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By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor L O S M O L I N O S — It's not easy to knock the king off the mountain and Tuesday the Los Molinos Bulldogs weren't ready to go down without a fight. The problem for the reigning Mid-Valley League soccer champions was the visiting Mercy Warriors had plenty of fight in them too. Behind a hat trick from Alvaro Ortega, Mercy won a back-and-forth shootout 5-4 putting to an end a pair of streaks. It was the first time since a 2-2 tie on Feb. 3, 2005, the Warriors had managed any sort of posi- tive result against the Bulldogs. It also snapped a stretch of 24 consecutive league wins by the Bull- dogs dating back to a Jan. 26, 2006 loss to Bishop Quinn. "It means a lot," Mercy goaltender Gabriel Guer- rero said of the win. "We had good teamwork, but we still have a lot to work on." Guerrero needed to make a pair of saves in the waning minutes of the second half to preserve the Mercy win. Only two minutes after Mercy had rallied with three consecutive second half goals to take a 5-3 lead, Los Molinos' Alex Fausto struck back to make it a one goal game. Ignited by Fausto's sec- ond goal of the match, the Bulldogs began pressing for an equalizer, but the Mercy defense and Guer- rero did enough to halt another Los Molinos comeback. Mercy had led 2-1 at halftime, behind two of Ortega's three goals. The first coming on a beautiful free kick from about 20 yards out and to the right of the net. The Bulldog goal had come on an equally bril- liant piece of play when Gaumel Murillo converted on a diving header from a Los Molinos corner kick. Los Molinos came out of halftime on fire and got quick strikes from Fausto and Jorge Salazar to take a 3-2 lead, their first of the game. The Bulldogs could not convert on a loose ball inside the 6-yard line that would have given them a two-goal lead and seconds later Liam Dobson blasted home the equalizer for Mercy from about 20 yards out. Two minutes later, Ortega put Mercy on top with his third goal from roughly the same spot. With about seven min- utes left in the game, Mercy's Christian Mon- dragon centered a ball that deflected off a Bulldog defender and trickled into the back of the net for the game-winner. The Tehama schools still have at least a pair of meetings remaining this season. Biggs will not field a team this season, leaving only three teams to make up the Mid-Valley League. Sports 1B Wednesday January 13, 2010 Wednesday Boys Basketball — Red Bluff at Oroville, 7:30 p.m. Wrestling — Corning at Central Valley, 6 p.m. Wrestling — Enterprise at Red Bluff, 6 p.m. Wrestling — Biggs/U-Prep/Colusa at Los Molinos NBA — Heat at Warriors, 7:30 p.m., CSNBA NCAA — Pittsburgh at Connecticut, 4 p.m., ESPN2 NFL AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Charles Woodson, CB, Green Bay NBA Tuesday's results Orlando at Sacramento, late Charlotte 102, Houston 94 Detroit 99, Washington 90 Memphis 104, L.A. Clippers 102 San Antonio 105, L.A. Lakers 85 Today's games Miami at Golden State, 7:30 p.m., CSNBA New York at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Phoenix at Indiana, 4 p.m. Washington at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Boston at New Jersey, 4:30 p.m. L.A. Clippers at New Orleans, 5 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. San Antonio at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. Minnesota at Houston, 5:30 p.m. Orlando at Denver, 6 p.m. Milwaukee at Portland, 7 p.m. Monday's late result Cleveland 117, Golden State 114 NCAA Tuesday's Top 25 results No. 2 Kentucky 89, Florida 77 Ohio State 70, No. 6 Purdue 66 No. 13 Kansas State 88, Texas A&M 65 Colorado 78, No. 22 Baylor 71 N.C. State 88, No. 25 Florida State 81 Today's Top 25 games No. 1 Texas at Iowa State, 5 p.m. No. 3 Kansas at Nebraska, 6 p.m., ESPN2 No. 5 Syracuse at Rutgers, 4:30 p.m. No. 7 Michigan St. vs. Minnesota, 3:30 p.m. No. 8 Duke vs. Boston College, 4 p.m., ESPN No. 10 West Virginia at South Florida, 4 p.m. No.12 N.Caro.at No.24 Clemson, 6 p.m., ESPN No. 13 Wisconsin at Northwestern, 5:30 p.m. No. 15 UConn vs. No. 16 Pitt, 4 p.m., ESPN2 No. 18 BYU at Air Force, 5 p.m. No. 19 Temple at Pennsylvania, 4 p.m. No. 20 Georgia Tech at Virginia, 4 p.m. No. 21 Mississippi at Georgia, 5 p.m. No. 23 Miami at Virginia Tech, 4 p.m. Tuesday's other televised games Utah State at Nevada, 8 p.m., ESPN2 NHL Tuesday's results San Jose 3, Phoenix 1 Atlanta 6, Ottawa 1 Carolina 4, Toronto 2 Nashville 5, Edmonton 3 New Jersey 1, N.Y. Rangers 0, SO N.Y. Islanders 6, Detroit 0 Philadelphia 6, Dallas 3 St. Louis 4, Columbus 1 Tampa Bay 7, Washington 4 Today's games Vancouver at Minnesota, 4 p.m. Washington at Florida, 4:30 p.m. Pittsburgh at Calgary, 6:30 p.m. Boston at Anaheim, 7 p.m. Monday's late results San Jose 2, Los Angeles 1 Colorado 3, Calgary 2, SO Nashville 3, Vancouver 2 Scoreboard Scoreboard Put one in the win column Daily News photo by Rich Greene Lady Spartans Morgan Weaver and Brandi Anthony wrestle the