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Staff report ANDERSON TheRedBluffLady Spartans basketball team eas- ily beat the Las Plumas Thun- derbirds Friday night 61-34 at the Anderson tournament. With the win the Spartans move to 3-0 on the season and the third game in a row scor- ing 60 or more. Jesse Miller led the Spartans with 12 points, 15 rebounds and a block; Kylee Kitchell had 11 points and 8 rebounds; Ca- rissa Twitchell had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks; Megan Boone had 9 points and 3 re- bounds and Allyson Drury had 6 points and 6 rebounds. The Spartans fell to West Valley in Saturday's game, 59- 54. The Spartans will face the Thunderbirds again Thursday in the Oroville tournament. Othergames The Corning Lady Cardinals beat Hayfork 48-27 Thursday night, lost to West Valley 59- 38 Friday night and beat Las Plumas 49-42 Saturday. The Los Molinos Lady Bull- dogs won the Rex Bacon Eagle Classic tournament in Prince- ton with wins over Woodland Christian and Burney on Sat- urday. The Bulldogs beat Wood- land Christian 50-45 and Bur- ney 44-33, after opening with a 53-13 win over Elk Creek Fri- day. The Mercy Lady Warriors fell to East Nicolaus Friday 59- 18 in tournament play and lost to Williams 29-21 Saturday. GIRLS BASKETBALL LADYSPARTANSWIN BIG OVER LAS PLUMAS RedBluffwinsAndersontournament,LadyBulldogstakePrincetontournament PHOTOCOURTESYOFLARRYLONG The Los Molinos Lady Bulldogs pose for a team photo Friday evening. LAS VEGAS Ryder Wright doesn't intend to leave the win- ner's circle — perhaps for the du- ration of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Wright entered some rarified air in Round 4. Wright's 85.5-point trip on Flying 5 Rodeo's Sundance earned the 18-year-old his fourth consecutive WNFR round win, which is something only two other men in roughstock events have ever accomplished — sad- dle bronc riding brothers Billy and Robert Etbauer. Robert, a two-time world champion, is the only man to win four straight rounds out- right — in 1991. Billy, a five-time world champion, won or split the win in four consecutive rounds in 2005. "I have no idea, I must be liv- ing right," Wright said of his current hot streak. "I come and get ready to get on my grand en- try horse and just do what the bronc riders do — do what I grew up watching." He's now just $1,000 behind defending World Champion Jacobs Crawley for the world standings lead, and Crawley bucked off tonight. "It's crazy to come in at 14th and then move that high up in four rounds," Wright said. "I try not to think about it because I get nervous and then I don't do good. So, I stay calm and think about other stuff. Just anything, like what color the sky is." Another side effect of Wright's pure domination at this WNFR is that he's now the clear-cut leader to take home the RAM Top Gun Award, which goes to the WNFR competitor who earns the most money in a sin- gle event. Through four nights, he's earned as much as a competi- tor mathematically can — a cool $114,923. If he keeps up this pace, he'll be taking home a new RAM truck, a custom buckle from Montana Silversmiths and a commemorative firearm. "It's awesome that RAM does that for the PRCA, and I'd be tickled pink to get that truck and buckle — if there's a gun too, even better," Wright said. The Minor brothers are doing some major damage in the team roping field. Riley and Brady are roping as well as any duo in Las Ve- gas, and they took the victory lap for the second straight night in Round 4. A night after they tied for the win with Matt Sherwood and Quinn Kesler, the Minors were alone at the top with a time of 4.4 seconds. "We were third out, so we didn't know what was going to happen," Riley said. "But we try to make the same run every time, and just be smooth. "They were second on that steer in the first round, and I liked him then. I didn't handle him as good as I'd like — I had a little extra slack and didn't set him up as well as I like to — but it worked out." Brady had to make a slight ad- justment mid-run, but handled it like an eight-time WNFR vet- eran. It resulted in another win, and another big check, bumping both men to No. 2 in the world. They've both earned a total of $73,038 through four nights. "All professionals react fast. I was a little close, not in per- fect position, but I adjusted," Brady said. "Our goal was to win $100,000 here this week, so we're (more than) halfway there." Marty Yates wasn't having the WNFR he had hoped for when the fourth round started. But he got everything back on track in 6.8 seconds. The 22-year-old tie-down roper clocked the third-fast- est fourth-round time ever, and washed away the no-times he took the previous two rounds. "It's the best feeling in the whole world," Yates said of be- ing 6.8. "I'm very fortunate just to get to rope in the Thomas & Mack. There are a lot of people sitting at home, wishing they were here with us. So to be able to get here, shine, do well and flirt with a record, that's awe- some." It was the first tie-down rop- ing run of these Finals under the seven-second mark, and was only a tenth of a second off Yates' personal best time — a 6.7-second run to win Round 4 in 2014. "There's just something about first place to me," he said. "I've laid