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Today's Sports

  • Williams puts L.A. on top of New...

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Justin Williams usually saves his greatest postseason heroics for seventh games, not openers.
    And for all of his series-saving feats over the years, the two-time NHL champion had never scored an overtime playoff goal.
    When Williams got the puck on his stick with an uncontested chance to stake the Los Angeles Kings to an early lead in the Stanley Cup finals, Mr. Game 7 buried the shot and the New York Rangers.
    Williams scored 4:36 into overtime after a turnover by Dan Girardi, and Los Angeles beat New York 3-2 Wednesday night in a thrilling series opener.
    Kyle Clifford had a goal and an assist, and Drew Doughty made up for an early mistake by scoring the tying goal in the second period. Jonathan Quick made 25 saves as the Kings moved one victory closer to their second Stanley Cup title in three years — but only after another rally in a postseason full of comebacks.
    "We certainly don't want to make a habit out of this," Williams said. "That is a world-class team up there with world-class offense. There could have been a lot of story lines tonight. They had a breakaway in the end of the third period that (Jonathan) Quick made a great save on. We wouldn't be sitting here right now. A lot of things (went) awry during the game."
    Game 2 is Saturday at Staples Center.

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  • 4A-5A All-Star series is this...

    It’s a big weekend for the prep All-Stars from around the state, including one from Los Alamos.
    The New Mexico High School Coaches Association will host its All-Star events starting this weekend at various spots around the state.
    One of the events involves former Los Alamos softball star Kiana Zerr. Zerr, who was both the Hilltoppers’ ace pitcher and one of its top offensive threats in 2014, was selected to take part in the Class 4A-5A All-Star series.
    She will represent the North squad in the All-Star series, which gets going Friday at the Farmington Sports Complex.
    Zerr was the lone Los Alamos representative in softball and one of just two from District 2-4A selected to participate. Bernalillo star pitcher and 2-4A Most Valuable Player Demi Madelena was the other selection.
    Softball is just one of several events planned this weekend.
    Among the competitions going on are the Classes 2A-3A football game, the 6-man and 1A football game, as well as three All-Star girls basketball games and the 2A-3A boys basketball game. All of those events will be played in the Albuquerque area.
    To be selected as an All-Star, players must be standout graduating seniors from around the state. Selections are done by officials from the NMHSCA.

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  • Isotopes outlast Bees to take...

    The Albuquerque Isotopes won their first series since mid-April with a victory Tuesday afternoon at home.
    The Isotopes (27-31) scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Salt Lake Bees (21-39) to take their third win of the four-game series. Red-hot Isotopes hitter Miguel Rojas hit a solo home run to lead off the inning and Mike Baxter tripled home two runs later in the sixth to propel the Isotopes to the win.
    Albuquerque has struggled recently, but is hoping to get back on track with the series win as it hits the road for a four-game series at Tacoma starting Thursday.
    Rojas has been on fire of late. He had put together a five-game, multi-hit streak that was finally snapped Monday, but went 2-for-4 and scored a pair of runs in Tuesday’s win.
    The Bees actually outhit the Isotopes, 8-6, but left six runners stranded and went just 3-for-11 as a team with runners in scoring position.
    Zach Lee (5-5) earned the victory, although Lee didn’t have an overpowering performance. He gave up three earned runs on seven hits in six innings of work, but that was good enough to earn the win over Salt Lake’s Anthony Lerew (0-2), who went 5-1/3 and allowed five earned runs.
    Prior to the series win, Albuquerque had lost four of five contests to drop to a season-worst six-games under .500.

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  • Party for Kubicek set for...

    The public is invited to a celebration in honor of former Los Alamos girls soccer coach Jiri Kubicek Thursday in White Rock.

    The event will take place at Rover Park from 5-8 p.m.
    Among his longtime involvement in local soccer, Kubicek was the Hilltopper coach from 1991-2013, winning state titles in 1998 and 2003 and earned a national honor in 2003 from the National Soccer Coaches Association.
    He retired from that position in January.
    Those interested in attending the celebration are asked to bring a side dish to share, including vegetables, fruit salad, appetizers or dessert. 

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  • New courses chosen for state...

    The New Mexico Activities Association announced today it has selected new venues for the 2015-2017 state golf championships.

    The new courses include the Canyon Club at Four Hills in Albuquerque, Piñon Hills in Farmington and Nancy Lopez Golf Course at Spring River in Roswell. Those courses will be part of an annual rotation between Classes A-4A, 5A and 6A championship tournaments.
    Los Alamos will join Class 5A next year for the next two years. Class 5A is scheduled to play in Roswell for the 2015 state tournament, which will be May 11-12.
    “Each of these courses is known for their first class facilities yet challenging layouts,” NMAA executive director Sally Marquez said in the announcement. “This makes them a perfect fit for the state high school golf championships.” 
    The Canyon Club has never hosted a state tournament. Spring River was played in 1998 and Piñon Hills was last played for state competition in 2004.
     

