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Sports 1B Friday January 15, 2010 Friday Boys Basketball — Corning at Anderson Boys Basketball — Red Bluff at Enterprise, 7:30 p.m. Boys Basketball — University Prep at Mercy Girls Basketball — Corning at Anderson Girls Basketball — University Prep at Mercy Wrestling — Los Molinos at Sm Schools Champ in Lakeport Sign-ups Lacrosse Red Bluff Youth Lacrosse will be holding a registration and meet- ing for parents and play- ers at 6:30 p.m., Sunday at Round Table Pizza in the Belle Mill Shopping center. Youth are still needed between third and eighth grade to fill vacancies on the Under-11, Under-13 and Under-15 teams. No experience is nec- essary as skills needed to be successful will be taught. Lacrosse is a fast- paced sport and a great way to stay in shape. Registration will remain open until the teams are full. For more information visit www.red- blufflacrosse.com or call Coach Corey at 736- 2992. Little League Sign-ups for Little League baseball have been moved to the Red Bluff Community and Senior Center. New players may signup at the community center on Saturday, Jan. 16 or Saturday, Jan 23 at the community center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Returning players may still signup online at the redblufflittle- league.com Web site and pay fees with a cred- it card. The program is for boys and girls between the ages of five and 15. For more information call Scott Smith at 736- 5822. American Legion American Legion sign-ups will be held 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sat- urday near the Red Bluff High School gymnasium. Players for the Bulls must be 19-and- under in 2010 and for the Jr. Bulls 17-and- under by the end of the state tournament in August. Players should bring a $50 check for a sign-up fee, which will be refunded should the player not make one of the teams. Tryouts are sched- uled for Jan. 23 between 1 to 4 p.m. with a make-up date of the following Saturday For more informa- tion or those with a conflict who can not make the sign-ups should call Jim Bono- mini at 529.3320 as soon as possible and leave name, phone number and date of birth. Soccer Red Bluff Youth Soccer League will be holding its Spring 2010 Soccer Sign-ups 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 23 at Round Table Pizza. Three will be a $5 discount for those using the Jan. 23 walk-in sign-ups. Registrations may be mailed through March 1. R e g i s t r a t i o n s 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 registra- tion form is available at www.rbysl.org or by calling 529-BALL. Bulldogs bounce back with 7-2 win By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor LOS MOLINOS — Despite conceding the opening goal, the Los Molinos Bulldogs earned their first win of the soccer season, Thursday, defeating Liberty Christian 7- 2. Although the Bulldogs dominated possession with the Patriots rarely able to get the ball over midfield, Liberty Christian was able to capital- ize on a counter-attack to net the game's first goal. From there however, it was all Los Molinos. Oracio Vargas tied the game minutes later, when he lifted a shot over a Patriot defender and the goalkeeper from the 6- yard line and into the top right corner of the net. Alberto Rodriguez then hit a low-driving kick from about 18 yards out to put the Bull- dogs ahead 2-1 at halftime. Rodriguez scored two more goals to open the second half and complete his natural hat trick. On the first, the Liberty Christian defenders gave Rodriguez all the time he needed, to chest trap a ball down to his feet and take a driving shot toward goal. His third goal came even easier after Alex Fausto blis- tered in a shot from the right side of goal and the Patriot goalie couldn't maintain con- trol. Rodriguez then raced in and tapped in the rebound for the 4-1 Bulldog lead. The Patriots got on the board one last time off a beau- tifully taken penalty shot from about 30 yards out bended into the top of the net, but Liberty Christian had very few chances in the second half. "We talked to each other and we passed the ball more," Jorge Ruiz said of the Bull- dogs improved play in the sec- ond half. Gaumel Murillo scored a pair of second half goals, the second coming off of a diving header from a Los Molinos corner kick. Fredy Castellon, who had a pair of assists, got on the board himself with a goal to close out the win. Murillo and Fausto each tal- lied assists during the match. The Bulldogs are 1-6-1 on the season and improved to 1- 1 in league play. "We need to improve in communication and be more aggressive throughout the whole game," coach Claudio Martinez said. Editor's Note: In the Bulldogs game story printed in the Wednesday, Jan. 13 edition, credit for their third goal should have been given to Jorge Ruiz. Daily News photo