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2B Daily News – Wednesday, December 14, 2011 TIPS (Continued from page 1B) Red Bluff went 1-2 at the Pleasant Valley tour- nament to open the sea- son two weeks ago. The Lady Spartans are still waiting on the return of point guard Lily Brose, who won't be available until January, but they do return an experienced front line and have an influx of tal- ent from the junior varsi- ty ranks. Red Bluff finished fourth in last year's Clas- sic. The Lady Spartans won the inaugural 1990 Classic and last reached the title game in 2004. The team is asking its supporters to wear green for tonight's game against the Lady Falcons, who have a winning record to start the season. The Lady Cardinals, off to a 2-4 start, are cap- tained by Chelsea Dale and Mayra Diera. They take on a 4-2 Shasta squad led by Lana Brown. Corning placed sixth in last year's classic. Enterprise with their exciting duo of Janae Gray and Jordan Kim- brough is off to a 2-1 start. They'll face a 4-4 West Valley team led by Aubrey Mendonca and Marleigh Ostrom. The defending Divi- sion-III Northern Section champions Paradise has won the past three Holi- day Classics. This year they're 4-4 to start the season. Ferndale, out of the North Coast Section, is 2-4. The boys tip off their tournament on Thursday, starting with former Spartan Mark Shoff coaching his Lake Oswego, Ore. team against Pleasant Valley at 4 p.m. Marshall faces Enter- prise at 5:30 p.m. The Red Bluff boys then get their turn at 7 p.m. when they host Las Mesa's Helix. Night 2 ends with returning tournament champions South Med- ford, Ore. meeting Par- adise. The Spartans finished sixth at last year's tour- nament. Their best Clas- sic finish ever is third — a feat they matched two years ago when they beat Helix in the third place game. Red Bluff returns leading scorer Jonah McInnis from last year's team as well as guards Taylor Blaser and Mitch Robison. The newcomers are athletic and can shoot. Helix is the alma mater of NFL stars Alex Smith and Reggie Bush. Shoff's talented Lak- ers are the tournament favorites, while Pleasant Valley is off to a 2-4 start led by Alex Fernandez- Godinez and Cody Pit- man. Kaelan Crisosto and Andrew Fitzhugh lead 3- 3 Enterprise against San Francisco's Marshall. South Medford, which has won the classic on four occasions, faces a Daniel Bass-led Paradise team. The tournament con- tinues through Saturday at Red Bluff Union High School. Avalanche over Sharks in SO DENVER (AP) — Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves, Gabriel Lan- deskog scored the deci- sive goal in a shootout and the Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Tuesday night. Matt Duchene, Stefan Elliott and Daniel Win- nik had regulation goals for the Avalanche. Milan Hejduk also scored in the shootout. Antti Niemi made 30 NHL AFC WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA Dallas 17 11 1 35 74 78 SHARKS 15 10 3 33 78 68 Phoenix 15 11 3 33 77 76 Kings Ducks 13 13 4 30 65 70 8 16 5 21 67 95 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA Chicago 18 8 4 40 99 92 Detroit 19 9 1 39 93 63 St. Louis 17 9 3 37 71 62 Nashville 15 11 4 34 79 80 Columbus 9 17 4 22 73 100 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Minnesota 20 8 3 43 80 66 Vancouver 18 10 2 38 98 73 Edmonton 14 13 3 31 83 80 Calgary 14 14 2 30 74 82 Colorado 14 16 1 29 82 94 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA Philadelphia19 7 3 41 106 82 N.Y. Rangers17 7 4 38 83 61 Pittsburgh 17 10 4 38 95 79 New Jersey 16 13 1 33 79 86 N.Y. Islanders 9 13 6 24 65 93 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Boston 19 9 1 39 97 59 Toronto 16 11 3 35 93 95 Buffalo 15 12 3 33 81 82 Montreal 13 11 7 33 79 80 Ottawa 14 13 4 32 94 107 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Florida 16 9 6 38 84 80 Winnipeg 14 12 4 32 84 93 Washington 15 13 1 31 89 94 Tampa Bay 12 16 2 26 79 101 Carolina 9 18 5 23 80 110 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. —————————————————— Tuesday's results