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ELISEAMENDOLA—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) pulls down a defensive rebound in front of Boston Celtics forward Jonas Jerebko in the first quarter Friday in Boston. ByJimmyGolen TheAssociatedPress BOSTON KlayThompsonscored28 points, Kevin Durant had 23 points and 10 rebounds against the team he spurned this summer and the Golden State Warriors scored 18 points in a row in the third quarter to pull away and beat the Boston Celtics 104-88 on Friday night. Stephen Curry had just 16 points — his second-fewest of the season — while sitting out much of the fourth quarter as the Warriors cruised to their sixth straight victory. Zaza Pa- chulia had 12 rebounds and Dray- mond Green had eight rebounds and eight assists for Golden State in its only visit to Boston this season. Avery Bradley had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Boston and Isaiah Thomas scored a season-low 18. Thomas hit a 3-pointer early in the third quarter to make it a 10-point game, but the Warriors scored the next 18 points. They made it 86-57 at the end of the third and opened a 30-point lead in the fourth before Boston chipped it down to 11 in the final 90 seconds. But Curry, who had re-entered the game midway through the fourth as the Celtics threatened to come back, hit a 3-pointer, Jaylen Brown missed one for Boston, and then Curry added a finger roll to clinch it. Curry shot 7 for 20 in all, making just 2 of 10 attempts from 3-point range. It was the second time this season he has been held under 20 points. Boston challenged the Warriors last season while they were on their way to a record-breaking 73-9 reg- ular season. After losing in double overtime in Boston, the Celtics beat the Warriors on April 1 to hand them their first home loss of the season. NBA ThompsonleadsWarriorstowin Golden State guard nets 28 points against Celtics, Durant adds 23 points WARRIORS104,CELTICS88 Up next: Golden State Warriors at Milwaukee Bucks, 5:30p.m. Saturday, TV on CSN-BA. THESCORE Special to the DN RED BLUFF The Red Bluff Spar- tans Junior Midget cheer squad is heading to Las Vegas to com- pete at Jamz Cheer Nationals for the second year in a row. Thesquadqualifiedfornation- als with a win at the Nor Cal Fed Division 1 cheer championship this year, and was crowned the Grand Champion with the high score for the day. The girls will travel to Las Vegas to compete in January for the national title. The cheer squad's coaches attribute their success to hard work and determination. The coaching staff, consisting of head coach Deanna Reid and assistant coaches Cori Dittner, Lisa Zirkle and Chase Feusi and trainers Hannah Dittner and Kaitlyn Bachmeyer, has been coaching many of these athletes since they were at the Mighty Mite level, which has contrib- uted to their success. The 2016 squad consists of Shelby Arellano, Nelly Avelar, Jaime Bailey, Mackenzie Bailey, Aubree Bachmeyer, Emma Bell, Francesca Bill, Elizabeth Can- non, Aaliyah Chavez, Yasmin Chavez, Camryn Clement, Cas- sandra Criss, Badegech Dittner, Patience Felix-Keeler, Kirra Fer- reira, Kadence Fackrell-Meier, Anabel Gonzalez, Anjelica Martinez, Natalie Moore, Em- ily Rupe, Chrissy Stevens, Al- exandra Strole, Allie Van Or- num, Emily Wagner and Abi- gail Zirkle. The Midget cheer squad con- sisting of Elyse Benson, Kaitlyn Callaway, Victoria Clark, Julia McDonald, Alexa Sanchez, Air- eona Scheffler, Alexandra Tor- res-Ramos and Lily Morales- Ruiz had a qualifying score at the Nor Cal Fed cheer competi- tion and will be combining with the Junior Midget squad to form one team when they compete for the national title at Las Vegas. The Midgets are led by head coach Kaitlyn Edmonds and trainer Aubree Van Ornum. The girls have been working really hard fundraising to get to nationals. Donations are wel- come via a Go Fund Me Account at gofundme.com/2f62ph4j. CHEER SPARTANS SQUAD IS GRAND CHAMPION Junior Midgets win Nor Cal Fed, combined team to compete for national title in Vegas CONTRIBUTED The Red Bluff Spartans Junior Midget cheer squad poses for a photo a er being named grand champions. By Jenna Fryer The Associated Press HOMESTEAD, FLA. His race team built him a car fitting for the bad- dest man on wheels. Tony Stew- art will take his final NASCAR ride in a tribute Chevrolet signed by every