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Sports 1B Monday March 8, 2010 Monday NBA — Warriors at Hornets, 5 p.m., CSNBA NCAA — Colonial Athletic Championship, 4 p.m., ESPN NCAA — Metro Atlantic Athletic Champ, 4 p.m., ESPN2 NCAA — West Coast Championship, 6 p.m., ESPN NCAA — Southern Championship, 6 p.m., ESPN2 NHL — Stars at Capitals, 4 p.m., VERSUS Mercy JV wins Tri-Cities Courtesy photo Pictured from back row, left to right: Coach Jim Wilson, Desiree Crane, Maggie Keller, Emily Crowley, Jennifer Gentry, Krystal Bennett and Mae Muller. The varsity boys were not Mercy High School's only successful basketball team in 2009-10. Despite fielding a roster of only seven players the Lady Warriors' junior varsity team truly lived up to their name on their way to capturing the Tri-Cities League title. Needless to say, this "Friendship 7" as the team was called, played inspired ball especially in January and part of February. "We had a very difficult pre-season including three out-of-town tournaments in December. On Jan. 8 our record was 4- 7. Playing up, improved fitness and speed training program, plus greater commit- ment to defense enabled us to be success- ful," coach Jim Wilson said. "Our last 10 games we scored 51 points on the offen- sive end and held the opposition to 27 points per game. Highlights from their season included: • 15-7 overall record • JV League championship • Unbeaten in league play, at home, and had a winning streak of 11 consecutive wins from Jan. 9 through Feb. 17 • Consolation winner at the Biggs Tour- nament With two freshman and five sopho- mores the team will be looking forward to the next two to three years of playing together at the varsity level. Reid medals at state DN Staff Report Red Bluff's Dillon Reid took home a medal with an eighth place finish at the CIF wrestling championships in Bakersfield. The Spartans over state qualifier, Sultan Beardsley, just missed out on a medal and Corning's Thomas Marshall went 1-2 at the two-day tournament. Reid lost his first match to Del Oro's Jesse Stafford, who went on to place second at 152- pounds. But following the opening loss, Reid reeled off four straight wins in the consolation brack- et over Frontier's Lance Castaneda, Sultana's Ryan McWatters, Antioch's Anthony Cress and Buchanan's Matt Negrete. Reid then ran into a familiar foe, Foothill's Travis Gallegos. The two met for the fourth time in four weeks and once again it was Gal- legos who came out on top. Reid finished the tournament with a loss to Oakdale's Trent Noon in the seventh place match. In the end, Reid's three tournament losses came to the second, sixth and seventh place medalists. Beardsley opened up the 130-pound tourna- ment with a win over Katebian Behdod from Thousand Oaks, then lost to Del Oro's Austin Branum. In the consolation bracket, Beardsley won three in a row over James Logan's Danny Mai, Citrus Mill's Matt Guevara and Calvary Chapel's Bradford Gerl. Beardsley lost to Sanger's AJ Valles, one match away from medal placement. Marshall lost his first match to McNair's Malique Micenheimer then picked up a 5-4 win over Los Gatos wrestler Dylan Johns. Marshall's 215-pound tournament run came to an end with a 6-4 loss to Wasco's Sean Med- ley. Kurt Busch wins again at Atlanta after 2 crashes HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Kurt Busch was running out front with three laps to go when things really got interesting. First, a frightening crash that seemed intentional between two feuding drivers. Then, another spinning, slamming melee before the white flag came out. ''We've got to win this race three times, maybe even four times,'' a frustrated Busch said on his radio. Not to worry. Busch survived a couple of overtime restarts and 16 extra laps to win again Sun- day at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a race marred by accusations that Carl Edwards purposely wrecked Brad Keselowski's car, sending it hurtling toward the main stands upside down. Busch won the spring race at the 1.54-mile trioval for the sec- ond year in a row, beating Matt Kenseth to the line by nearly half a second in the Kobalt Tools 500. Juan Pablo Montoya was third, followed by Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard. ''The Deuce is back, baby!'' Busch said after his No. 2 Dodge took the checkered flag. The race went 341 laps instead of its scheduled 325 because of two big crashes near the end. The first one drew the most attention. Edwards, running 156 laps behind, clipped Keselowski and caused his car to spin, then lift into the air at around 190 mph. It smashed into the barrier in front of the stands roof-first, then flipped back onto the track right side up. Keselowski was OK, but NASCAR ordered Edwards to park his car and summoned him to its trailer. ''That's not