by Rich Greene Oracio Vargas curls a shot over the Liberty Christian defense, Thursday, for a goal. Lady Spartans can't control Hornets By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor The Lady Spartans had a one-point lead with six minutes to play, but couldn't hold onto victo- ry, Thursday, as Enterprise came back for a 68-55 victory. The lead was the Spartans only in the game as they rallied back behind 13 third quarter points from Lily Brose. She finished with 19. Red Bluff shot 11-for-33 from the free throw line, while the Hornets drained their last seven attempts to help inflate the score. Lottie Jones had 16 and Alana Hinkston 12 points for Red Bluff. Both also played well on the boards. Spartan Boys The Spartans made up for a slow start in the first quarter, Wednesday, by stepping on the gas over the final three periods on their way to a 69- 36 rout of Oroville. After falling behind in the first period, the Spartans outscored Oroville 59-27 the rest of the way to earn their first Eastern Athletic League vic- tory of the season. Coach Stan Twitchell said the improved play came about from the Spartan transition defense, which led to open shots down the floor. Trevor Capik shot the ball extremely well, Twitchell said, making four 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 19-point effort. Devin Shoop scored 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Grant Blaser chipped in with 13 points for the Spartans who improved to 8-6 overall and 1-1 in the EAL. The Spartans travel to Enterprise, tonight. Daily News photo by Rich Greene Red Bluff's Lottie Jones try to get a shot by Enterprise's Ravien Lawson. OAKLAND (AP) — Monta Ellis is putting up 30- point games at such a pace he's drawing comparisons to greats like Allen Iverson. He's also making quite a case to earn the Golden State Warriors their first All- Star nod since Latrell Sprewell 13 years ago. ''He's more powerful in some ways than Iverson was,'' Boston coach Doc Rivers said. ''I don't know if he's a scorer like Iverson yet, but he's working on it. He's still so young.'' While Ellis has all the impressive numbers to make him an All-Star, the big question is whether he can beat out other top guards in the Western Conference whose teams have far more wins. Ellis is averaging 25.9 points per game for a young Warriors team that sits at 11- 26, but everybody around this franchise knows there would be even fewer W's without Ellis. When disgruntled swing- man Stephen Jackson finally left town in a trade with Charlotte in November, Ellis quickly took the reins for a club that desperately needed someone to do so. ''It's really just coming to me,'' Ellis said. ''I'm trying to get everybody involved, get myself going.'' His teammates are cam- paigning for Ellis to be the team's first All-Star since 1997. ''All-Star status,'' Ronny Turiaf said. ''There is noth- ing else to say, no other way to describe it. He's playing at such a high level. I'm going to be in Dallas to watch him.'' Ellis has four 30-point games in his last six outings and has hit that number in 15 of 28 games since Jack- son was traded Nov. 16. ''Monta Ellis is one of those untalked-about stars, but I'd like to put him in the top seven guards,'' Cleve- land's Shaquille O'Neal said. ''He's a great player.'' Ellis signed a lucrative $66 million, six-year deal after he averaged a career- best 20.2 points during the 2007-08 season. He then sustained a serious ankle injury that summer on his motorized scooter and missed most of the season. It cost him a 30-game suspen- sion without pay, because he wasn't supposed to be riding such a vehicle. He returned to average 19 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 25 games. It was a tough year, but Ellis is so important to the Warriors that coach Don Nelson and general manager Larry Riley flew to Mem- phis to visit him during the offseason. The aim: to reit- erate what he meant to this tough-luck franchise. Still, the guard arrived at training camp somewhat disgruntled, questioning whether he and top draft pick Stephen Curry could coexist in the backcourt. Ellis later backed down and now's he having his best season yet. During the summer, Ellis became a father to Monta Jr., so he's clearly thriving at work and home. ''He's a very talented player,'' Cavaliers superstar LeBron James said. ''To be able to come back from the injuries that he had with the motorcycle accident is unbelievable. His work and the determination to come back and do what he's been doing for this team, and for him individually, has been great.'' Yet there are those who believe the Warriors' lack of success will hurt Ellis' chances of being an All- Star. Golden State is second- to-last in the talented West- ern Conference and still Ellis makes strong case for All-Star nod Monta Ellis See ELLIS, page 2B