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ByJerryMcDonald BayAreaNewsGroup ALAMEDA When we last saw Raiders quarterback Derek Carr under center on Nov. 27, he exited with his right pinkie finger bent in different directions after an ex- change with Rodney Hudson. Since Carr's return that day, he has taken 231 snaps from cen- ter — every one of them in either the shotgun or pistol formations, when the snap travels at least four yards through the air and with limited force on the hands of the quarterback. Whether the Raiders return to plays run from under center against Indianapolis Saturday at the Coliseum remains to be seen, and certainly won't be advertised by the coaching staff in advance. In a 19-16 win over San Di- ego, Carr actually lined up un- der center late in the first quar- ter long enough to draw Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa offsides for a penalty. The ball was never snapped. The rest of the game was strictly shotgun and pistol. Carr is playing with the finger taped, his brother David telling NFL Me- dia at the time of the injury it was dislocated in two places. While Carr directed the Raid- ers to a wins over Carolina and Buffalo, the offense has struggled in the last two games against di- vision opponents Kansas City and San Diego with two touchdowns in 10 red zone possessions. The Raiders haven't run plays from under center in either short yardage or goal line, which usu- ally calls for those formations, and even ran five snaps in kneel- down formations against Caro- lina and San Diego out of shot- gun. All of which suggests Carr's pinkie is limiting the Raiders to some extent offensively, although RAIDERS When will QB Carr be under center? Mum's the word RedBluff's Brayden Hutchens puts up a shot Friday night against Franklin. CHIP THOMPSON - DAILY NEWS By Chip Thompson editor@redbluffdailynews.com @editorchip on Twitter RED BLUFF The host Red Bluff Spartans took fourth in the Holiday Classic boys bracket with a loss to the South Medford Panthers 70- 56 Saturday afternoon. The Spartans kept the game within reach through three periods, trailing by 4 after the first and 8 after the second and third. But the Pan- thers opened up their lead in the final frame, while holding the Spartans to 10. Brayden Hutchens led the Spartans with 23 points, in- cluding a trio of threes, and Tyler Clement had 12, but reg- ular standout Derek Gordon was held in check, posting just 9 point. Dawson Voth had 5, Jason Barrow had 4, Evan Tanner had 3 and DJ Robin- son had 2. In Friday's semifinal game, the Spartans fell to the Frank- lin Wildcats 73-46. The Spartans went into the half down 35-27 and were trailing 51-40 after three. The game got away in the final pe- riod, when the Wildcats out- scored Red Bluff 22-6. Hutchens was the leading scorer with 17, Gorden had 15 and Evan Tanner and Eric Spencer each had 5. The Pleasant Valley Vikings beat the South Medford Pan- thers 50-28 Friday in a re- match of last year's champi- onship game, and the Vikings and Wildcats advanced to the championship at Saturday. Franklin beat Pleasant Val- ley 63-49 for the trophy. The Edison Vikings of Stockton beat the Orestimba Warriors of Newman 59-47 in the first boys game of the day Friday in the Field House. The Enterprise Hornets trounced the U Prep Panthers 79-38 in the second game. Enterprise beat Edison 70- 53 Saturday in the consola- tion game to take fifth place. Orestimba beat U Prep 43-37 Saturday for seventh place. HOLIDAY CLASSIC Spartanstake4thathometourney Franklin takes tournament championship over Pleasant Valley By Chip Thompson editor@redbluffdailynews.com @editorchip on Twitter RED BLUFF The Red Bluff Lady Spartans beat the West Valley Eagles 54-46 Saturday night to claim the Holiday Classic cham- pionship trophy. In a game that was close the entire way, the Spartans took an early lead but the Eagles wouldn't back off, tieing it at 16 in the sec- ond period before falling behind again and going into the half down 30-21. The Eagles hung around in the third and took the lead 37- 33 with 3 minutes in the period, but the Spartans came back and a three-pointer from Jesse Miller put them back in front 39-38 with 1:24 in left in the third. They would tack on another score to finish the period up 41-38. The final period was sloppy at both ends of the court as each team turned up the defen- sive pressure and they remained locked at 41-40 for several posses- sions before West Valley broke the stalemate to take the lead again 42-41. Once again clutch shooting from Miller put the Spartans back on top with 2:30 to play and they would hold on for the win. The victory comes after los- ing to the Eagles, one of only two losses on the season, 60-54 on Dec. 3 at the Anderson Tourna- ment. "I definitely thought my girls could do it," said coach Shelby HOLIDAY CLASSIC WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS PHOTOS BY CHIP THOMPSON — DAILY NEWS Red Bluff's Carissa Twitchell drives into the lane Saturday night against West Valley. The Red Bluff Lady Spartans celebrate their win in the championship game of the Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament Saturday night. SPARTANS PAGE 2 Lady Spartans win home tournament in a thriller over West Valley By Chip Thompson editor@redbluffdailynews.com @editorchip on Twitter RED BLUFF The Corning Lady Cardinals finished fourth in the Holiday Classic Tournament with 66-47 loss to the Foothill Cougars Saturday afternoon in the third place game. The Cougars jumped out to an early lead, going up 13-6 halfway through the first period, but the Cards would fight back and pull within 4 to finish the period 18-14. The Cougars pulled away again in the second period, opening with a 9-0 run, and the Cardinals didn't have an answer, going into half- time down 41-26. The Cougars opened the third period with a 15-0 run and fin- ished the period up 61-31. The Cardinals clamped down and opened the final period with an 11-0 run of their own to pull to 61-42, but it wouldn't be enough. Mariah Castle led the Cardi- nals with 19 points, Kristie Barr had 10, Morgan Mason had 7, Bella Blanchard had 3 and Kara Beckwith and Elter Bright each had 2. "We're a young team, we're growing," said coach Kol Zuppan of his team, which includes four sophomores and a freshman. Zuppan said he was happy to see his players show patience on offense and a switch to a zone de- fense in the final period held the Cougars to 5 points. The Cardinals go to 6-4 on the season and are scheduled to face the Chico Panthers (6-5) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Chico. Othergames The Chico Panthers beat the Anderson Cubs 59-38 in the ear- lier consolation game to take fifth place. In the seventh place game, the Willows Honkers beat the Para- dise Bobcats 60-40. HOLIDAY CLASSIC La dy C ar di na ls settle for fourth in tournament CHIP THOMPSON — DAILY NEWS Corning's Morgan Mason goes up for a shot Saturday a ernoon against the Foothill Cougars. RAIDERS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, December 20, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1