cool,'' Keselows- ki said. ''He could have killed someone in the grandstands.'' NASCAR put off a decision on whether to discipline Edwards until at least Monday. On the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, another crash took out seven cars coming through turns three and four. Finally, they got in two clean laps, and it was Busch all the way for his third career win in Atlanta. ''You have to adjust to what- ever circumstances there are to win these races,'' said Busch, who claimed his 21st victory overall and snapped Jimmie Johnson's two-race winning streak. ''I felt we won the race outright today.'' Keselowki and Edwards were involved in a spectacular crash racing for the win at Tal- ladega last year. Edwards' car flew up toward the stands, rip- ping out the fencing, and Keselowski sped on by for the victory. Early in the Atlanta race, more trouble between those two. Keselowski nicked Edwards coming through the turn, which sent him crashing into Joey Logano. Edwards spent much of the day in the garage, but returned to take out his frustration in what appeared to be an intentional tap on Keselowski coming across the start-finish line. ''Brad knows the deal between him and I,'' Edwards said. ''The scary part was his car went airborne, which was not what I expected at all.'' Johnson, the four-time defending Sprint Cup champi- on, was coming off wins at Cal- ifornia and Las Vegas. He climbed into contention again, getting as high as third, but a bad pit stop and a scrape with Ryan Newman cost Johnson a chance to become the first driver since 2007 to make it three in a row. He finished 12th. Denny Hamlin cut a tire with 36 laps to go — one of at least a dozen drivers taken out by tire problems — and Busch emerged from the pits out front. As the race headed into its final laps, Montoya was cutting big chunks out of Busch's lead. But the leader said he wasn't worried. ''He could have gotten to our outside coming to the check- ered,'' Busch said, ''but there was no way he was going to get by.'' The Edwards-Keselowski scrap with three laps to go made it a moot point, leading to the first attempt at an overtime fin- ish. Busch came to the restart trailing a couple of drivers who took only two tires in the pits, but a brilliant move shot him right back to the front. Busch hugged the rear bumper of Clint Bowyer's car, then dipped to the inside and split both him and Menard head- ing through the first turn. Busch appeared to be pulling away, but Jamie McMurray got into Bowyer before the field could take the white flag, leading to a seven-car pileup and another try for a clean finish. There wasn't much drama on the next restart. Busch got away cleanly, zipped around the track two more times and took the checkered flag. He then headed off on a victory lap in reverse. Pole winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. lost the lead on the very first lap but was running near the front when a mysterious tire problem sent him to the pits on lap 114 under a green flag. He radioed that a tire felt loose, but the crew found it fully inflated after making the change. Junior returned to the track just as teammate Mark Martin blew a tire, which sent him spin- ning through the trioval grass to bring out a caution flag. The unfortunate timing cost Earn- hardt dearly; he slipped a lap down and never got back in the mix, though all the trouble at the end boosted him to 15th. His winless streak is now 61 races. ''We weren't very good,'' Earnhardt said. ''It felt like the damn wheels were coming off.'' SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — San Francisco Giants reliever Sergio Romo is looking forward to the opportunity for having a strong sea- son. The right-hander, who turned 27 on March 4, is coming off a solid season, when he was 5-2 with two saves and 11 holds in 45 games. He is trying to build on that, earning a spot on the opening day roster and staying healthy, something he didn't do a year ago. A sprained elbow cost him the spring and the first two months of the 2009 season. ''Things are going extremely well,'' said Romo, who got a save in a 5-3 spring victory over Milwaukee on March 4 and had given up one hit in two innings through Sunday. ''It's a great feeling around this club- house. You get the sense of, 'Hey, man, we're good,' that we could be a part of something historic.'' Romo is in better shape, having maintained his playing weight of 185 pounds a year after he lost between 20 and 25 pounds. ''I never really have been a gym rat, but I have learned that if you want your team to be serious about you, you have to be serious about what you are doing. I have been serious before, but I'm even more so now,'' he said. Romo said he is the third player from Brawley, Calif., to reach the major leagues. The first two also were relief