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  • LA athletes will take part in...

    Several current and former Los Alamos High School athletes will take part in a big, region-wide track and field meet in Albuquerque this weekend.
    A pair of boys and three girls from Los Alamos are scheduled to attend the Great Southwest Track and Field Classic. The invitational meet will run from Thursday through Saturday at the University of New Mexico Track and Field Complex in Albuquerque.
    As its name implies, GSW involves some of the top prep-level athlete from around the region. Representatives from California, Colorado, Kansas, Washington and Arizona, among other states, will be in attendance.
    This will be the 39th year of the GSW. All of the meets in recent history have been in Albuquerque.
    Among those set to compete from Los Alamos include Simon Bailey and Greg Ahlers. Both athletes were multi-discipline competitors for the Hilltoppers last year and both will take part in the decathlon this weekend.
    The decathlon is a 10-sport competition which includes several different events, such as high jump, sprints, throws and distance events.

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  • Rangers, Kings set for series

     LOS ANGELES (AP) — Although the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers have played 41 combined postseason games over the previous six weeks, they still have ample energy for the big finale to their epic playoff chase.

    "No, you don't get tired right now," said Kings forward Marian Gaborik, the former 40-goal scorer for the Rangers. "All you think about is winning the Stanley Cup."

    When they meet at Staples Center on Wednesday night to begin the first New York-L.A. Cup final in NHL history, the Rangers and Kings are prepared for one more exhausting series in a spring filled with two-week sagas, nail-biting finishes and Game 7 heroics.

    No team in NHL history had made it to the Stanley Cup finals after going seven games in each of the first two rounds — until New York and Los Angeles both did it this spring. The Kings even went one longer, playing the maximum 21 games.

    Yet neither team will be satisfied without one more achievement. The Rangers haven't won the Stanley Cup since 1994, while the Kings are just two years removed from their only NHL championship. Two franchises long familiar with losing have the chance to raise the Cup again, and the players already felt the energy building when they went through practices Tuesday.

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  • Nadal is still in the hunt

     PARIS (AP) — Maybe, just maybe, Rafael Nadal was a tad vulnerable, the thinking went before this French Open.

    He had lost three times on his beloved red clay already this year, more defeats than he ever had on the surface before heading to Roland Garros.

    Then came an admission, after the Grand Slam tournament's third round, that his back was bothering him and slowing his serves.

    Well, leave it to the eight-time French Open champion's upcoming quarterfinal opponent — 2013 runner-up David Ferrer, one of the men who beat Nadal on clay this spring — to set the record straight.

    "Rafael," Ferrer said, "is always the favorite."

    Nadal certainly looked the part in the fourth round Monday, when he won 18 points in a row during one stretch en route to beating 83rd-ranked Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 for a record 32nd consecutive victory at the French Open. That broke Nadal's own mark of 31 and moved him a step closer to a fifth straight title in Paris.

    The No. 1-ranked Nadal, now 63-1 for his career at the tournament, has won all 12 sets he's played in Paris in 2014, dropping a total of 23 games. He was asked whether he would have preferred a more taxing encounter by now.

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  • Sports Briefs 06-03-14

    Tour De LA returning Sunday

    The 2014 Tour De Los Alamos is scheduled for Sunday.
    The Tour De Los Alamos features a 27-mile loop going from the Back Gate down N.M. 4 to White Rock and back up to Los Alamos via the Truck Route.
    Registration is underway online and in-person registration can be done at Los Alamos National Bank’s lobby the evening before the race. Registration may also be done at the race’s start between 6:30-7:30 a.m. in downtown Los Alamos.
    Pre-event registration is $25, while day-of registration is $45. Online registration can be done at bikereg.com.
    For more information or to volunteer to help on race day, contact Dave Zerkle at dczerkle@msn.com.

    Basketball camps will be at Chamisa School

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  • Isotopes score 9 runs in 5th

    The Albuquerque Isotopes exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the fifth inning of Monday’s game at Isotopes Park.
    Albuquerque sent 14 batters to the plate in the fifth inning as it downed the Salt Lake Bees 11-8 to win its second game of the four-game set. The final game of that series is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. today.
    Joc Pederson had a two-run triple and Griff Erickson had a two-run single in the Isotopes’ big inning Tuesday.
    Pederson, who had missed two games due to illness and had just one hit in his previous 12 at-bats going into the game, went 2-for-3 and brought home the two runs from his designated hitter spot.
    It was a slugfest between the two teams, which combined for 32 hits on the night.
    Salt Lake starting pitcher Brooks Raley managed to get just one out in the fifth inning. He gave up eight earned runs on 10 hits in the loss.
    Isotope starter Jeff Bennett (2-1), who got the win, wasn’t much better. He surrendered seven earned runs and 14 hits in six innings, but the bullpen was good enough to keep the Bees from coming back.
    The Bees actually led 5-1 after 3-1/2 innings and 5-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth before the big Albuquerque rally.

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