NBA,NHL,Soccer..................B2College Hoops,Golf.............B3Classifieds ...................B4-B7MLB.................................. B7NFL,Boxing........................B8

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http://www.registerstar.com/sports/http://www.thedailymail.net/sports/ BSPORTSSPORTS

Wednesday, March 4GOLF11 p.m. TGC — LPGA, Women’s Champions, first round,at SingaporeMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL7 p.m. ESPN2 — Noter Dame at LouisvilleESPNU — Central Florida at South FloridaFS1 — Providence at Setoff Hall8 p.m. ESPNEWS — Houston at Toulon9 p.m. ESPN2 — Southern California at UCLAFS1 — St. John’s at MarquetteNBA8 p.m. ESPN — L.A. Lacers at Miami10:30 p.m. ESPN — Portland at L.A. ClippersNHL8 p.m. NBCSN — N.Y. Rangers at Detroit

Wednesday, March 4GIRLS BASKETBALL: Section II,Class B semifinals: No. 5 IchabodCrane vs. No. 1 Hoosick Falls atAverill Park High School, 7:30p.m.

Thursday, March 5BOYS BASKETBALL: Section II,Class D semifinals: No. 1Germantown vs. No. Argyle atGlens Falls Civic Center, 5 p.m.

Saturday, March 7BOYS BASKETBALL: Section II,Class D championship at GlensFalls Civic Center, TBD,2 p.m.GIRLS BASKETBALL: Section II,Class B championship at HudsonValley Community College, TBD,2:30 p.m.BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Region IIIchampionship: Catskill vs.Section III winner, at Maple HillHigh School, 3:30 p.m.

Columbia-Greene Media I Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Clippersmoved toThursday;ICC girlstonight

SECTION II, CLASS D BOYS BASKETBALL

No. 1 Germantown vs. No. 5 ArgyleGLENS FALLS — Heavysnowfall postponed top-seed-ed Germantown’s Section II,Class D varsity boys basket-ball tournament semifinalmatchup against No. 5 Argyleon Tuesday, pushing the con-test to Thursday.

“Our last three trips toGlens Falls, it’s been usagainst Argyle and they’vegotten the better of us allthree times,” Clippers coachJack Thomas said on Sunday.“This year we hope to be ableto reverse that.”

A short layoff shouldn’t beproblematic for Germantown,which routed No. 9Warrensburg 72-52 in thequarterfinal round Saturdayafter more than a week and ahalf off from playing compet-itive ball due to a first-roundbye.

The Clippers were keyedby Logan Rifenburgh’s 24points on offense Saturday,and on defense they wereable to contain Burgers’ SheaIrish, limiting the senior to 24points after he averaged morethan 51 points per game in hisprevious three contests.

Germantown will onceagain look to keep one ofSection II’s top scorers incheck in Argyle’s KobeLufkin.

The Clippers head into thewin-or-go-home matchupwith an 18-2 record after fin-ishing 12-2 in the CHVLwhile the Scots check in at13-7 with a 10-5 mark in theAdirondack League.

Opening tip is now sched-uled for 5 p.m. on Thursdayat the Glens Falls CivicCenter.

— Vince GinardiEditor’s note: For a full

preview of Germantown’smatchup, see Tuesday’s printedition or visit www.register-star.com/sports/article_a36f60 e a - c 1 5 9 - 1 1 e 4 - 9 c 4 3 -5f5413b3a742.html/.

SECTION II CLASS B GIRLS BASKETBALL

No. 5 Ichabod Crane vs. No. 1 Hoosick Falls

AVERILL PARK — Aftera thrilling come-from-behindwin on Saturday, No. 5Ichabod Crane looks to keepthe momentum going todaywith a Section II, Class B var-sity girls basketball tourna-ment semifinal matchupagainst top-seeded HoosickFalls.

In Saturday’s win, KatieGrace hit a game-winningshot with three seconds to goin regulation to lift the LadyRiders to a 49-47 victory overNo. 4 Tamarac.

“That was pretty exciting.I was running on the courtbefore the game was evenover,” ICC coach MelissaVooris said. “I’ve probablywatched the clip of the shot10 times and it gives mechills every time. They justhad patience and composureand it was a great shot.”

Grace’s jumper capped offa 15-2 advantage in the fourthquarter for ICC.

“We were down 13 with5:49 to go and we came back,little by little,” Vooris said.“They held it together anddidn’t let the little things thatwere going wrong affectthem. They just pushedthrough.”