in bed at night, wishing I could catch more of them and be smarter about it. But when someone sticks 6.8 in front of me, I want to be 6.7. That's how my mind ticks. I don't know what it is, but it has worked for me this far." Steer wrestler J.D. Struxness decided he didn't want to share first place in Round 4, one night after he tied for the Round 3 vic- tory with Tyler Waguespack. The 22-year-old from Apple- ton, Minn., stopped the clock in 3.8 seconds, edging out Wagues- pack and Jason Thomas by one- tenth of second. "Last night was the ice breaker," Struxness said. "The second round, the nerves were still there, and I was trying to look for my first round win. That didn't happen, and I stubbed my toe. After I got the Round-3 win, I got the momentum rolling, and I need to keep it rolling. My fam- ily is so excited to be here, and round wins are just a bonus." He moved to third in the NATIONAL FINALS RODEO Ry de r Wr ig ht e nt er s ra ri fi ed a ir DURHAM The Corning Cardi- nals boys basketball team won the Herb Jergentz Tournament Satur- day with a 58-53 win over the Oro- ville Tigers 58-53 in the champi- onship game. The win came after the Cardi- nals knocked off the Lassen Griz- zlies Friday 57-44. Corey Busta led the Cardi- nals with 16 points and 6 boards; Noah Zoppi had 11 points and 7 rebounds and Brendan Hoag had 10 points and 4 rebounds. Daniel Vasquez had 10 rebounds. The Cardinals are slated to host the University Prep Panthers at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Other games The Red Bluff Spartans boys lost to the Marysville Indians Friday 61-48 and beat the host Wheatland Pirates 68-43 Satur- day in tournament play. The Spartans are scheduled to face the Eureka Loggers Thursday at the Arcata Tournament. The Los Molinos Bulldogs beat the Ipakanni Early College Char- ter Hawks 81-20 and lost to the Princeton Eagles 55-43 Friday, and beat the Providence Lions 58- 43 and CORE Butte 55-39 Satur- day in tournament play. The Bulldogs are scheduled to host the Greenville Indians at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Mercy Warriors lost to the Providence Lions 62-22 Friday and beat the Ipakanni Early Col- lege Charter Hawks 65-53 Satur- day in tournament play. The Warriors are scheduled to visit Fall River Tuesday night. BASKETBALL CardinalstakeDurhamtourneytitle By Josh Dubow The Associated Press ALAMEDA The Oakland Raiders will have little time to prepare for their biggest game in 14 years. The Raiders (10-2) didn't get much of a chance to savor their sixth straight victory before turn- ing their attention Monday to an AFC West showdown against the Chiefs (9-3) on Thursday night in Kansas City. Instead of taking their usual Monday off for the players, the Raiders were back on the prac- tice field preparing for a rematch with the Chiefs that will play a big part in determining which team wins the division. "We're going to be excited to play," coach Jack Del Rio said. "That's how we're looking at it. Tough set of circumstances. We don't mind tough things, so we're looking forward to the challenge." The Raiders have handled a number of schedule challenges already this season as they are off to their best start since 2000 and poised to end a 13-year play- off drought. They opened the season with three road games with early starts in the first four weeks and won all of them. They spent a week practicing in Florida be- tween road games at Jackson- ville and Tampa Bay and swept the trip. They bounced back from an overtime win over the Bucca- neers to beat Denver the follow- ing week. They won a game in the high altitude at Mexico City and came back on a short week to beat a well-rested Carolina squad. Now comes the trip to Kansas City, where the Raiders will try to snap a four-game losing streak against the Chiefs, including a 26-10 loss at home in October. "The physical part, just recov- ering and getting guys to do ev- erything they can to get back to neutral and feel good," safety Nate Allen said when asked about the challenges of a short week. "Even the mental part is big. Something you'd have four or five days to study a team, you have two days. Everybody has to go over the top with everything preparing mentally and physi- cally." With the Chiefs already win- ning once against Oakland, a second victory would give them a potential tiebreaker and mean the Raiders would need help to win the division. An Oakland win would give the Raiders a two- game lead in the AFC West with three remaining. Both teams head into the game on a roll, with the Raiders having won six in a row and the Chiefs taking seven of eight. Both have a penchant for coming from behind this season, with Oakland posting six fourth-quarter comebacks and Kansas City four. "The good teams find a way to win and they've done that as well," Del Rio said. "Both teams know what it looks like to win. Should be a great game." NFL Raiders prep for Thursday showdown BEN MARGOT — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio, le , greets Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan a er the game in Oakland Sunday. Oakland plays the Chiefs on Thursday. RODEO PAGE 4 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, December 6, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1