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Sports 1B Weekend January 16-17, 2010 Weekend Sat — Wrestling — Red Bluff at North Coast Classic in Eureka Sat — NBA — Kings at Wizards, 4 p.m., CSNCA Sat — NFL — Playoffs, Cardinals at Saints, 1:30 p.m., FOX Sat — NFL — Playoffs, Ravens at Colts, 5 p.m., CBS Sun — NFL — Playoffs, Cowboys at Vikings, 10 a.m., FOX Sun — NFL — Playoffs, Jets at Chargers, 1:30 p.m., CBS Mercy falls to U-Prep Tehama Tracker Red Bluff boys basketball Enterprise knocked off the Spartans 65-52, Friday night. Red Bluff is 8-7, 1-2 in the EAL. Los Molinos boys basketball The Bulldogs evened out their record at 8-8, Thurs- day, with a 52-39 victory against Live Oak. Jc Conrad led the way with 13 points with brother Sean Conrad contributing 11 points. Eric Blanchard had 10 points and Efrain Cardenas pulled down eight rebounds. Corning girls basketball The Lady Cardinals opened Northern Athletic League play, Friday, with a 55-41 road win at Ander- son. The Cardinals were led by 16 points and 10 rebounds from Brittney Garrett. Regan Albee had 11 points and six assists and Chante' Dale added 10 points. Corning girls soccer Maggie Ramirez had a goal and two assists, Thurs- day, as the Corning Lady Cardinals beat up on Yreka 4- 1. Karen Torres recorded a goal and an assist and Corn- ing also received goals from Nicole Mason and Cynthia Ramirez. Tristen Hutnley had three saves in net. 49ers set to play Broncos in London LONDON (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers will play the Denver Broncos next season at Wembley Sta- dium, the fourth straight year the NFL will stage a regular- season game in the British capital. The 49ers will be listed as the home team for the Oct. 31 game. ''For the past three years we have seen the extraordinary passion that exists for NFL football in the U.K.,'' NFL com- missioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. ''We want to continue to build on that passion by strengthening our ties to our existing U.K. fans and creating new ones.'' The game between the five-time Super Bowl champion 49ers and two-time winner Broncos may not be the only one in Britain next season. ''The NFL will continue to explore the possibility of playing a second game in the UK in 2010,'' the NFL said. The 49ers and Broncos struggled to 8-8 records this sea- son and missed the playoffs. The NFL has played games at Wembley for the last three seasons, with more than 80,000 fans at each game. The first game featured the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants beating the Miami Dolphins 13-10. In 2008, the New Orleans Saints beat the San Diego Chargers 37-32. And this season, the New England Patriots defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7 in October. ''The previous games in London have had a playoff-like atmosphere to them, so that's always a good thing to play in that type of an environment,'' Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said. ''We'll be ready for the challenge.'' The 49ers dominated the NFL in the 1980s, winning four Super Bowls with Joe Montana as the star quarterback. The team won another Super Bowl in 1994. ''London is a wonderful venue for two of the most storied franchises in NFL history to square off,'' 49ers president Jed York said. San Francisco coach Mike Singletary, who is giving up a home game to play in London, said his players won't be bothered by the long flight to England. ''I have no doubt that our players will be ready to go,'' he said. ''What a great opportunity it is for us to play in such a setting.'' The Broncos have played seven international exhibition games in the past, and team president Pat Bowlen said they were ''honored'' to come to Britain again. ''It's a wonderful, historic opportunity for our franchise and will be an unforgettable experience for our players, coaches and fans,'' Bowlen said. Aside from Wembley, Manchester and Glasgow, Scot- land, are being looked at as potential venues to host NFL games. In October, before the New England-Tampa Bay game, Goodell said the idea of eventually putting an expansion team in London was of ''tremendous interest'' to the NFL. He gave no timeline when such a decision might be taken. NBA, Kings support proposal for new downtown arena SACRAMENTO (AP) — The NBA and the Sacra- mento Kings are throwing their support behind a pro- posal to build a new arena and entertainment complex. The league and the Mal- oof family, which owns the Kings, announced Thursday they would support the plan unveiled by Gerry Kamilos, a Sacramento land developer. Kamilos' proposal