The world is her oysterBy Brian RadewitzColumbia-Greene Media

KINDERHOOK — MarielaJacome got the bestChristmas present she couldhave asked for just a fewmonths ago when her motherbought her tickets to the 2015FIFA Women’s World Cup,which is being played inCanada this summer. She nolonger has any need for thosetickets, though, as she wasrecently selected to be a partof the Ecuadorian nationalteam that has already quali-fied to compete in the biggestwomen’s soccer tournamentin the world.

“This is a huge deal for akid from a small town likeKinderhook,” Jacome’s for-mer coach at Ichabod Crane,Tracy Nytransky, said. “It’san opportunity of a lifetimeand it couldn’t happen to abetter kid.”

Jacome has seen her stockskyrocket since taking thepitch at Ichabod Crane justone year ago. In the past 12months, the Kinderhooknative went from competingfor the Lady Riders, to havingher games broadcast onESPN while playing for St.John’s University, to earninga spot on the EcuadorianWorld Cup team.

If you told the freshmanjust last month that she wouldbe playing against Japan —the defending World Cupchampion — this summer,she never would have thoughtit possible, mainly becauseshe never sought out a spot onany World Cup team to beginwith.

Jacome was visiting fami-ly in Ecuador, the birthplaceof her father, in January dur-ing winter break — some-thing she has done six orseven times over the courseof her life.

“I was at home with fami-ly during the visit and got acall from my uncle asking meif I had my cleats,” Jacomesaid. “He said that I could getsome touches in with thenational team and I went overjust to get a little work in overbreak. I played with them andafterward the coach said thatI was being considered for

Kinderhook native Mariela Jacome selected for Ecuador’s Women’s World Cup team

Photo courtesy of St. John’s University Athletics

Kinderhook native Mariela Jacome competes for the St. John’s University Red Storm women’s soccer team during the fall seasonat Belson Stadium in Queens. Jacome was selected as a member of Ecuador’s Women’s World Cup team.

Contributed photo

2009 Cairo-Durham High School graduate Nick Anander standsin front of the Harris Bradley Center — home of the MilwaukeeBucks — in Milwaukee. Anander works for Levy Restaurants,which provides vending and food services for the sports and liveevents arena.

Anander helps fuel Bucksfans in turnaround year

By Vince GinardiColumbia-Greene Media

MILWAUKEE — Lastspring, Nick Anander madehis third trip in as many yearsto the Kentucky Derby inLouisville, Kentucky, as partof a week-long internshipwith Levy Restaurants, inhopes of eventually landing ajob with the vending andfood service company. Just afew months later, Ananderacquired a full-time positionwith the company and hasbeen working out of theHarris Bradley Center inMilwaukee — the home ofthe Milwaukee Bucks.

“My supervisor from theKentucky Derby is now myboss,” Anander said. “She’sthe director of concession forMilwaukee, and once I grad-uated I sent my resumearound. It was an easy inter-view.”

Anander graduated fromCairo-Durham High Schoolin 2009 and pursued a degreein hotel restaurant manage-ment from SchenectadyCommunity College, while

occupying positions in thefood industry such as at theCountry Place Resort atZoom Flume Water Park inEast Durham, JohnnyRockets in Crossgates Mallin Guilderland, andWashington Tavern andFink’s Pizzeria in Albany.Throughout college,Anander followed throughon three internship opportu-nities with Levy Restaurantsat the Kentucky Derby, andin October he found himselfmoving to Milwaukee as aconcessions manager for thecompany.

It didn’t take long for the24-year-old to find himself inthe action. On his first day inMilwaukee, the Bucksplayed their home opener.

“It was kind of sink orswim right away, it was thefirst day for the NBA,”Anander said. “But I wasused to the high volumebecause of my experience atthe Derby. I had to learn thearena very quickly. It was anexperience.”

For the Kentucky Derby,

Anander worked in theinfield concessions atChurchill Downs, and hisduties leading up to racedays included preparationand management of a specif-ic zone on the infield of thetrack. During the KentuckyOaks on Friday and theKentucky Derby events onSaturday, Anander’s respon-sibilities expanded to super-vising the bar and food areaand keeping up on inventory.Now in Milwaukee, Ananderhas been able to transferthose experiences to his full-time position.

“I oversee the back of thehouse,” Anander explained.“What I usually do is overseethe cooks, do the scheduling,order the products. It’s a lotof management of employ-ees. I’m really enjoying it sofar.”

The Harris BradleyCenter has been a little busierthan expected, too. Headinginto the NBA season, theBucks projected to finishnear the bottom of thePlease see Anander, page B8

Please see Jacome, page B8

Please see Previews, page B8

the team. My jaw dropped. Ihad no intention of even try-ing out.”

