned his first trip to the Masters. Making it even better was having Murray at his MCT photo D.A. Points and Bill Murray hold the trophy after winning the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Golf Championship on Sunday. side. Points said at the start of the week that being in the chaotic center of Murray and his antics kept him at ease. At his most nervous moment, facing a 6-foot par putt on the 16th hole, he turned the tables. As his partner stood over a long putt, Points hollered at Mur- ray, ‘‘The crowd would be really happy if you could make that.’’ Murray missed. Points made his par, and finished with two easy pars. Hunter Mahan shot 31 on the front nine and twice was tied for the lead on the back nine. He birdied the 17th with a tee shot inside 3 feet, then reached the par-5 18th in two. But he three- putted for par, missing a 4- foot birdie putt. Ultimately, it didn’t mat- ter. Mahan closed with a 66 and wound up alone in sec- ond, two shots behind. Steve Marino, who had a one-shot lead going into the final round, never caught up after Points made his eagle from the 14th fairway. Marino missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 16th to get within one, then slammed his driver to the turf on the 18th when his tee shot sailed into a bunker to the right. Marino hit his third shot into the ocean and made a triple-bogey 8 that mattered only in his bank account. Not making a par to share second place was the differ- ence of $327,200. Tom Gillis closed with a 70 and finished along in third. Points and Murray won the pro-am tournament by two shots. The trophy was locked up with Points’ par on the 18th when Murray announced his ‘‘big putt’’ that was meaningless. He then mimicked some dia- logue from the ‘‘Cinderella Story’’ scene in Cad- dyshack, when Murray swatted at flowers with his scythe and imagined the former greenskeeper on the verge of winning the Mas- ters. ‘‘It’s in the hole!!!!’’ Earnhardt Jr. wins Daytona 500 pole DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — NASCAR is back — and so is Juniormania. Dale Earnhardt Jr. reclaimed the spotlight in Daytona speedweeks, winning pole position for the Day- tona 500 with a lap of 186.089 mph in qualifying Sunday. It’s a boost for Earnhardt, who is coming off a couple of disappointing seasons and spent part of the past week facing questions about the 10- year anniversary of his father’s death at the track. Still, Earnhardt was in an upbeat, joking mood after winning the pole. And while he understands the hype his presence on the pole and his fam- ily ties are bound to stir up this week, he’ll mostly try to ignore it. ‘‘I wouldn’t embrace that,’’ Earnhardt said. ‘‘I’m here to race. And I understand the situation and I’m looking forward to seeing how my father is honored and remem- bered throughout the week, and I’ll enjoy that, but I don’t really get into the hypothetical, fairy-tale sort of stuff. I just want to focus on my job.’’ Earnhardt’s Hendrick Motor- sports teammate, Jeff Gordon, quali- fied second. It’s the second straight Daytona 500 front row sweep for Hendrick, who put Mark Martin on the pole and Earnhardt in the No. 2 spot last year. The rest of the field will be set after a pair of qualifying races Thurs- day. Bill Elliott, Travis Kvapil and Joe Nemechek also clinched spots in the field, and Terry Labonte is assured of a starting spot. Having NASCAR’s most popular driver take the green flag first next Sunday could provide some traction for a sport looking to pick up sagging television ratings and attendance. An Earnhardt win would be even bigger. ‘‘I think that’s just kind of going to build the hype and excitement for next Sunday’s race,’’ Gordon said. ‘‘I love to bring back a lot of these memories about Dale and what he brought to the sport, his legacy, and it reminds me of a lot of the things I learned from him and the good times that we had. I think it’s very cool to pay attention to that and to celebrate it.’’ But Earnhardt acknowledged that qualifying results aren’t necessarily a good predictor of success in the race. ‘‘It obviously gives you a good idea that you’ve got a great car, but anyone can win the race,’’ Earnhardt said. ‘‘There’s guys that qualified outside the top 20 that have got win- ning cars.’’ Qualifying was almost an after- thought Sunday, as drivers and crew chiefs were preoccupied with NASCAR’s reaction to the sudden emergence of two-car drafting sud- denly becoming the fast way to get around Daytona. With the drafting duos pushing speeds past 200 mph, NASCAR offi- cials imposed restrictions the cars’ cooling systems Sunday evening. It’s an attempt to make it more difficult for one car to push another all the way around the track because the pushing car’s engine might over- heat; limiting the drafting tandems could reduce speeds. Earnhardt said he liked the old style of racing at Daytona, where dri- vers had to zigzag through one big pack of cars — after all, he was pret- ty good at it. WRESTLING EAL-South Championships Three Spartans won league titles, Saturday, at the Eastern Athletic League - South championships in Susanville. Dan St. John won the 112-pound title, Kyle Case won at 147 pounds and Dil- lon Reid won the 162-pound bracket. Three more Spartans, Marco Gonzales (105), Jor- dan McManus (119) and Bryce Eggert (173) finished as runner-ups. In the junior varsity tour- nament, Chris Alcala (103), Marco Rodriguez (112) and Tucker Gulliford (147) won league titles. SOCCER NSCIF Playoffs The Cardinals have the No. 1 seed and a first round bye in the Division I play- offs as they begin the defense of their section title. Corning (10-1-1) will wait to play until Feb. 22 as they host the winner of Las Plumas (4-8-2) at Oroville (6-7-3). On the other half of the bracket Sutter visits Lassen with the winning taking on West Valley. The Lady Cardinals (10- 