Colorado 4, San Jose 3, SO Boston 3, Los Angeles 0 Columbus 2, Vancouver 1, SO Dallas 1, N.Y. Rangers 0 Detroit 4, Pittsburgh 1 Montreal 5, N.Y. Islanders 3 Nashville 2, Calgary 1 New Jersey 3, Florida 2, SO Ottawa 3, Buffalo 2, OT Philadelphia 5, Washington 1 Toronto 2, Carolina 1, OT Winnipeg 2, Minnesota 1 Today's games Boston at Ottawa, 4:30 p.m. Chicago at Minnesota, 4:30 p.m. Phoenix at Anaheim, 7 p.m. Thursday's games Colorado at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Dallas at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Los Angeles at Columbus, 4 p.m. Vancouver at Carolina, 4 p.m. Calgary at Tampa Bay, 4:30 p.m. Philadelphia at Montreal, 4:30 p.m. Detroit at Nashville, 5 p.m. N.Y. Rangers at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Washington at Winnipeg, 5:30 p.m. Edmonton at Phoenix, 6:30 p.m. West WL T Pct PF PA y-49ERS 10 3 0 .769 307 182 Seattle 6 7 0 .462 246 259 Arizona 6 7 0 .462 253 288 St. Louis 2 11 0 .154 153 326 East N.Y. Giants 7 6 0 .538 324 349 Dallas WL T Pct PF PA 7 6 0 .538 317 281 Philadelphia 5 8 0 .385 297 292 Washington 4 9 0 .308 229 290 South WL T Pct PF PA x-N. Orleans10 3 0 .769 415 286 Atlanta 8 5 0 .615 300 267 Carolina 4 9 0 .308 313 355 Tampa Bay 4 9 0 .308 232 370 North y-Green Bay 13 0 0 1.000 466 278 Detroit x-clinched division —————————————————— Monday's result Seattle 30, St. Louis 13 Thursday's game Jacksonville at Atlanta, 5:20 p.m. Saturday's game Dallas at Tampa Bay, 5:20 p.m. Sunday's games Detroit at Oakland, 1:05 p.m. Carolina at Houston, 10 a.m. Cincinnati at St. Louis, 10 a.m. Green Bay at Kansas City, 10 a.m. Miami at Buffalo, 10 a.m. New Orleans at Minnesota, 10 a.m. Seattle at Chicago, 10 a.m. Tennessee at Indianapolis, 10 a.m. Washington at N.Y. Giants, 10 a.m. Cleveland at Arizona, 1:15 p.m. New England at Denver, 1:15 p.m. N.Y. Jets at Philadelphia, 1:15 p.m. Baltimore at San Diego, 5:20 p.m. Monday, Dec. 19 Pittsburgh at San Francisco, 5:30 p.m. WL T Pct PF PA 8 5 0 .615 367 305 Chicago 7 6 0 .538 301 255 Minnesota 2 11 0 .154 274 364 West WL T Pct PF PA Denver 8 5 0 .615 269 302 RAIDERS 76 0 .538 290 354 Chargers 6 7 0 .462 324 299 Kansas City 5 8 0 .385 173 305 East WL T Pct PF PA N. England 10 3 0 .769 396 274 N.Y. Jets 8 5 0 .615 327 270 Buffalo 5 8 0 .385 288 341 Miami South y-Houston 10 3 0 .769 330 208 Tennessee 7 6 0 .538 266 251 Jacksonville 4 9 0 .308 193 252 Indianapolis 0 13 0 .000 184 382 North WL T Pct PF PA Baltimore 10 3 0 .769 320 202 Pittsburgh 10 3 0 .769 282 198 Cincinnati 7 6 0 .538 285 270 Cleveland 4 9 0 .308 178 254 NFC 4 9 0 .308 256 246 WL T Pct PF PA saves, Dan Boyle had a goal and an assist and Jamie McGinn and Patrick Marleau also scored for the Sharks. San Jose is 2-5-2 in its last nine games. Hejduk scored on the first attempt of the shootout and Pavelski tied it in the third round. Landeskog beat Niemi in the fifth round before Varlamov stopped Brad Winches- ter to end it. San Jose trailed 3-2 late and pressed for the equalizer, getting it with 22 seconds left. NFL AFC OAKLAND (AP) — Klay Thompson had felt a little bit more like Golden State's team manager lately than a first-round pick. The determined rookie hardly expected his early days in the NBA to be spent observing from the sidelines as his teammates worked under new Warriors coach Mark Jackson. Thompson finally signed his contract Tuesday and practiced for the first time. The delay in his signing came as the franchise pro- tected some salary-cap room to pursue free agents. Earlier Tues- day, the Warriors also agreed to terms with former Bobcats center Kwame Brown on a one-year, $7 million deal, according to his agent. About all Thompson had been allowed to do was rebound for his teammates during shooting drills — he couldn't participate in prac- tice. ''I can watch, rebound for the players. I feel like a manager again,'' Thompson said with a smile. Thompson, second-round pick Jeremy Tyler, who also signed Tuesday, and several others had been left to learn as much as they could without being on the court in a formal practice setting. They typically did conditioning and lifted weights on their own in the morning, attended practice, then returned to the team's facility for a few hours at night to work on offensive and defensive sets and get in some extra shooting. ''It's really painful because you want to compete and you want to stay up to date on everything that's going down in practice,'' said Thompson, the Warriors' 11th overall pick out of Washing- Consolation Sat. 12:00 Ferndale Wed. 8:30 Paradise Thurs. 