pitchers, Sid Monge and Rudy Seanez. Romo said his father, Francisco, who coached kids in the area, also coached Seanez briefly. Romo wants to earn a World Series ring as Seanez did with Philadelphia in 2008. Although the arm angles might vary, Romo describes his delivery as straightforward. ''What you see is what you get. I'm a small guy who doesn't neces- sarily throw hard, but who throws strikes. I'd almost rather have a guy hit a home run off me than walk him. ''I want to be aggressive but not too aggressive. My father always told me to sit tight and fight, gain some respect, instead of turning and running.'' Notes: Rain canceled Sunday's game against Kansas City in Sur- prise, Ariz. ... Right-hander Tim Lincecum and left-hander Madison Bumgarner, the projected No. 5 starter, pitched four-inning simulat- ed games in the covered cage in Scottsdale. Hitters did not swing, although manager Bruce Bochy stood in against Lincecum and found his knees buckling on a first- pitch curveball. ... Left-hander Barry Zito will throw Monday against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Scottsdale. ... Nate Schierholtz, the likely starter in right field, fouled a ball off his left knee, falling back- ward and hitting his head against a metal support piece in the cage. He was wearing a helmet. He appeared to be OK. ... Utility man Mark DeRosa (left wrist) is nearly ready to play in games and could do so on Tuesday or Wednesday. Reliever Romo ready for 2010 MCT photo Rain forced cancelation of the Kansas City Royals' spring training game against the San Francisco Giants, sending the team to the indoor batting cages Sunday. NBA By The Associated Press EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pct GB Boston 40 21 .656 — Toronto 32 29 .525 8 Philadelphia23 39 .37117 1/2 New York 21 41 .33919 1/2 New Jersey 7 55 .11333 1/2 Southeast Division W L Pct GB Orlando 44 20 .688 — Atlanta 40 22 .645 3 Miami 32 31 .50811 1/2 Charlotte 30 31 .49212 1/2 Washington 21 39 .350 21 Central Division W L Pct GB Cleveland 49 15 .766 — Milwaukee 33 29 .532 15 Chicago 31 31 .500 17 Detroit 22 41 .34926 1/2 Indiana 20 43 .31728 1/2 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division W L Pct GB Dallas 43 21 .672 — San Antonio36 24 .600 5 Memphis 32 31 .50810 1/2 Houston 31 31 .500 11 New Orleans31 32 .49211 1/2 Northwest Division W L Pct GB Denver 41 21 .661 — Utah 40 22 .645 1 Oklahoma City 37 24 .6073 1/2 Portland 37 27 .578 5 Minnesota 14 49 .22227 1/2 Pacific Division W L Pct GB L.A. Lakers 46 18 .719 — Phoenix 40 25 .6156 1/2 L.A. Clippers25 38 .39720 1/2 Sacramento 21 41 .339 24 Golden State17 45 .274 28 ——— Saturday's Games Charlotte 101, Golden State 90 Miami 100, Atlanta 94 New Jersey 113, New York 93 Dallas 122, Chicago 116 San Antonio 102, Memphis 92 Houston 112, Minnesota 98 Milwaukee 92, Cleveland 85 Utah 107, L.A. Clippers 85 Phoenix 113, Indiana 105 Sunday's Games Philadelphia 114, Toronto 101 Orlando 96, L.A. Lakers 94 Detroit 110, Houston 107, OT Boston 86, Washington 83 Oklahoma City at Sacramento, late Portland at Denver, late Monday's Games San Antonio at Cleveland, 4 p.m. Atlanta at New York, 4:30 p.m. New Jersey at Memphis, 5 p.m. Dallas at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Golden State at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Tuesday's Games Miami at Charlotte, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Indiana, 4 p.m. Houston at Washington, 4 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Orlando, 4 p.m. Utah at Chicago, 5 p.m. Boston at Milwaukee, 5 p.m. Sacramento at Portland, 7 p.m. Toronto at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m. MOVES By The Associated Press BASEBALL American League MINNESOTA TWINS—Agreed to terms with RHP Nick Blackburn on a four-year contract and RHP Alex Burnett, RHP Rob Delaney, LHP Brian Duensing, RHP Deo- lis Guerra, RHP Jeff Manship, LHP Jose Mijares, LHP Glen Perkins, RHP Kevin Slowey, RHP Anthony Swarzak, RHP Loek Van Mil, C Drew Butera, C Jose Morales, C Wilson Ramos, INF Alexi Casilla, INF Luke Hughes, INF Trevor Plouffe, INF Estarlin De Los Santos, INF Matt Tolbert, INF Danny Valencia and OF Denard Span on one-year contracts. BASKETBALL National Basketball Association WASHINGTON WIZARDS—Signed G-F Alonzo Gee to a 10-day contract. FOOTBALL National Football League NFL—Suspended free agent NT Jason Ferguson for the first eight games of next season for violating NFL policy on perfor- mance-enhancing substances. CLEVELAND BROWNS—Signed LB Scott Fujita and OL Tony Pashos to multi- year contracts. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS—Signed DE Aaron Kampman. HOCKEY National Hockey League OTTAWA SENATORS—Re-assigned F Zack Smith to Binghamton (AHL). COLLEGE CENTRAL ARKANSAS—Fired men's basketball coach Rand Chappell. Scoreboard