Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/52570
Tehama Tracker Wednesday's results NBA Kings Toronto Evans: 29 points Cousins: 21 points, 19 rebounds Tuesday's results BOYS HOOPS Corning Winters Mercy Dunsmuir 25 44 68 62 Steven Rodriguez: 19 points Tommy Garcia: 15 points Isaac Williams: 14 points, 9 rebs GIRLS HOOPS Red Bluff Shasta Lottie Jones: 17 points Ashley Brown: 8 points Corning Yuba City BOYS SOCCER Williams Mercy Jose Rosales: Goal Fernando Vives: Goal Alejandro Guerrero: 8 saves GIRLS SOCCER Yreka Corning Today's games GIRLS HOOPS Red Bluff Lassen 7:30 p.m. SOCCER Corning Central Valley E Esparto Mercy Willows Los Molinos NBA Orlando Warriors NHL Sharks Winnipeg 5:30 p.m. CSNC On the tube GOLF •6 a.m..TGC — European PGA Tour, Joburg Open, first round, at Johan- nesburg (same-day tape) •4 p.m., TGC — PGA Tour, Sony Open, first round, at Honolulu MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL •4 p.m., ESPN — Wisconsin at Pur- due •4 p.m., ESPN2 — Clemson at Boston College •6 p.m., ESPN — Virginia at Duke •6 p.m., ESPN2 — Tennessee at Mississippi St. •7 p.m., CSNB—Utah at Stanford •8 p.m., ESPN2 — Gonzaga at Saint Mary's •8 p.m., CSNC — Colorado at Cali- fornia •9 p.m., CSNB — Oregon at Arizona St. NBA •5 p.m., TNT — New York at Mem- phis • 7:30 p.m., TNT — Orlando at Gold- en State NHL •4 p.m., NHL NETWORK — Montre- al at Boston • 5:30 p.m., CSNC—San Jose at Winnipeg SOCCER •9 a.m., ESPN2 — MLS, Draft, at Kansas City, Mo. Fish tourney Hue y Burnett collected 9.41 lbs. of bass to take hon- ors at the Nor Cal Bassers December event on Shasta Lake. For infor- mation on joining the bass fishing club call Tim Vanek at 917-5230. MCT photo Alex Smith is winning over San Francisco 49ers fans this season. SANTA CLARA (AP) — At the end of last season, Doug Smith never imagined his son would play for the San Francisco 49ers again, not after hearing the quarterback get booed out of Candlestick Park and yet another coaching change on the way. Alex Smith sat down with his father to seek advice ahead of free agency. The 2005 No. 1 overall pick was intrigued by new coach Jim Harbaugh, an offensive guru at Stanford and a former NFL quarter- back who embraced Smith instant- ly. Still, the quarterback had his apprehensions about staying in San Francisco. ''It's easier to say, 'Well, the grass has got to be greener some- where else,''' Doug Smith said by phone this week from his home in La Mesa, Calif. ''As I reminded Alex, if he'd have turned the clock back two years to the post-Mike Nolan era, 'If they'd have hired Harbaugh instead of (Mike) Single- tary, you'd have been doing back- flips at that point, Alex. You would- n't have had any qualms. You would have been anxious. You would have been eager.' ''So I said, 'OK, you had some bad years there that went nowhere. But here it is. What do you do? You could try it somewhere else. Here's a guy that's finally offensively ori- ented.''' Every step since has been more surprising than the next. Smith has started to shed his draft-bust label and turned around his career under Harbaugh, leading the 49ers (13-3) to the playoffs for the first time in nine years. They'll host the New Orleans Saints (13-3) in the NFC divisional round Satur- day at Candlestick, a place fans smothered Smith with boos so often in the past. ''There are so many quarter- backs but they don't have that it fac- tor. I'm starting to see a lot more of that in him right now and it proba- bly has a lot to do with Jim Har- baugh because he played that posi- tion,'' said former 49ers receiver and Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. Smith has been by far the most surprising player for the NFC West champions. The former Utah quarterback threw for a career-best 3,144 yards and 17 touchdowns with only five interceptions, anchoring Har- baugh's version of the West Coast offense with record-tying efficien- cy. San Francisco