From there, Jacome wasasked to attend nationalcamp and she flew back toEcuador to try out from Feb.18-22.

“I went there and thecoach said it would be hit ormiss, so I wasn’t expectingmuch,” she said. “We prac-ticed for the week and Iscored a goal in a gameagainst the men on the lastday, which I think helped mychances.”

Later, Jacome was askedto be one of the 27 athleteson the official roster. Afterreturning stateside for aweek, and returning toIchabod Crane to visit for-mer coaches and teammates,she headed to Queens tofinalize her online classschedule at St. John’s beforeflying back to Ecuador onTuesday. She will spend thenext three months competingfor — and with — the team,vying for one of the 23 cov-eted spots on the roster of 27athletes that will suit up forthe World Cup in June. Theremaining five players willbe reserves instead of startersor substitutes on the roster.

While she does have fam-ily in Ecuador, the team willbe holding camp primarily inthe country’s capital ofQuito, which is eight hoursaway from her relatives.

“My family lives inGuayaquil, which is reallyclose to where the camp was.This will be new to me to beon my own over there,” shesaid over the weekend. “I’llalso have to adjust to the alti-tude in Quito.”

Quito is 9,350 feet abovesea level, making it the high-est capital city in the world.

Making adjustments onthe fly isn’t anything new toJacome. Going from playingin the Colonial Council tothe Big East Conference wasa huge step this past fall andshe expects the world stageto be another leap.

“My first season at St.John’s went really well. Thespeed of play was a big dif-ference. It’s so fast on thecollege level. You have toadapt to the different stylesof play and it’s really a much

more physical game,” shesaid. “At St. John’s we trainvery hard. We have a springseason, too, so we have beendoing lifting and condition-ing four times a week withsoccer practice on top ofthat.

“I’ve been mentallypreparing as well,” sheadded. “I feel like I’m in mybest form right now. I’m verylucky to have very wonderfulcoaches and teammatesalong the way that havehelped me get to this level.”

Jacome played in all 20games this season for theRed Storm, starting two andearning one assist with threeshots. The hard work thatJacome has put in doesn’tshock ICC’s longtime coach.

“Mariela was very easy to

coach and she was the kidwho gave everything she hadon the field, in practice andin games,” Nytransky said.“She was always the first oneout there and the last one toleave. If any other playerswanted to work on theirshots, or any other skills, shewas the first to lend a helpinghand.”

During the next threemonths, Jacome will be prac-ticing and competing inQuito before heading toCanada in June. There, shewill face the best women’ssoccer players in the world— many of whom are ath-letes she has looked up to,including Megan Rapinoe,Sydney Leroux and AlexMorgan of Team USA.

“It’s been a year of surre-

al things. We’ll be playingJapan in the Group Stage andthey won the World Cup fouryears ago,” she said of thegroup that also includesSwitzerland and Cameroon.

“Being on the World Cupteam will definitely help menext year when I return tocollege and hopefully if I getthe chance to play profes-sionally afterward,” she said.“The altitude training willalso be a bit of a secretweapon for me. I’m reallyexcited for the next fewmonths.”

Jacome is just the secondwomen’s soccer player fromSt. John’s to ever compete ona World Cup team, joiningthe program’s leading scorerAdriana Viola Burke, whoplayed for Team USA.

B8 I Columbia-Greene Media Wednesday, March 4, 2015SPORTS

Courtesy of St. John’s University Athletics

Kinderhook native Mariela Jacome competes for the St. John’s University Red Storm women’ssoccer team during the fall season at Belson Stadium in Queens. Jacome was selected as a mem-ber of Ecuador’s Women’s World Cup team.

Contributed photo

Nick Anander, right, and family show off their Milwaukee Bucks apparel this past Christmas Day. Nick Anander — a 2009 Cairo-Durham High School graduate — now works for Levy Restaurants out of the Harris Bradley Center, home of the Milwaukee Bucks.From left are his brother, Ethan, father Steve and mother Lori.

Eastern Conference. Butthey have surprised much ofthe NBA world with a strongstart to the year, and as ofMarch 3, boasted a 32-27record — including a 17-11mark at home — good forsixth place in the conference.The Bucks’ performance hasresulted in an increase inticket sales.

“They were projecting weweren’t going to do well andget maybe 6,000 or 7,000people a game,” Anandersaid. “But we are averagingabout 12,000 per game andwe’ve had three sellouts. It’sbeen much more than weprojected.”

The Bucks have convert-ed another fan, too.