2-2) earned a No. 3 seed in their playoff bracket and will host Las Plumas (1-11) on Thursday. The winner travels to Sutter (15-2) on Feb. 22. The other half of the bracket features defending champion Lassen visiting Oroville with West Valley waiting for the winner. Despite a 1-13 record the Los Molinos Bulldogs squeaked into the boys Divi- sion III playoffs. They travel to Williams (8-4-2) on Thursday. The winner visits Durham (6-6- 4) on Feb. 22. Defending champion Tehama Tracker BOYS HOOPS Anderson 49 Corning 58 The Cardinals won their fourth straight Northern Athletic League game with a 58-49 win over Anderson, Friday. The Cardinals outscored Anderson in every quarter as they improved to 19-7 on the season. Quincy 38 Los Molinos 58 The Bulldogs won an important Mid-Valley - North showdown, Friday night by knocking off Quin- cy 53-38. The Bulldogs led 22-8 at halftime, but Quincy roared back in the third to trim the lead to 31-27. Los Molinos responded and and outscored Quincy 22-11 in the final eight min- A poor third quarter doomed the Lady Bulldogs in a 57-43 loss to quincy, Friday. Los Molinos dropped to 6-14 on the season. Mercy 25 Hayfork 58 The Lady Warriors had trouble scoring and fell 58- 25 at Hayfork, Friday. Sports 1B Pink Out Monday February 14, 2011 Varsity 7:30 p.m. Record: 4-17, 0-9 in Eastern Athletic League Coach: Kathy Brandt The team: #22 Lily Brose #11 Ashley Brown, #21 Alana Hinkston, #14 Lottie Jones, #23 Cheyene Laborde, #15 Roxy Luppino, #24 Krista Rodriguez, #43 Cori Schatz, #32 Mariah Smith, #44 Morgan Weaver, #34 Kaitlann Weber Season in Review: The Lady Spartans season seemed to sink after losing All-Leaguer Lily Brose in the first month of the season. The loss not only took away their leading scorer, but also their primary ball handler. “I am very proud of this team for not giving up and con- tinuing to practice hard every day and to compete in every game,” coach Kathy Brandt said. Despite the record, the Spartans have shown improve- ment and with only one senior should be competitive in 2011-12. “I left many players on the freshman and JV teams so both of those teams would learn "how to win" and that goal has been accomplished.” Brandt said. “Although we (the varsity) haven't won many ball games, our work ethic has been established and the future is bright for Red Bluff Girls' Basketball.” Key to beat P.V: It would be an upset to knock off the section’s top team. Red Bluff will have to take care of the ball better than in games past, win the rebounding battle and have a hot night from beyond the arc. Junior Varsity 6 p.m. Record: 13-8, 5-5 in Eastern Athletic League Coach:Wendy Drury The team: #44 Sarah Brown, #24 Alex Dahnke, #43 Kayt- lynne Deardorf, #33 Maggie Hansen, #15 Haley Harris, #21 Jessica Macdonald, #42 Shelby McKinstry, #14 Janay Ortiz, #34 Laura Schreter, #22 Laurel Shoop, #32 Rachel Ward, #12 Taylor Wood Season in Review: Coach Wendy Drury says the key to this year’s success has been great chemistry. The team is coming off a one-point road win at Paradise that has high- lighted the positive roll they’ve been on lately. “They’ve always been strong players but they’ve learned to step it up to the next level where you have to gut it out,” Drury said. Point guard Haley Harris has shown her athletic talents don’t end on a softball diamond. Drury said she’s asked to do quite a bit with the team and finds a way to stay involved either through scoring or passing. Sarah Brown is a leader on and off the floor for the Lady Spartans. Jessica Macdonald has come on strong during the past few weeks Maggie Hansen and Laurel Shoop have impressed Drury with their ability to play different roles. Key to beat P.V: “If we can bring a consistent game where we’re all together on the same page and don’t let ourselves get rattled or scared and play with that fear fac- tor — it will be a good game for us,” Drury said. Freshmen 4:30 p.m. Record: 18-2, 10-0 in East- ern Athletic League Coach: John Wheeler Hamilton will host the win- ner of Colusa at Esparto. utes as Eric Blanchard fin- ished with 20 points. Kevin Garnica added 13 points, Ryan Mekech had nine, Sean Conrad five, Reggie Points four and Dom Ceja two points. GIRLS HOOPS Corning 42 Anderson 45 Anderson knocked off the visiting Lady Cardinals 45-42, Thursday night. Quincy 57 Los Molinos 43 The team: #14 Shelbie Autry, #24 Chelsey Bushnell, #21 Marissa Chase, #32 Brittany Clatty, #12 Calisha Cruise, #23 Jessica Curl, #33 Emily Gallagher, #43 Adri- enne Hinkston, #50 Jessica Shults, #15 Jennifer Smith, #22 Mayson Trujillo, #44 Hannah Woodall Season in Review: The Lady Spartans will take on Pleas- ant Valley in a battle of teams unbeaten in the EAL. Red Bluff will look to avenge their last loss, which came against the Lady Vikings at the Foothill tournament. “I knew they had talent and a lot of potential,” coach John Wheeler said of his team. “(But) their surpassing what I hoped for at the start of the season.” In league play the Lady Spartans have beaten their opponents by an average of 35 points. The team relies on its speed and balance and has bought into playing tough defense to win games. Emily Gallagher runs the point and is a solid defender. Chelsey Bushnell and Brittany Clatty use their speed to run the past break. Jessica Curl mans the post and is often fed the ball by Mayson Trujillo who is solid with entry passes. Marissa Chase has developed into a solid guard. It’s also a group excelling off the floor, as the team car- ries a 3.567 grade point average. Key to beat P.V: Wheeler said his team needs to stop Pleasant Valley’s fast break then play fundamentally sound defense in the half court. He said his team needs to come out not intimated of P.V. as they were the last time out. A capsule look at the Lady Spartans’ varsity, junior varsity and freshmen teams competing against Pleasant Valley, Tuesday night.