team member, the hood emblazoned with photos from his championship years and the slo- gan, "Always a Racer, Forever a Champion." His helmet? Well, that was something special. It's a weath- ered throwback that looks as if it has been hanging in a barn on his Indiana farm for decades. It appeared rusted, said "Smoke. Unlimited Speed," and was a gritty symbol of one of the last true racers. Stewart will retire from NAS- CAR competition Sunday after nearly two decades on the ham- ster wheel. His years were spent winning races, battling author- ity and speaking his mind, even when the topic was unpopular, and when no one else had the guts. He's brash, boorish and a beast in a race car. "I don't know that we've ever really had someone like him come into this series," said four-time champion Jeff Gordon, himself a recent retiree. And that's partly why he's leaving. He's 45 and his heart has never been fully into NAS- NASCAR SPRINT CUP Stewart ready for last race of career By Cam Inman Bay Area News Group SANTA CLARA Up next for the San Francisco 49ers still-suspect run defense is merely the league's leader in rushing touchdowns: LaGarrette Blount. How can the New England Patriots' 250-pound veteran be stopped on Sunday? "He's definitely one of the big- ger backs we'll face this year and he's certainly a guy that we're go- ing to have to gang tackle," 49ers coach Chip Kelly said this week: "It's going to be very difficult for one guy to get him down." Kelly would know, having coached Blount at Oregon and gained immediate admiration for his field vision and athleticism. Of course, Kelly also had to sus- pend him eight games in 2009 af- ter Blount threw punched a Boise State player after the opener. "I developed a great amount of respect for him in terms of what he went through and how he han- dled himself in a really bad situ- ation that he knows he put him- self in," Kelly said. "... He was will- NFL Blount will pose trouble for 49ers' 'D' Let's tackle the situation head on, which is what Cal must do against Christian Mc- Caffrey or it will be an endless af- ternoon for the Bears. It is easy, far too easy, to focus on what the Big Game is not, at least when compared to many of its peer rivalry games in the Pac- 12. Unlike the Apple Cup in Washington, it's not a duel for the North division title. Unlike the Crosstown Show- down in Los Angeles, it doesn't feature the hottest team (USC) or player (quarterback Sam Darnold) in the conference. Unlike the Utah-Colorado duel, it's not a collision of teams with conference champi- onship and playoff aspirations. (And because of all that, the Cal-Stanford matchup on Sat- urday in Berkeley is not on ESPN or Fox. Instead, it's on the Pac-12 Networks, which means it's not on DirecTV.) The 119th Big Game even pales in comparison to its im- mediate predecessor, which featured the potential No. 1 pick in the draft (Cal quarter- back Jared Goff), a Heisman Trophy candidate (McCaffrey), and playoff hopeful (Stanford). All that said, there are rea- sons to attend, to watch and to care. Calmustwin The Bears (4-6, 2-5) have two games left and need two victories to secure a bowl berth. They could lose Satur- day and sneak in through the 5-7 loophole, but that's hardly a sure thing and would require them to beat UCLA next week (hardly a sure thing, as well). A postseason berth would have a far-reaching impact for the Bears on two fronts, allow- ing them to maintain the mo- mentum generated last year — they beat Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl — and pro- viding several weeks of addi- tional practice. Those workouts could be in- strumental in getting younger players ready for next season. The list starts with inexperi- enced quarterbacks Ross Bow- ers and Chase Forrest. Stanford, too There are postseason impli- cations for Stanford, as well. The Cardinal (7-3, 5-3) have clinched a berth but are look- ing to move up the Pac-12 COLLEGE FOOTBALL The Big Game: Plenty on line for Cal, Stanford NHAT V. MEYER — BAY AREA NEWS GROUP Stanford has retained the Axe every year this decade thanks to its six-game winning streak over Cal. The rivals meet Saturday in Memorial Stadium. Jon Wilner BIG GAME PAGE 2 STEWART PAGE 2 49ERS PAGE 2 WARRIORS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, November 19, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1