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ByRichGreene rgreene@redbluffdailynews.com @richgreenenews on Twitter RED BLUFF In the waning sec- onds of Senior Night two of the honored outgoing Lady Spartans Ashley Exum and Allison Win- ning hooked up on one last fast- break basket Thursday to cap off a 53-41 win over visiting Chico. Senior Daisy Brose also did her part, scoring a game-high 17 points, to go along with eight rebounds, five assists and eight steals. Brose was also key in help- ing the Lady Spartans pull away from Chico, which had a number of good runs in them to keep the game interesting for most of the night. Chico led 16-15 midway through the second when Exum converted an and-one situation. That was followed by eight straight points from Brose and the Lady Spar- tans were suddenly staring at a 10-point lead. Chico held Red Bluff scoreless for the first five minutes of the third quarter and pulled within 27-26. This time it was Stefanie Brunello who erupted. She scored eight of her nine points to finish off the quarter and the Lady Spartans led 37-29 headed into the final frame. Chico would get no closer than seven points the rest of the night. Allyson Drury had 13 points, nine rebounds and four steals for Red Bluff. Winning and Exum both fin- ished with seven points. Exum had eight rebounds and Winning had seven. Brunello provided four assists and five steals. Red Bluff lost standout post player Payten McKerras before the season to injury then suffered through more injuries, resulting in an undersized and eventually undermanned team. But the Lady Spartans have played scrappy all season and finished Eastern Athletic League play at 7-5 and went 14-11 overall. Red Bluff will find out its post- season future Saturday when the Northern Section announces the playoff pairings. GIRLS BASKETBALL SENIORSSHINEFOR LADY SPARTAN WIN Brosescoresgame-high17points,RedBluffbeatsChicoonSeniorNight LARRYLONG—COURTESYPHOTO Red Bluff's Ashley Exum (center) goes up for a shot Thursday against Chico. Online: For more stories on Tehama County sports visit REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM/SPORTS. Honoring actors brings out red carpets, couture and even creatures. A monkey who's starred in 25movies over two decades was top dog at the sixth annual Pawscars, the animal version of the Oscars. AWARDS SHOW Pawscarshonortop animal movie actors FULL STORY ON PAGE B2 Corning's Presbyterian Church is launching a weekday Bible study for local residents of all denominations. The study sessions will be led by the Rev. Julia Horne at 10a.m. each Wednesday at the church. CORNING PRESBYTERIAN Church to offer local weekday Bible study FULL STORY ON PAGE B4 By Jeff Larson jlarson@paradisepost.com @jtlarson on Twitter PARADISE A quick start can pay huge dividends for the winning side while be- ing equally devastating for a soccer team on the losing end of a goal in the open- ing minute. The Red Bluff boys soccer team scored the game's first goal Thursday night about 30 seconds in to stun No. 4 Paradise and set a trend that led to an eventual 4-1 first- round win for the visiting Spartans, seeded fifth in the NSCIF Division I boys playoffs. "We noticed (this year) that if they score against us then we give up," said Red Bluff coach Claudio Martinez, whose team lost twice to Paradise in the regular season. "We score first, then from there we start at- tacking, attacking, attacking. That's been working for us the last two games." Red Bluff (9-8-4) advances to play at top-seeded Pleasant Valley — a 7-0 win- ner against Enterprise — in the D-I semi- finals Tuesday. The Vikings haven't lost all year, so it'll likely take as close to a perfect effort for Red Bluff to pull off a second straight up- set. The Spartans came out ready from the get-go Thursday, with Mario Zepeda scor- ing the game's first goal within the open- ing minute of the game. The next two came a little later in the first half, as Red Bluff built a 3-0 lead on Paradise (12-10-1). "The first five minutes of our game went wrong," Bobcats coach Barry Avakian said. "We made a mistake in the back trying to possess the ball and we let the ball go in. Second (goal) was another mistake on our side (giving) them even more momentum, and (setting) us back." The Bobcats got one back when ju- nior Mason Jensen converted a pass from Tristan Barnard into the back of the net, trimming it to 3-1 about the 17th minute. Red Bluff, which lost a pair of players to injury, including one who was hospitalized with an apparent head injury, would get its three-goal advantage back in the second half when Karam Al-shargabi netted the second of his two goals on a header into a wide-open net about the 56th minute. Martinez said the injury to Jose Acev- edo, though severe at the time following a head-butt mid-first half, was handled well by the Paradise staff and paramedics who were called into action. "Paradise paramedics helped me to con- trol the situation," Martinez said. "He's in the hospital right now with a concussion, hopefully he's doing OK, I'm on my way to see how he's doing. We won this game for him." Red Bluff also lost Jose Montoya when the sophomore defender was helped off the field in the second half. But the Spar- tans stayed strong and turned away several more Paradise opportunities, including a header attempt from Jensen that sailed over the goal about the 67th minute. Red Bluff next looks to do something that no one has been able to do all year, and that's beat PV (20-0-1). "I think we are ready," Martinez said. "I know they beat us twice, but this win will give us motivation as a team." BOYS SOCCER Spartansadvancetosemis Early goal leads to 4-1 road win for Red Bluff in section playoffs against Paradise EDDIE SALTZMAN — CONTRIBUTED Paradise High's Rory Cone (11) tries to win the ball between two Red Bluff players during the Northern Section playoffs Thursday night in Paradise. By Tim Dahlberg The Associated Press LAS VEGAS The Fight is finally on. Floyd Mayweather Jr. will meet Manny Pacquiao on May 2 in a welterweight showdown that will be boxing's richest fight ever. Mayweather himself announced the bout Friday after months of negotiations, posting a picture of the signed contract online. The long anticipated bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas will al- most surely break every financial record ever, and make both box- ers richer than ever. Mayweather could earn $120 million or more, while Pacquiao's split of the purse will likely be around $80 million. The fight, which matches box- ing's two biggest attractions in re- cent years, has been in the mak- ing for five years. It finally came together in recent months with both fighters putting aside past differences over various issues — including drug testing and televi- sion rights — to reach agreement. "I promised the fans we would get this done and we did," May- weather said. While the fight rivals the 2002 heavyweight title bout between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson for interest, it comes more than five years after the first real ef- fort to put the fighters together in their prime. Most boxing observ- ers believe both have lost some of their skills. BOXING Ma yw ea th er set to fight Pa cq ui ao i n May 2 bout Los Molinos lost 3-2Thurs- day in the first round of the Division 3playoffs to host Esparto. The Bulldogs led 2-1 at hal ime, but the Spartans struck twice in the second half to advance to the semis. BOYS SOCCER Los Molinos loses in first round of playoffs The Corning Cardinals host Sutter at 3p.m. Tuesday in the boys soccer Division 2 semifinals. Red Bluff travels to Pleasant Valley in D-1. The Lady Cardinals are at Sutter in the D-2semifinals. SOCCER PLAYOFFS Corning boys, girls; Red Bluff boys in semifinals By Mark Long The Associated Press DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. Corning native Tyler Reddick won the sea- son-opening Truck Series race Friday night at Daytona Interna- tional Speedway. Reddick held the lead down the stretch in the 100-lap race, giv- ing team owner Brad Keselowski a win. It nearly was a 1-2 finish for Brad Keselowski Racing. "It feels amazing," Reddick said. "We got here in victory lane at Daytona. It's unbelievable." NASCAR TRUCKS Reddick, from Corning, wins at Daytona SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, February 21, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1