2:30 Central Valley Wed. 7:00 Red Bluff 7th Place Sat. 9:00 Sat. 3:00 Fri. 7:00 Thurs. 1:00 Corning Wed. 5:30 Shasta Sat. 6:00 Champion 7th Place Sat. 10:30 Consolation Sat. 1:30 South Medford Thurs. 8:30 Paradise Fri. 2:30 Helix Thurs. 7:00 Red Bluff Sat. 4:30 Fri. 8:30 Fri. 1:00 Marshall Thurs. 5:30 Enterprise Sat. 7:30 Champion Holiday Classic Boys Bracket Lake Oswego Thurs. 4:00 Pleasant Valley Fri. 5:30 3rd Place Holiday Classic Girls Bracket West Valley Wed. 4:00 Enterprise Fri. 4:00 3rd Place Thompson eager for practice ''I can watch, rebound for the players. I feel like a manager again." — Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson ton State. ''We get a second workout in, do some conditioning, do some drills to get in shape. With a com- pressed season it's all going to come real fast. There's going to be no slack for rookies, so we've got to be ready.'' Jackson appreciates the initia- tive taken by the rookies. He understands it hasn't been an ideal situation, especially for young players who need all the court time they can get during a regular training camp — let alone in a condensed schedule. Golden State's first exhibition game is Saturday at home against Sacramento. ''That says a lot as to their will- ingness to learn, their commit- ment to want to be around here. That goes hand in hand with the culture change,'' Jackson said. Thompson, a 6-foot-7 shooting guard with great range and versa- tility, didn't let the delay in get- ting on the practice floor affect him. After all, he waited through the months-long NBA lockout. ''They keep me updated. It's out of my hands, so I'm just keep- ing a good attitude about it,'' Thompson said. ''That's the best thing you can do.'' Jackson has already told Thompson and the other rookies there will be ample opportunities to play right away as long as they play defense. The coach reiterated that Tuesday regarding Thomp- son, saying, ''He's that good.'' A pure scorer, Thompson will focus his efforts on improving himself on the other end. He aver- aged a Pac-10 best 21.6 points — 11th in the nation — last season as a junior at Washington State and also 5.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Thompson also can play small forward. For now, he is doing his best to be supportive of the Warriors' efforts to bolster the roster. ''I feel like it's in the best inter- est of the team to go out there and try to find a player. I'm just being patient with it,'' Thompson said. ''I waited four or five months for this opportunity with the lock- out.'' Tyler provided a message for the players sitting out — to learn all they can during this time, because soon they'll be going full speed. ''It's not good that we're sitting out, but you don't look at it as the most negative thing in the world,'' Tyler said. ''Just take every posi- tive out of it.'' Warriors owner Joe Lacob has announced that he has big plans for Thompson in his rookie sea- son, predicting he will be in the running for Rookie of the Year. That meant a lot to Thompson, who knows the entire front office supports him. And he believes he can do it, too. ''Hearing that gives me a great sense of confidence. That means they have my back and I really appreciate that they feel that way and hopefully I won't disap- point,'' Thompson said. ''That's why I'm putting in all this extra work. I'm really humbled they would make a statement like that. ... I'm excited. I think I have the perfect opportunity to win that award and that's my ultimate goal for the season, individual goal that is.''