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StaffReports Carson Medley, an assistant in Chico State's department of graduate studies, loves to tell sto- ries. He loves it so much, in fact, that he spent all last season with the Chico State men's basketball team in an effort to tell the 2015- 16 Wildcats' story in a book. It's a work in progress. Medley attended almost ev- ery practice and sat behind the bench at nearly every game. He was in the locker room after they won their second straight Califor- nia Collegiate Athletic Associa- tion Championship as the eighth- ranked team in the land. He was also there when they lost their third straight game to end a season that was once prom- ising and came to a close in the first round of the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament. The ending wasn't one Medley had imagined. He has himself one heck of an epilogue now. The 2016-17 Wildcats, who fea- ture 10 holdovers from last sea- son's squad, got on a bus Sunday in front of Acker Gym to begin the first leg of their journey to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and the promised land of the Elite Eight. More than 100 Chico State fac- ulty, staff, students, and fans, got up before the sun to send the Wildcats off. "We've got some of the best fans COLLEGEMEN'SBASKETBALL WILDCATS SEARCH FOR BETTER ENDING Chico State opens Elite Eight against Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday night DANREIDEL—ENTERPRISE-RECORDFILE Chico State senior Robert Duncan, right, and the Wildcats are in the Elite Eight for the second time in program history. The first came in 2014. ANDY WILHEM — CONTRIBUTED Chico State head coach Greg Clink, right, and guard Jalen McFerren hug a er the Wildcats won the West Regional final over UC San Diego on March 13in La Jolla. By Jerry McDonald Bay Area News Group ALAMEDA EJ Manuel, a for- mer first round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills, was signed by the Raiders Monday as a potential backup for Derek Carr, the club announced. Manuel, the No. 16 overall pick in 2013, has played in 29 games with 17 starts with 3,502 yards passing and 19 touchdowns,with four touchdowns rushing. Raiders offensive coordina- tor Todd Downing was quar- terbacks coach with the Bills in 2014. Manuel told Bay Area re- porters by conference call that he and Downing have remained in touch. "I used to even call or text Todd during the season the past two years and ask him what he was doing as far as teaching Derek," Manuel said. "What was he doing to help his game jump levels so quickly. I felt like he elevated his game so fast for a young guy." The four-year veteran will compete with second-year player Connor Cook to back up Carr. Manuel, who acknowl- edged he wasn't coming in to start, said his limited interac- tions with the incumbent starter have been positive. "I've met him before the games the two times we played them," Manuel said. "Even from those short exchanges, he came off as a great guy . . . However I can help him, I'm willing to do, but of course I'm here to com- pete for the number two job." Manuel said he came to the Raiders because they were an ascending team and he wants to contribute to a winner. "I just want to be an addition. NFL Raiders sign QB EJ Manuel, Jenkins, Condo Staff Report REDDING The Red Bluff High School softball team won three games and lost two in the Ander- son Cubs Classic on Friday and Saturday at Big League Dreams in Redding. The Spartans went 2-1 on Fri- day to advance to single-elimi- nation play in the tournament on Saturday. Red Bluff started Saturday with a thrilling 7-6 triumph over Las- sen of Susanville in extra innings. Lassen scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to take a 6-4 lead, but Red Bluff answered with three runs in the bottom half for the walk-off victory. With runners on first and third and no outs, Kenzie Colgate cleared the bases with a double, tying the game. A wild pitch moved Col- gate to third. Kylee Kitchell then bunted to the third baseman. The throw to first got Kitchell but Col- gate raced home for the victory. Aubrie Akins, Colgate and Al- lyson Drury all had two hits in the win, while Akins and Alexis Zamora ripped home runs. Sarah Reineman pitched a complete- game victory. In Red Bluff's final game, En- terprise of Redding scored four unearned runs in the second in- ning and went on to a 6-3 victory. On Friday, Red Bluff beat West Valley of Cottonwood 4-2 and Del Norte of Crescent City 2-1. Foot- hill of Palo Cedro then blanked Red Bluff 7-0. Akins collected two hits and two RBI against West Valley. Kitchell and Colgate each had two hits against Del Norte. Rein- aman was the winning pitcher in both games. Foothill pitcher Jessica Seely allowed just two hits while strik- ing out nine in five innings in a shutout victory. Drury and Akins had the only hits for the Spartans. SOFTBALL Sp art an s go 3-2 at Re dd in g tourney SUE OGROCKI – THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors players get into a tussle during the second quarter in Oklahoma City on Monday. The Warriors won the game 111-95to earn a season sweep. By Anthony Slater Bay Area News Group OKLAHOMA CITY Emotions boiled over between the War- riors and Thunder again on Mon- day night in Oklahoma City, lead- ing to a shoving scrum, four tech- nicals and a lengthy review. The sequence happened with 5.2 sec- onds left in the first half, giving the steaming sides plenty of time to simmer down in their respec- tive locker rooms. But before then, the Warriors had one more cold-blooded dag- ger to shove into the hearts of Thunder fans. After the scuf- fle, referees set up a jump-ball on OKC's side of the court. An- dre Iguodala tipped it toward the OKC bench, 80 feet from the War- riors hoop, where Klay Thompson chased it down with four seconds left and heaved a lob pass over his shoulder. It landed in the hands of Ste- phen Curry, who turned and rainbow'd through a buzzer-beat- ing 3, capping a dominant half (59-39) that highlighted a domi- nant win (111-95 final) to close out a dominant 4-0 season sweep of the Thunder. As the ball swished through, Curry — who minutes earlier was at the center of the scrum, pushing both Semaj Christon and Russell Westbrook as others tried to separate — sensed the arena- wide distress he'd just created, posed for just a second and then sprinted right off the court as a shellshocked crowd was forced, again, to digest these Silicon Val- ley Warriors storming the nation's heartland and terrorizing their home team. That's now seven straight wins for the Warriors over the Thunder, sandwiched by an earth-rattling theft of their rival's biggest super- star. This one-sided NBA drama is bordering on cruel and unusual punishment. Just 10 months back, the Thun- NBA WarriorsburyThunderagain Complete a dominant sweep of the season series against KD's former team By Tim Dahlberg The Associated Press The news seemed unimagi- nable, much as it might have 78 years ago when Yankees fans learned Lou Gehrig was diag- nosed with the disease that would later bear his name. It came on a Sunday night via a more modern form of commu- nication, a Twitter feed. Dwight Clark didn't need the full 140 characters to stun football fans everywhere. "I wanted to share some unfor- tunate news: I have ALS," Clark tweeted . The receiver beloved and li- onized in the Bay Area for "The NFL The price players pay RAIDERS PAGE 2 NFL PAGE 2 WILDCATS PAGE 2 WARRIORS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, March 21, 2017 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1