Sports

Aces seize control in second half to beat short-handed Sparks

Published

11 months ago

May 26, 2023

Aces seize control in second half to beat short-handed Sparks

When asked how the Sparks were going to prepare for the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, Layshia Clarendon answered with her fists.

The veteran guard held them in the air and jabbed.

“Take the fight to them,” Clarendon said.

Short-handed and seemingly overmatched against the championship favorites, the Sparks battled to a 94-85 loss in Crypto.com Arena on Thursday, delivering a ringing early season endorsement of first-year coach Curt Miller’s rebuild.

Last year, the Sparks (1-1) would have folded in such a lopsided matchup, especially without star Nneka Ogwumike, who missed the game because of a non-COVID illness. Now just two games into Miller’s tenure, the Sparks look like a revitalized franchise.

Against a team that won its season-opener by 41 points, the Sparks landed the first punch. Aces acting coach Natalie Nakase, who led the bench during the second game of Becky Hammon’s two-game suspension, called a timeout less than three minutes into the game when the Sparks’ swarming defense forced two early turnovers and took a 9-4 lead.

When the Aces (2-0) connected on their first haymaker to cut a 12-point Sparks lead down to four with 2:13 left in the second quarter, the Sparks punched back with eight consecutive points, including five from Chiney Ogwumike.

Ogwumike led the Sparks with 19 points. Guard Lexie Brown had 15 points on six-of-nine shooting, including a perfect five offive in the first half. The Sparks forced 10 turnovers in the first half, scoring 13 points off the Aces’ miscues en route to a 10-point halftime lead.

But when reigning most valuable player A’ja Wilson got going in the third quarter for eight points, the Aces gained control, The Sparks still never let the lead grow larger than 10.

Wilson, after starting two for10 from the field, finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Jackie Young, who won a gold medal in Tokyo in 3×3 basketball with teammate Kelsey Plum, led the Aces with 30 points. Former Sparks stars Candace Parker and Chelsea Gray returned to Crypto.com Arena with 10 and 16, respectively.

After Parker shocked the league by joining the defending champions as a free agent, the Aces were immediately tabbed as a title favorite in the WNBA’s super-team era. On the opposite coast, New York is hunting for its first championship with Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones.

But New York’s debut fell flat with an 80-64 loss to the Washington Mystics on opening weekend. The lopsided result proved that early season hype isn’t enough to win games.

“It’s fun to watch, but as we always say, you don’t win on paper,” Miller said this week. “Paper never wins. … It’s not the most talented teams that win championships in this league, it’s the healthiest teams.”

The Sparks have a long way to go until reaching full health. Point guard Jasmine Thomas, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament while with the Connecticut Sun, has resumed contact drills, but has yet to progress to five-on-five work. Azurá Stevens, the Sparks’ No. 1 free agent signing, is further behind with a nagging back injury, Miller said this week.

Sports

High school baseball and softball: Tuesday's Southern Section playoff scores

Published

14 mins ago

May 1, 2024

Press Room

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

Tuesday’s Results

BASEBALL

Wild-card round

DIVISION 8

Academy for Academic Excellence 22, Crossroads Christian 4

Mountain View 7, Animo Leadership 6

Bolsa Grande 9, Rio Hondo Prep 2

Yucca Valley 4, Lennox Academy 1

Edgewood 9, Webb 8

Santa Rosa Academy 5, Hawthorne 3

Santa Clarita Christian vs. Shalhevet (Wed., 2 p.m. at Darby Park)

SOFTBALL

Wild-card round

DIVISION 3

Sonora 2, Long Beach Poly 1

King 10, Dos Pueblos 0

Upland 7, Fountain Valley 6

DIVISION 5

Apple Valley 14, Kaiser 11

Ocean View 2, Santa Clara 1

Village Christian 10, Azusa 2

DIVISION 6

San Gorgonio 11, Nordhoff 0

Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 17, Downey Calvary Chapel 0

