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Wednesday Boys Hoops Playoffs —Corning at Foothill, 7 p.m. Baseball — Los Molinos at Durham, 3:30 p.m. Tennis —Willows at Corning, 3:30 p.m. NBA— Warriors at Wizards, 4 p.m., CSNB NBA—Trail Blazers at Kings, 7 p.m., CSNC NCAA — Texas A&M at Kansas, 6 p.m., ESPN2 Sports 1B BOYS HOOPS Mercy 63 Westwood 52 Wednesday March 2, 2011 Spartans win opener Mercy wins Warriors headed back to final And just like that, those Mercy Warriors are headed back to the Division VI championship game. The seventh seeded Warriors knocked off No. 3 West- wood 63-52, Tuesday night, to earn the right to defend their championship, Friday in the D-VI title game. Last year the Warriors were a fifth seed and won a pair of games on the road against higher seeds to earn their trip. This year’s road was just as tough with a third and second seed. Jeremie Jones led Mercy with 23 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Mitchell Lopez had a solid game from the point with 11 points and three assists and Steven Rodriguez chipped in with 15 points. Michael Wang collected 10 rebounds to go along with five points. Royce Crane added seven points and Isaac Williams had two. “We played really good defense,” coach Steve Shellabarger said, adding his team also rebounded well elim- inating any second chance opportunities. Nor Cal Hot Shot Basketball Tryouts Daily News photo by Rich Greene Mitch Robison tries to lay down a bunt,Tuesday, during the seventh inning against West Valley. BASEBALL West Valley 0 Red Bluff 1 By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor It took Red Bluff’s bats an extra six innings to snap out of winter hiberna- tion. Luckily when they did, the Spartans only needed a run to prevail in a 1-0 season opening victory, Tuesday, against the visiting West Valley Eagles. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, Gerald Baker rolled a ball through the middle of the infield scoring Joel Duggins to give an excit- ing finish to what was otherwise a rather boorish game. “I’m glad they found a way to get it done,” Red Bluff coach Joe Gallaty said of his Spartans. Baker provided four-plus innings of solid relief work to pick up the win and Red Bluff was assisted by a favorable umpire call in the top of the sixth inning. The Eagles had runners on first and second with one down when Derek Gray hit a troublesome ball down the right field line that would have scored Cody Veatch for the go-ahead run. The ball landed, a chalk cloud kicked up, and the umpire declared foul. Despite protests from the Eagles and coach Gary Memeo, Gray headed back to the batter’s box. Baker proceeded to strike out Gray and the next batter Justin Harman to end the inning. Those would be the last runners the Eagles had as Baker struck out seven batters in four-and two-third innings of work. Red Bluff needed stellar pitching as RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY they were held hitless through the first six innings. They got a break however to start up their last at bats of the game when Duggins reached on West Valley’s fourth error of the game. Mitch Robison tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but his attempt went foul. It played to his favor. On the next pitch, Robison showed bunt, then pulled back and ripped the Spartans’ first base hit of the season , put runners on the corners. Two batters later Jordan Fox was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. That’s when Baker stepped in and delivered the game-winner. It was the second time in the game, Baker gave the Spartans a lift after stepping into a pressure situation. In the fourth inning with two Eagles See RB, page 2B D NEWSAILY COACHES OF THE SEASON Coaching is a profession of love. You can’t coach people unless you love them. — Eddie Robinson Christian Cumpston — Los Molinos In his first year as the Bulldogs boys basket- ball coach, Cumpston guided a young Los Moli- nos team to a 14-8 record overall and an unde- feated league run through the Mid-Valley-North preaching a defensive mentality and team-first approach. V Proud providers of Sports Medicine to Tehama County since 1986 alor PHYSICAL THERAPY & WELLNESS CENTER 2490 S. Main St., Red Bluff • 530-529-3636 Lonnie Scott MA ATC Ed Stroman PT ATC CSCS V ictory V alues Steve Shellabarger — Mercy Losing five seniors form last year’s championship team didn’t slow down Shellabarger who has guided the Warriors back to the Northern Section Boys Divi- sion VI championship game, where they will play Friday night. Tehama Family Fitness Center 2498 South Main St • Red Bluff • 528-8656 Improve your golf by improving your fitness with a Certified Titleist Fitness Instructor at Tehama Family Fitness Center. For more details call Kyle at 528-8656 Kyle Tingley CSCS TPI Any girls grades fourth through seventh interested in playing AAU basketball, there will be tryouts at Lassen View School, Tuesday, March 8 from 5 to 7 p.m. The season runs from March 8 - May 9 and the cost is approximately $150. If you have any questions please contact Kathy Brandt at 354-4775. Granger, Pacers beat Warriors Warriors 100 Indiana 109 INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers needed a win, so Danny Granger couldn’t afford to miss a free throw. Granger scored 27 points, going 16 for 16 from the line, and it was his clutch foul shooting early and late helping Indiana hold off the Golden State Warriors, 109-100, on Tuesday night. Darren Collison scored 11 points for Indiana, eight in the third quarter, when the Pacers outscored Golden State 37-26 to turn a three-point deficit into a nine-point lead. Tyler Hansbrough finished with 14 points to lead bal- anced Pacers scoring off the bench. Reggie Williams had 25 points off the bench for Golden State, which rallied from a double-digit, first-half deficit to lead by nine points late in the second quarter before faltering.