finished with 10 total turnovers, equaling the 2010 New England Patriots for the fewest in NFL history. Smith, who has played under a different coordinator each season and only one previous offensive- minded coach in Norv Turner, has even started to sound like Harbaugh — refusing to relish any vindication and deflecting attention back to the team. ''I had a great season up to this point, but like I said, just got us a ticket to the dance like everybody else,'' Smith said. Those who know Smith best believe the NFL lockout might've helped more than hindered the quarterback despite a shortened off- season and a new coaching staff. Certainly, he had little chance to move elsewhere in free agency. Before he even signed a one-year deal, Smith hosted a pair of infor- mal minicamps at San Jose State during the lockout that some 49ers dubbed ''Camp Alex,'' forcing him to assume a leadership role. Smith organized practices, led classroom See SMITH, page 2B 7:30 p.m. TNT 3:15 p.m. 3:15 p.m. 3:15 p.m. TORONTO (AP) — DeMarcus Cousins wants to put ''the silly stuff'' behind him and just play basketball. So far, he seems to be doing exactly that. Cousins had 21 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, Tyreke Evans scored a season-high 29 points and the Sacramen- to Kings snapped a seven-game losing streak in Toronto by beating the Raptors 98-91 Wednes- day night. An escalating feud with former coach Paul Westphal led Cousins to demand a trade earlier this month, resulting in him being told to stay away from the team for a game. The spat was resolved when Westphal was fired and replaced by Keith Smart, who offered Cousins his support, and a blank slate. ''He's a new player, man,'' Evans said. ''I'm happy for him. He's done a great job just going out there and playing, help- ing us, not arguing with anybody on the team, just staying focused. ''He plays like that, he's an All-Star for sure,'' Evans added. ''The way he's playing right now is unbelievable. We need that out of him every night.'' Cousins acknowledged that things have been more fun since Smart took over. ''We're just out there playing ball, playing together and having fun,'' he said. ''We're having fun while we're working hard. That's the biggest thing.'' Cousins, whose previ- ous career high in rebounds was 18, set against Utah on March 5, 2011, said he wasn't aware how many he had until teammates on the See KINGS, page 2B 4 0 2 9 Daily News photo by Rich Greene Red Bluff's Mitch Robison attempts to drive through a trio of Shasta players,Wednesday night. By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor The Spartans allowed a late lead to slip away, Wednesday night, then couldn't inbound the ball to regain their advantage before ultimately falling to Shasta 44-41. Red Bluff got production up and down its bench and led 41-36 with 3 minutes remaining, but couldn't score again down the stretch. Twice in the final minute the Spartans had the ball out of bounds with a chance to take the lead, but both times Red Bluff failed to get the ball in. The first resulted in a foul on Shasta's Davis Crane, who made one of two free throws to put the Wolves up 42-41 with 19 seconds left. The second time came with 5 seconds left and gave the ball back to Shasta, which would lead to a foul on BJ Romac, who sunk two more free throws for the Wolves. Crane, Romac and Caleb Boyle led Shasta with nine points each. Connor Ross came off the bench to give Red Bluff a seven-point effort in the fourth quarter. Mitch Robison hit a 3-pointer in the final frame and Curtis Twitchell had a pair of baskets to build Red Bluff's lead. Evan Sinclair led Red Bluff with eight points. Taylor Blaser and Jonah McInnis each had six, Mike Nichols had a 3-pointer and Jake Avila and Lucas Burns had two points. Smith turns boos into cheers Evans, Cousins lead Kings win 33 40 52 36 91 98 Sports 1B Thursday January 12, 2012 Shasta slips by Spartans