HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Rifle–The Rifle Lady Bears improved to 5 and 1 in the Western Slope, 7 and 3 overall with last night’s 47-30 win over the visiting Palisade Bulldogs. In the boy’s game, Rifle’s late game rally came up short in a 42-38 loss to Palisade. Rifle hosts the first place Delta Panthers this Friday night.
Parachute–The Grand Valley Cardinals earned a sweep over the visiting Coal Ridge Titans last night in Parachute. The Lady Cardinals defeated Coal Ridge 49-43 while the boy’s notched their first win of the season beating the Titans 67-59.
NBA/NUGGETS
Denver–The Denver Nuggets won their sixth in a row with last night’s come-from-behind, 115-111 overtime victory over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers. Danilo Galinari led the Nuggets with 25 points.
NFL/DENVER BRONCOS
Denver–Bronco’s Offensive Coordinator Mike McCoy is now a head coach. McCoy, the most sought after coach to fill one of a half dozen vacancies in the NFL, agreed to become the new head coach of the San Diego Chargers.
Elsewhere in sports…
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – After initially turning down the job, Chip Kelly has decided to leave Oregon after four years to take over as coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. His high-octane style of offense helped him produce a 46-7 record with the Ducks.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) – Marc Trestman is the new head coach of the Chicago Bears, beating out at least 12 other candidates for the job of replacing Lovie Smith, who was fired after failing to make the playoffs for the fifth time in six years. The 57-year-old Trestman is moving to the Windy City after five years in Montreal, where he won two CFL championships with the Alouettes.
ATLANTA (AP) – The Hawks won’t have their leading scorer in uniform tonight when they host the streaking Nets. Josh Smith has been suspended for one game for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Atlanta has lost six of its last seven outings while Brooklyn has won seven straight.
PHILLIES (AP) – The Phillies have reached agreement with three veteran pitchers to minor league contracts. Right-handers Rodrigo Lopez, Aaron Cook and Juan Cruz will report to spring training as non-roster players in hopes of earning a job with the parent club.
UNDATED (AP) – U.S. Olympian Bode (BOH’-dee) Miller throws caution to the wind when he skis, but that’s not his approach when it comes to recovering from injury. With an eye on next year’s Sochi (SOH’-chee) Games, the American star is electing to skip the remaining portion of this season’s World Cup schedule to give his surgically repaired left knee more time to heal. The 35-year-old Miller had microfracture surgery nearly a year ago.