Sports in brief

Staff and wire reports |

8/26/2008 - 8/27/08

Lady Horsemen rout Lady Jaguars

The Lady Horsemen of St. Michael's had a successful start to the Santa Fe City Soccer Tournament on Tuesday at Jaguar Field, earning an 8-0 win over Capital.

St. Michael's forward Jamie Palermo had two goals and a pair of assists to give the junior seven goals in four matches. Michelle Bustamante also had a pair of goals with an assist and has six scores on the year.

The Lady Horsemen rang up 47 shots in the match.

"That probably means we need to do a better job of finishing," said St. Michael's head coach Ed Velie. "That's like one goal for every six shots."

St. Michael's (3-1) continues the tournament against Santa Fe High on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Brother Abdon Field.

"I think Santa Fe High can beat us if we come out slow," Velie said. "We don't really know how (the Demonettes) are."

Capital next plays Santa Fe Preparatory today at 6 p.m. at Jaguar Field.

Blue Griffins defeat Capital

Billy Scarborough recorded nine saves and the Blue Griffins of Santa Fe Preparatory held off Capital 2-0 in a boys soccer-season opener and first match of the Santa Fe City Soccer Tournament on Tuesday at Jaguar Field.

"He was amazing," Prep head coach Hersch Wilson said of his senior 'keeper, Scarborough.

Jebb Norton scored on a header for Prep in the 38th minute and Brennan Gibbs assisted to Marcus Baron for another header and goal in the 60th minute.

"I thought the first half we were a little panicky," Wilson said. "In the second half, we settled down, started connecting our passes and played connection soccer."

Isotopes rally, turn down Sounds

The Albuquerque Isotopes continued their late-season charge Tuesday with a 9-8 come-from-behind win over the Sounds in Nashville in Pacific Coast League baseball.

The Isotopes fell behind 4-2 after two innings at Greer Stadium before picking up a run in the third and blowing up in the fifth.

Dallas McPherson sparked the rally with a two-on, two-out RBI double to right. 'Topes left fielder Michael Ryan then hit a three-run homer as Albuquerque scored five runs in the frame to lead 8-4. Ryan was 3-for-4 with four RBIs.

Albuquerque (64-73) has won seven of its last 10 games and is alone in second place in the American South Division. Monday's game was rained out.

Chris Seddon (10-9) got the win, going five innings with four earned runs and four strikeouts. The 10 games is a career-high for Seddon.

Albuquerque righty Bobby Keppel (8-11, 6.36 ERA) goes against former Isotopes right-hander Nic Ungs (2-3, 7.79) at 5 p.m. today.

N.M. horse goes for record win

RUIDOSO DOWNS — Peppers Pride trainer Joel Marr will use Lincoln Handicap at Ruidoso Downs on Sunday to try for a North American record 17th victory in 17 starts.

The thoroughbred mare is seeking to break the mark of 16 straight victories she shares with Triple Crown winner Citation, two-time horse of the year Cigar, Mister Frisky and Hallowed Dreams.

Celtics sign former Lobo Giddens

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics signed their first-round draft pick J.R. Giddens.

The 6-foot-5 point guard, the 30th pick in the draft, averaged 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds for New Mexico during his senior season.

The 23-year-old Giddens brings a reputation as a strong defender to the defending NBA champion Celtics.

Jockey killed in Downs crash

ALBUQUERQUE — A jockey has died after being seriously injured when his horse fell on him at the Downs of Albuquerque.

Juan Campos, who died Saturday, previously had raced in Farmington but the Aug. 16 race was his first in Albuquerque.

Campos fell off Kant Talk, a 2-year-old filly, during a 330-yard quarter horse race. The horse tripped and fell over him, causing the fatal head injury and other internal injuries.

"In 26 years, I don't remember a rider getting killed here," Downs general manager Don Cook said. "It's an ugly reminder of how dangerous the sport is."

Former Blazer Duckworth dies

LINCOLN CITY, Ore. — Former Portland Trail Blazers center Kevin Duckworth, a "gentle giant" with a feathery touch from the paint, has died. He was 44.

Duckworth, part of a Trail Blazers goodwill tour, was scheduled to hold a basketball clinic on the Oregon coast when he died Monday night. The Depoe Bay Fire Department said it responded to a report of a man who was down and not breathing.

The cause of death was to be determined by a medical examiner but the Lincoln County sheriff's office said there was no indication of foul play.

Duckworth averaged 11.8 points and 5.8 rebounds over 11 seasons in the NBA, helping Portland reach the NBA finals in 1990 and 1992.

Yastrzemski leaves hospital

BOSTON — Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski was released from a hospital one week after having triple bypass surgery.

The former Boston Red Sox outfielder had surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital after experiencing chest pains. His discharge was announced by team spokesman John Blake.

Yastrzemski, the last player to hit for the Triple Crown by leading the AL in batting average, homers and RBIs in 1967, turned 69 last Friday.

His family released a statement after the surgery saying it was "a complete success."

He hit 452 home runs, drove in 1,844 runs, had 3,419 hits and batted .285. He won seven Gold Gloves and was an 18-time All-Star.

Spain basketball head coach quits

MADRID, Spain — Aito Garcia Reneses has quit as Spain's head basketball coach after leading the national team to a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics.

Garcia Reneses made use of a clause in his contract which allows him to vacate the position after the games, the Spanish basketball federation announced.

"I don't want to coach only for two months a year. At present, I prefer to be active throughout the season," said Garcia Reneses, who is expected to take over at Spanish club Unicaja.

Villegas wins skins game

VERONA, N.Y. — Camilo Villegas won a chipoff against Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, Stewart Cink, and Notah Begay III to walk away with top money at the inaugural Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge at Turning Stone Resort's Atunyote Golf Club.

Villegas' winning pitch on the extra hole of the skins game competition boosted his earnings for the day to $220,000. Singh won two holes to finish with $180,000, and Cink finished with one skin worth $100,000 from the total purse of $500,000.

The event, a collaboration between the Oneida Indian Nation of New York and San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians of California, is an effort to aide Native American youth and their communities.