ball away from Oroville's Kylie Costa, Tuesday night, during Red Bluff's 52-34 win. By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor The Lady Spartans couldn't muster up a win during the entire season of Eastern Athletic League play in 2009, but they only needed two games this year. Red Bluff easily won its EAL home opener, Tuesday, thrashing Oroville 52-34 to improve to 1-1 in the league. Straight from the opening tip, the Lady Spartans looked anything but a team riding a 20-game league losing streak — knocking down open jumpers, crashing the boards and smothering Oroville on defense. After Roxanne Luppino calmly knocked down a pair of free throws fol- lowing a technical foul on Oroville's head coach, the Lady Spartans looked up to the scoreboard to see they had a 17-2 lead in the first quarter. The defense carried over to the sec- ond quarter and so did the offense as the Spartans extended their lead to 38- 9 at halftime and sealed the league vic- tory. Lily Brose led the Spartans with 20 points. Luppino finished with 11 points and Alana Hinkston added 10 points and eight rebounds despite battling foul trouble. Brandi Anthony and Morgan Weaver had four each and April All- wardt had two points. The Lady Spartans host Enterprise on Thursday. Mercy snaps Los Molinos' streak Daily News photo by Rich Greene Mercy goaltender Gabriel Guerrero dives in front of a shot, Tuesday, from the Bulldogs' Oracio Vargas. Red Bluff Youth Soccer League will be holding will be holding its Spring 2010 Soccer Sign-ups 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 23 at Round Table Pizza. There will be a $5 discount for those using the Jan. 23 walk-in sign-ups. Registrations may also be mailed through March 1. Registrations received after March 1 will require a $10 late fee and the child will be put on a waiting list if no team is available. More information and the mail-in registration form is available at www.rbysl.org or by calling 529-BALL. Soccer sign-ups 49ers look at April for special teams coordinator SANTA CLARA (AP) — San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Singletary has inter- viewed Bobby April for the team's vacant special teams coordinator job. The 49ers say Singletary met with April, a respected special teams coach most recently with Buffalo, on Tuesday in Orlando. That's after Singletary interviewed vet- eran coach Larry Mac Duff for the spot last week. April was fired by the Bills on Jan. 4, one day after the regular season ended. The 56-year-old April said afterward he opted out of the final two years of his contract because he doesn't expect to be part of the team's plans once it hires a new head coach. April joined the Bills in 2004 after a three-year stint with St. Louis, and was one of the few Bills assistants retained when former coach Dick Jauron took over in 2006. April completed his 18th season in the NFL after breaking into the league as a tight ends/special teams coach with Atlanta in 1991. April had the out clause written into his contract after the 2008 season, when speculation about Jauron's future was being raised. April said he wanted to keep his options open if Jauron was fired. April was credited for overseeing a golden era for Bills special teams. Led by punter Brian Moorman, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, the unit finished first three times in the annual end-of-season Dallas Morning News rankings, which are regarded as the standard by the NFL. Last week, San Francisco declined to renew the contract of Al Everest, who took over the job from Mac Duff in 2007. Upgrading the Niners' return game is among Singletary's offseason priorities after the team struggled in that area all season. The unit was last in the NFL in average punt return yardage and the Niners finished 8-8, missing the playoffs for the seventh straight year. Mac Duff, 61, spent four seasons as San Francisco's spe- cial teams coordinator from 2003-06 and then went from the 49ers to co-defensive coordinator at Texas for one season in 2007. He most recently was defensive coordinator and spe- cial teams coach for the Las Vegas Locomotives of the Unit- ed Football League. Kiffin to return to USC KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Lane Kiffin is returning to Southern Cali- fornia as the Trojans' coach after just one season at Ten- nessee. Kiffin was chosen Tues- day to replace Pete Carroll, his mentor and employer for six seasons. Kiffin was the Trojans' offensive coordina- tor before his brief stints with the Oakland Raiders and the Volunteers. ''This was not an easy decision,'' he said Tuesday night, reading a brief state- ment on Tennessee's campus. His father, respected defensive coach Monte Kiffin, and longtime USC assistant Ed Orgeron also will leave Ten- nessee to join him, USC said in a statement. Volunteers assistant Kippy Brown, who joined Kiffin's staff less than four weeks ago, was promoted to interim coach. Lane Kiffin Daily News photo by Rich Greene Red Bluff's lone senior Reba Barnwell passes the ball.