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ByJosephShufelberger jshufelberger@chicoer.com @JShufelberger on Twitter REDBLUFF Twosquadslooked to enter the postseason with some momentum from Thurs- day night's regular-season fi- nale between the Chico High baseball team and the host Spartans. The Panthers have plenty now. The Spartans are still searching for theirs. Chico routed Red Bluff 13- 2, leading throughout before a six-run seventh inning served as the exclamation point of a two-game sweep of the Spar- tans this week. Daniel Walsh was 4 of 4, reaching base in all five plate appearances that included a walk, and reliever Dalton Smith threw 4 1/3 hitless in- nings in his first varsity game after getting called up from ju- nior varsity to get the win. He received plenty of sup- port. Creed Smith doubled twice and drove in three runs, and Justin Beth was 3 of 4 with a double and two RBIs. Michael Farley's two-run dou- ble came in a string of three straight doubles between Creed Smith and Beth in the seventh inning, and Trenton York had two hits and two RBIs on a night when Chico tallied 16 hits. Red Bluff ended up falling in its final three games of the season, leaving Shasta, on the strength of its 3-1 victory over PREP BASEBALL ChicoroutsRedBluff infinale,playoffsnext Walshreachesbase5times;JVcall-up Smith throws 41/3 hitless innings in relief PHOTOSBYANDREBYIK—REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS Red Bluff High pitcher Kolby Button throws a pitch against Chico during Thursday's game. Chico High's Creed Smith steps to the plate during Thursday's game at Red Bluff. Online: To see videos of the Chico and Red Bluff game visit this story on CHICOER.COM. By Andrew Seligman The Associated Press CHICAGO Derrick Rose banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer and scored 30 points Friday night to give the Chicago Bulls a 99-96 victory over the Cleveland Cav- aliers and a 2-1 lead in the East- ern Conference semifinals. Cleveland had just tied it on a 3-pointer by J.R. Smith with 10.8 seconds left when Rose came through with the winner. He took the inbounds pass from Mike Dunleavy Jr. on the sideline after Chicago called time with 3 seconds remaining. Rose then dribbled past the top of the key before burying a wild shot over Tristan Thompson, drawing a mob from his team- mates and a deafening roar from the crowd for the hometown star who returned from his most re- cent knee surgery late in the sea- son. LeBron James scored 27 points for Cleveland and passed Tony Parker, Steve Nash and Larry Bird for fourth on the ca- reer playoff assists list. He had 14 in the game, giving him 1,073. Chicago never won more than one game in three previous play- off series against teams led by James.ButtheBullshaveachance to take a commanding lead with Game 4 at home on Sunday. NBA PLAYOFFS Bulls' Rose sinks sweet-smelling winner 3-pointer at buzzer pushes Bulls past Cavs in 30-point game for Chicago's star point guard NAM Y. HUH — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) celebrates with Joakim Noah, right, and Taj Gibson a er scoring the game-winning 3-point basket during the second half of Game 3in a second- round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Chicago on Friday. By Joseph Shufelberger jshufelberger@chicoer.com @JShufelberger on Twitter CHICO The Northern Section baseball playoff brackets were re- leased Friday, and this year's post- season — at least for the larger schools — will have a different look this year. Divisions II and III will include a best-of-three series for semifi- nals only. That means those play- offs begin at 4 p.m. Tuesday, ear- lier than small schools to accom- modate the potential third game of the semis. Divisions IV through VI begin Friday, May 15. Red Bluff, despite losing its fi- nal three games, still had done enough to claim the No. 1 seed for Division II on the strength of its co-championship status in the Eastern Athletic-Sacramento River League and having swept Shasta earlier before the second- seeded Wolves caught the Spar- tans in the league standings on the final day of the regular sea- son. The Spartans (23-7) host No. 8 Paradise (10-16), and on that same side of the bracket is fourth- seeded Pleasant Valley (16-10-2) hosting No. 5 Foothill (21-9-1) at Ron Doryland Field in the Hooker Oak Recreation Area. Third-seeded Oroville (14-10- 1) hosts No. 6 Chico (13-10-1) and the other quarterfinal pits No. 7 Enterprise (12-12) at No. 2 Shasta (14-12). Admission for quarterfinals and semifinals are $6 for adults and $4 for seniors, students with student ID and students kinder- garten through eighth grade. Prices for finals are $8 for adults and $5 for others. The way teams are entering the D-II playoffs certainly vary. The top-seeded Spartans clinched a share of the league title with a 5-4 PREP BASEBALL Spartans claim top seed for Division II Playoffs start at 4 p.m. Tuesday or on May 15 By Dave Skretta The Associated Press KANSAS CITY, KAN. Jeff Gordon has been fast this year just about every time he climbs into that car. He has had promising runs just about every time he's taken the green flag. He is still trying to find his way to victory lane. Good thing the Sprint Cup se- ries is at Kansas Speedway this weekend. Gordon knows exactly where to find it, winning the first two races ever held there and again last spring. "I remember coming here, this place was just natural in how I drove the track, and still is, even after the repave," Gordon said, re- flecting on the inaugural race that he won in 2001. "Every time I drive into the cor- ner, I like this place, like the way it flows, like the way the car feels," he said. "I just feel like I know this track every well." Gordon's farewell season began on the pole at the season-opening Daytona 500, but the day ended with the first of several miscues that have made for a frustrating year. Despite having one of the fastest cars, and leading 77 laps, a wreck left him in 33rd place. NASCAR SPRINT CUP Gordon comes to Kansas looking for victory lane Thousands of police from around the country spilled out of a church into the streets surrounding a slain New York City officer's funeral on Friday, calling for respect and under- standing at a difficult time. FINAL SALUTE Policereflectontough time at officer's funeral FULL STORY ON PAGE B6 With quiet moments of mem- ory or military pomp, leaders and ordinary citizens across Europe are marking 70years since the Nazi defeat and the end of a war that ravaged the continent. WORLD WAR II Europe marks 70 years since Nazi defeat FULL STORY ON PAGE B10 The top-seeded Red Bluff Spartans are scheduled to face No. 8Paradise in the first round of the Northern Section CIF Division II baseball play- offs at 4p.m. Tuesday at Red Bluff High School. BASEBALL PLAYOFFS Red Bluff earns No. 1 seed, faces Paradise Corning High School's varsity so ball team will visit Yreka on Tuesday for a doubleheader scheduled to start at 3p.m. The Cards (19-9-3, 8-3 Northern Athletic League) will host Yreka on Friday. SOFTBALL Corning Cards to finish season against Yreka SPARTANS PAGE 2 PLAYOFFS PAGE 2 GORDON PAGE 2 BULLS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, May 9, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1