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ByKristieRieken TheAssociatedPress HOUSTON James Harden strengthened his case for the MVP award with a career- high 51 points, and the Hous- ton Rockets squandered a huge early lead but held on for a 115- 111 win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night. Houston was up by nine with about eight minutes left when Sacramento used a 9-2 spurt to get within 104- 102 with 5½ remaining. An 8-0 run by Harden, which he capped with a three-point play, pushed the lead to 112-104. Four straight points by the Kings cut the lead to four with less than a minute left, but they didn't score after that. DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings with his second career triple-double with 24 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists af- ter missing Monday's game to rest. He also had six blocks. Wednesday's performance surpassed Harden's previous career best of 50 points, which came on March 19. It's his 33rd 30-point game this season and the ninth time he's scored 40 this season, which both lead the NBA. Harden, who scored 17 points in the third quarter, had 49 points before knock- ing down a pair of free throws with less than 2 minutes left to eclipse his previous high- point game. The Rockets led by as many NBA Hardenhas51points asRocketsbeatKings Cousins posts triple-double with 24 points, 21 boards, 10 assists for Kings PATSULLIVAN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS The Sacramento Kings' Derrick Williams (13) pushes on the Houston Rockets' Corey Brewer (33) in the first half Wednesday in Houston. PAT SULLIVAN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Kings' DeMarcus Cousins (15) drives past the Rockets' Joey Dorsey in the first half Wednesday in Houston. ROCKETS115,KINGS111 Up next: New Orleans Pelicans at Sacramento Kings, 7p.m. Friday, TV on CSN-CA. THESCORE By Andrew Baggarly Bay Area News Group SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. The San Francisco Giants broke camp with one arm in a cast and a slew of others in question. Oh yeah. And an exhibition re- cord of 11-20-1, their worst since 2008, when they belly-crawled out of the Barry Bonds era. They remain the defending World Series champions. It's not like they'll open the season on Monday with Jose Castillo and Brian Bocock on the infield. But even when the Giants missed the playoffs in 2011 and '13, the crown didn't appear so heavy in the spring. It's that very crown that is keeping them from overreacting after 40 days of un- even defense, high-traffic starts and a fractured forearm that will cause Hunter Pence to miss the first two weeks of the season, at minimum. "It's been one of the worst springs we've had in awhile," said Madison Bumgarner, af- ter tossing a light, four-inning tuneup against the Cleveland Indians in Wednesday's Cactus League finale at Scottsdale Sta- dium. "It still doesn't matter. It's about getting ready to win games. If you win in the spring, well, congratulations. But it's not BASEBALL Giants not worried about spring record San Francisco breaks camp with Pence's arm in cast, others in question for start of season BEN MARGOT — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The San Francisco Giants' Madison Bumgarner throws during batting practice prior to a spring training game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday in Scottsdale, Ariz. Be prepared to pay a bit more if you're headed to some national parks and recreation areas this summer. A er a six- year moratorium, the federal government is increasing the price of admission. NATIONAL PARKS Governmentincreasing parks' admission fees FULL STORY ON PAGE B4 A massive ball of flames engulfed an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, killing four people and send- ing terrified workers jumping into the sea. There was no evi- dence yet of a major oil spill. GULF OF MEXICO Ball of flames engulfs Mexican oil rig, 4 dead FULL STORY ON PAGE B5 Staff Reports CLOVIS The Red Bluff Spartans won one and lost one Tuesday on the second day of the Fresno Easter Classic baseball tourna- ment. Red Bluff beat Golden Valley 10-3 in the morning, propelled by a seven-run third inning. Lane Pritchard, Bryce Sin- clair, Walker Dodero, Eric Spen- cer, Travis Fite and Wesley Clawson all drove in runs for the Spartans. Kolby Button had a single and a triple. Pritchard and Dodero singled and doubled. Spencer had a pair of singles. Clawson picked up the win. He pitched four innings and struck out seven. Will Macdonald and Spencer pitched relief. OAKMONT 2, RED BLUFF 1 Oak- mont scored two runs in the sev- enth inning to hand Red Bluff a loss in the afternoon. Oakmont was down to its last out before getting the winning run. Clawson drove in a run for the Spartans and had a pair of sin- gles. Ryan Gamboa singled and dou- bled. Eric Schreter had two singles. Pritchard doubled. Schreter struck out seven for Red Bluff. Red Bluff (13-3) was scheduled to continue tournament play in Fresno on Wednesday. YREKA 11, CORNING 1 Yreka beat visiting Corning in five innings Tuesday in the Cardinals' North- ern Athletic League opener. Joseph Aguirre had an RBI for Corning. Corning (5-6, 0-1) hosts Yreka at 5:30 p.m. today. REDDING CHRISTIAN 21, LOS MOLI- PREP ROUNDUP Spartans get back in the win column Mercy sweeps Liberty in baseball, so ball games By John Hickey Bay Area News Group MESA, ARIZ. When the Oakland A's assembled in Arizona for spring training, they were full of questions after an offseason spent retooling the roster. Could they hit? What would the rotation look like? Would club- house chemistry click? Could they compete? They flew home Wednesday night with most of those an- swered in a positive way, but with a flock of other questions taking their place. And the resolution to those new questions will spell out just how competitive the A's will be in 2015. For now, everyone is wonder- ing if this team is nearly as good as the one that went 21-9-2 in the Cactus League, including a 4-1 victory Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels. It was Oak- land's eighth win in a row. The A's compiled that re- cord without their closer hav- ing thrown a pitch, with their left and right fielders essentially out of commission, with two new faces in the rotation and an en- tirely new infield. As a team, the A's were among the spring training leaders in BASEBALL Questions still remain for A's with new look of team roster Corning hosts a Northern Athletic League golf match at noon today at Sevillano Links Golf Course. Red Bluff tennis hosts Enterprise at 3:30p.m. and Corning hosts Willows at 3:30p.m. GOLF AND TENNIS Cardinals host NAL match at Sevillano The Corning Cardinals baseball team hosts Yreka at 5:30p.m. today in a Northern Athletic League game. Los Molinos baseball and so ball are at Liberty Christian at 3:30p.m. in Five Star League games. BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL Corning baseball hosts Yreka Miners today ROUNDUP PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 A'S PAGE 2 KINGS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, April 2, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1