involves moving the State Fair- grounds to the Arco Arena site in Natomas, and building a new arena in downtown Sacramento. His plan was one of seven submitted in response to Mayor Kevin Johnson's request in November. Johnson says the 22-year-old Arco Arena is outdated, and without a new facility, the Kings might leave town. According to the NBA, the Kings agreed to put $300 mil- lion into the project by signing a 30-year lease with an annu- al rent of $10 million. ——— Information from: The Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com Daily News photo by Rich Greene Mercy's Mitchell Lopez pounces on a loose ball, Friday, during Mercy's league opener. By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor Mercy couldn't overcome slow starts in each half and Kyle Ham- blin poured in 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for visiting University Prep, who topped the Warriors 52-47 in the Tri-Cities League opener. "We just didn't take care of the ball very well," Mercy coach Steve Shellabarger, who added the War- riors started the game flat. Mercy had dug itself an early deficit as they continued to turn the ball over trying to make passes into the low post and the Warriors found themselves down 15-6 after the first period. Momentum finally shifted back to Mercy after Shellabarger called time out near the start of the second period. Mitchell Lopez came off the bench to help spark the Warriors, who got a 3-pointer from Ryan Ward and back-to-back fast break layups from Cameron Vietti and Royce Crane to tie the game at 17- 17. Crane and Lopez provided a combined 14 points off the bench and some quality minutes for the Warriors. An 18-foot jumper by Lopez as time was winding down at halftime gave the Warriors a 26-24 lead at the break. Hamblin and Matt Youngman, who finished with 10 points, carried the Panthers in the third quarter, as U-Prep outscored Mercy 20-13 to regain a five-point lead despite a pair of 3-pointers from Ali Syed. The closest Mercy could trim the lead in the fourth quarter was three points, but Hamblin had just enough left to keep the Warriors back. Jeremie Jones and Syed led the Warriors with 10 points each. Mercy fell to 9-6 on the season and 0-1 in league play. Panthers too much for Lady Warriors By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor University Prep's full- court pressure proved to be too much for the Lady Warriors to overcome, Friday night, as the Pan- thers defeated Mercy 52- 34. The Lady Warriors had trouble moving the ball down the court in the first half and never settled into an offense and found themselves down 28-12 by halftime. Mercy also had no answer for U-Prep's Kimmy Micheletti, who scored 24 points, includ- ing 10-for-12 from the free throw line. Natasha Czajka led Mercy with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Benicia Grace added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Warriors who fell to 4-9 on the season and 0-1 in the Tri-Cities League. Daily News photo by Rich Greene Mercy's Benicia Grace (center) fights for the ball, Friday night, between a pair of University Prep defenders. A's to trade Padres for Kouzmanoff SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres agreed Friday to trade third baseman Kevin Kouz- manoff and a minor leaguer to the Oakland Athletics for outfielders Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade was pend- ing physicals and neither team had made an announcement. The person did not identify which minor leaguer the Padres would send to the A's. San Diego was set to reacquire Hairston after sending him to the Athletics on July 5 for three players. Kouzmanoff apparently will be an insurance policy for the Athletics at third base. Six-time Gold Glove winner Eric Chavez might not be able to return to that position after recovering from a second back surgery that cost him most of the 2009 season. Kouzmanoff has been mentioned in trade rumors off and on since touted prospect Chase Headley made his big league debut for San Diego in June 2007. The trade would allow the Padres to move Headley to third base. Kyle Blanks, who made his big league debut last year, would replace Headley in left field. Hairston could platoon in center with Tony Gwynn Jr. Kouzmanoff is perhaps best-known for becoming the first player in history to hit a grand slam on the first pitch he saw as a major lea- guer. Hours after being called up by Cleveland on Sept. 2, 2006, he connected against Texas. Kouzmanoff was traded to the Padres for second MNG file photo Kevin Kouzmanoff could become an Athletic. See TRADE, page 2B