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StaffReports ANDERSON The Lady Spar- tans started another season that will be hampered by in- juries Thursday with a gutsy 55-42 win over West Valley in the opening round of the An- derson Tip-Off Classic. Red Bluff lost star center Payten McKerras to a knee injury and was also with- out Julia Brandt and Ashley Exum. The undersized Lady Spar- tans were led by Daisy Brose with 20 points, nine rebounds and seven steals. Allison Winning added 16 points. Stefanie Brunello had 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Katie Gallagher had four points and five steals. Allyson Drury had three points and Nicole Renfroe and Brittany Botell each had one point. Red Bluff (1-0) was sched- uled to play Central Valley in the semifinals. The other half of the win- ner's bracket features host An- derson and University Prep. Boysbasketball REDBLUFF70,AMADOR54 The Spartans opened up play in Jackson at the Argonaut Quar- terback Club Tournament on Thursday with a 70-54 win over Amador. Joseph Bosetti led the 2-0 Spartans with 26 points. Lane Pritchard had 17 and Will Macdonald had eight. CORNING 55, WILLOWS 37 Corning beat Willows for the second time this season. This one came in the semi- finals of the Pierce Tourna- ment. Corning (3-0) was scheduled to play in Friday's champion- ship against Williams. CORNING 42, WINTERS 32 In the first round of the Pierce Tournament, Corning beat Winters. The Cardinals outscored Winters 8-2 in what turned out to be the decisive third quarter. PREP ROUNDUP UndersizedSpartans openseasonwithwin RedBluffHigh'sstandoutcenterMcKerrasgoesdownwithkneeinjury COURTESYPHOTOBYLARRYLONG Red Bluff's Daisy Brose puts up a shot Thursday against West Valley during the first round of the Anderson Tip-Off Classic. Online: For more cover- age of Tehama County sports teams by the Red Bluff Daily News visit the website REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM/SPORTS. By Andre Byik abyik@redbluffdailynews.com @andrebyik on Twitter LOS MOLINOS The Mercy High School boys basketball team ran past the Los Molinos Bulldogs on Thursday at the Block LM Shoot Out tournament here. The Warriors, after a slow start, jumped to a 32-8 lead heading to the half and cruised from there to beat the Bulldogs 52-30. Warriors coach Steve Shel- labarger said the early-season game showed there is still room for improvement for his squad, including giving more effort and finishing games well. The Warriors, who extended their lead to 51-16 at the end of the third quarter, scored just one point in the fourth. "It's not how you start games," Shellabarger said, "it's how you finish them." Mercy's Teddy Ranberg scored a game-high 21 points, 11 of which came in the third quarter. Nicholas Ornelas added 11 points, Adil Syed had seven points, Reid Gardner had six points and Richie Borges had four points. The Bulldogs struggled early, missing 10 free throws in the first half. Bright spots for the squad were its knack for track- ing rebounds and a 14-point fourth quarter led by Alex Rus- sell. Russel finished the game with eight points, Kyle Wood had seven points, Jorje Ceja added nine points and Brandon Rodri- guez scored four points. Los Molinos was 0-2 in the tournament before its game against CORE Butte on Fri- day evening. Mercy was 2-0 before its against Hamilton on Friday. HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL Mercy runs past Los Molinos in tourney Warriors jump to 32-8 hal ime lead, cruise from there with only one point in 4th quarter Los Molinos High's Kyle Wood, le , takes the ball upcourt against the Mercy Warriors on Thursday at Los Molinos High School. ANDRE BYIK — DAILY NEWS Eric Garner was overweight and in poor health. He was a nuisance to shop owners who complained about him selling untaxed cigarettes on the street. When police came to arrest him, he resisted. NEW YORK Chokehold victim partly to blame, say police FULL STORY ON PAGE B5 The Red Bluff and Corning wrestling teams are in Orland for the Doc Peterson Tourna- ment. Red Bluff and Corning girls soccer are in Oroville for a tournament. Red Bluff boys soccer is in Redding. SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE Prep wrestling and soccer tournaments The Red Bluff boys basketball team continues play in Jack- son. The Lady Spartans are in Anderson. The Corning Lady Cardinals are in Live Oak for a tournament and the Mercy Lady Warriors are in Biggs. BASKETBALL Tournament action continues Saturday Pope Francis urged the Catho- lic Church's top theologians on Friday to listen to what ordi- nary Catholics have to say and pay attention to the "signs of the times," rather than just making pronouncements. WORLD Pope to theologians: Listen to regular faithful FULL STORY ON PAGE B4 By Greg Beacham The Associated Press CARSON Until last weekend, Landon Donovan's pending re- tirement was a nebulous concept obscured by games, goals and a sport-wide outpouring of appre- ciation from the moment he made his stunning decision this sum- mer. This week, Donovan finally saw the finish line. After the LA Galaxy host New England in the MLS Cup on Sun- day afternoon, the greatest soc- cer player in U.S. history knows he will be voluntarily unemployed at 32 years old. Donovan has most of his life ahead of him, and he plans to fill it with travel, education and working with kids. He probably also has several good years of soc- cer left in him, but Donovan re- mains determined to figure out who he is outside the sport that has defined his whole life. "I'm just trying to stay pres- ent, and we'll see what happens afterward," Donovan said Friday at the Galaxy's training complex. "But for now, I just want to chan- nel the excitement in the right way, as we all do, and really put it into a meaningful and special day on Sunday. After that, I can MLS CUP Donovan not looking to future right now Top goal-scorer in league history retires on Sunday DANNY MOLOSHOK — THE AP FILE The Los Angeles Galaxy's Landon Donovan ends his soccer career in the MLS Cup on Sunday. By Greg Beacham The Associated Press LOS ANGELES When Anthony Pettis steps back into the octa- gon at UFC 181, the flashy light- weight champion will be in just his fourth fight in more than three years. Although he is one of mixed martial arts' top talents, Pettis hasn't even seen a second round since October 2011. Gilbert Melendez intends to make Pettis regret all of his inju- ries and inactivity in a title fight that could serve as the master- work of his long career. "There's nothing left to accom- plish except this," Melendez said this week. "If I can do this, I feel like I'm one of the greatest of all time." While Pettis (17-2) hopes to begin a long reign as one of the UFC's top stars at the Manda- lay Bay Events Center in Las Ve- gas on Saturday night, Melendez (22-3) relishes the chance to take the champion into areas he hasn't visited in years. While Melen- dez's big right hand is his great- est strength, he believes he can also win a mental matchup with the champion. "It'll get real interesting when we get out of the first round and UFC 181 Pettis back from injuries, inactivity for Melendez bout UFC PAGE 2 DONOVAN PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, December 6, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1