Flintridge Prep 16, Anza Hamilton 4

Lancaster 12, Chaffey 7

Rancho Verde 8, Mountain View 4

Rio Hondo Prep 5, Southlands Christian 3

Ontario Christian 7, Bell Gardens 2

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 5, El Monte 4

Pioneer 16, Westminster La Quinta 6

Sports

Astros' Jose Abreu getting sent to A-ball after tumultuous start to season

Published

7 hours ago

April 30, 2024

Press Room

Astros' Jose Abreu getting sent to A-ball after tumultuous start to season

In his first 10 seasons in the Major Leagues, Jose Abreu was named to three All-Star Games, earned three Silver Slugger Awards, and won an MVP in the truncated 2020 season — soon, he is in A-ball.

The Houston Astros announced on Tuesday they will send the first baseman down to the minor leagues on Tuesday as he continues to struggle at the Major League level.

Abreu signed a three-year deal worth nearly $60 million with Houston prior to the 2023 season, and he posted career-lows with a .237/.296/.383 slashline — in 22 big league games this season, he’s hitting .099.

José Abreu #79 of the Houston Astros bats against the Atlanta Braves at Minute Maid Park on April 17, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Logan Riely/Getty Images)

General manager Dana Brown said the decision was made after a meeting that included himself, Abreu, coaches and front-office personnel — as Abreu is long-non-arbitration eligible, he needed to accept the option.

Brown said Abreu was very receptive during their conversation and had a good attitude about the move.

“José Abreu is an outstanding human being,” Brown said. “He is unselfish and he’s a teammates guy and he wants to get himself back to what he was doing last fall. And so, in the midst of this conversation, you could see that this guy is passionate and determined to get back to helping his team.

José Abreu #79 of the Houston Astros breaks his bat in the seventh inning against the Atlanta Braves at Minute Maid Park on April 15, 2024 in Houston, Texas. All players are wearing the number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. (Tim Warner/Getty Images)

“And so he unselfishly was on board with an agreement with going back to West Palm Beach and getting some extra at-bats, getting some detailed instruction on what we could do to get him back,” Brown continued.

“He got to the point where he was frustrated,” Brown added. “It’s rare to do it. But I think it tells us about his dedication and commitment and I don’t think he sees this as a long-term and I don’t think we see it as a long-term thing. I think it’s more like… let’s go down, let’s make some adjustments. Let’s get the rhythm and timing back. And I think in his eyes, he’s looking at it as, ‘I’ll be back in a couple of weeks or whatever it takes to get better.’”

He has just one extra-base hit and three RBI in the young season.

José Abreu #79 of the Houston Astros bats against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on April 08, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

It’s not just Abreu who is struggling in Houston — the Astros entered Tuesday at 9-19.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sports

Long Beach State men's volleyball sweeps Belmont Abbey

Published

7 hours ago

April 30, 2024

Press Room

Long Beach State men's volleyball sweeps Belmont Abbey

No. 2 Long Beach State dominated in a three-set sweep against No. 7 Belmont Abbey in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Tuesday at Walter Pyramid. After the 25-18, 25-14, 25-11 victory, the Beach will face No. 3 seed Grand Canyon or No. 6 Ohio State in the national semifinal at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Long Beach State (26-2) overwhelmed the Crusaders with three attackers with double-digit kills. First-team All-American Sotiris Siapanis had 11 kills in 16 swings, followed by 10 kills each from Skyler Varga and Nathan Harlan. Harlan came one kill shy of his career high.

The Beach, which entered the tournament as the nation leader in blocks per set at 3.23, didn’t have a single block in the first two sets despite dominating both. The Beach finally got its block game going as setter Aidan Knipe and middle blocker Simon Torwie teammed to stuff Belmont Abbey’s Jibriel Elhaddad on the first point of the third set. The Beach never trailed in the last game.

Knipe, who was selected a second-team AVCA All-American for the first time in his career, had 37 assists and seven digs.