“I’m a huge NBA fan andI’ve always been a (Boston)Celtics fan. But since mov-ing out here, I fell in lovewith the Bucks,” Anandersaid. “I got my family allBucks stuff for Christmas.”

After delivering the gifts,Anander tweeted out thephoto of his family wearingBucks clothing, and the teamre-tweeted it on the officialBucks Twitter account for alltheir followers to see.

“That was pretty great,”Anander said. “I kind ofbecame a Bucks fan, I wearall the gear.”

The Harris BradleyCenter isn’t home to just theBucks, but also to MarquetteUniversity basketball, theMilwaukee Admirals — anAHL affiliate of theNashville Predators — andseveral concerts, with recentperformers including HunterHayes, Fleetwood Mack,Barry Manilow and theTrans-Siberian Orchestra. Asa result, Anander’s workschedule varies. On dayswith events, he works 13 or14 hours, while non-eventdays involve a more typical9-5 environment.

“The hours are veryevent-based, it all dependson the schedule. I don’t havetypical days off,” Anandersaid. “(The other) week wehad 10 event days in a row.You earn your days off, butsummer will be a lot qui-eter.”

Despite the long days,Anander has enjoyed histime at the Harris BradleyCenter and the perks thatcome with it.

“The fact that I’m in thesports arena, it’s a dream,”Anander said. “My office isright outside where every-thing happens. When there isa game or a concert going onright outside, it’s pretty cool,I can just peek outside myoffice and see what’s goingon.”

Even though Anander hasonly been with the companyfor a few months, he viewsLevy as a great opportunityto pursue a career he’s pas-

sionate for.“In the back of my mind,

it’s what I wanted to do. Iview this job as a great placeto start stepping up,”Anander said. “I want to beable to move up in Levy, theyhave locations all over thecountry. Eventually, I canhopefully transition to adirector someday.”

For now, Anander willfinish out his first Bucks sea-son as a concessions manag-er, and he looks forward tothe opportunity to head backto where he got his start withthe company: the KentuckyDerby, where this time, hewill have a new role.

“This year I’ll be thatLevy employee that gets toboss the interns from myschool around,” Anandersaid with a laugh. “Last year,the Kentucky Derby had thesecond largest attendance inits history, so I’m reallylooking forward to it again.”

Anander Continued from page B1

Jacome Continued from page B1

ICC checks into tonight’scontest at 13-8 after finishing10-4 in the Colonial Council.

“Our game plan going inis to continue playing as wehave been playing,” Voorissaid. “We’ve been focusingon defense and have contin-ued to work on that. It helpsus lead to baskets on offense.We have to go in ready to getstops.”

The Lady Riders shouldhave their hands full with theLady Panthers, who entertonight at 20-1 overall after a14-0 season in the WasarenLeague. Hoosick Falls is ledby the trio of Rachel Pine,Kelly Pine and Megan Flynn.

“They are a great team, a

great shooting team. Theyare the No. 1 seed for a rea-son,” Vooris said. “They arebig, strong and can shoot theball. It’ll be a tough game.”

Tipoff is scheduled for7:30 p.m. at Averill ParkHigh School.

“Our girls come in readyto play, whether it’s practiceor a game. They put in theeffort to make it this far andgot together and made reach-ing sectional finals one ofour goals,” Vooris said.“That’s still our goal. Weremind them of that if theyare tired or stressed — wemake sure our goals are stillin mind.”

— Vince Ginardi

Previews Continued from page B1

Please recycle this paper

Kelly proves everyplayer is expendable

Chip Kelly has no prob-lem getting rid of tal-ented players.

Last year, he cut three-time Pro Bowl wide receiverDeSean Jackson after acareer season. Now, he’strading away two-time All-Pro running back LeSeanMcCoy.

Two people familiar withthe deal told The AssociatedPress the Eagles have agreedto trade McCoy to theBuffalo Bills for linebackerKiko Alonso. Both peoplespoke under condition ofanonymity on Tuesdaybecause the teams had notannounced the deal.

ESPN first reported thetrade. It can’t be completeduntil the 2015 league seasonbegins next Tuesday. McCoy,who played high school, col-lege and pro football inPennsylvania, could refuse togo to Buffalo.

Since taking full controlof all personnel moves awayfrom former general managerHowie Roseman in the off-season, Kelly has been busyreshaping a team that won 10games in each of his first twoseasons in the NFL. Hereleased longtime startingoffensive lineman ToddHerremans and third-stringtight end James Casey lastweek. He cut starting corner-back Cary Williams hoursbefore the McCoy trade.

Trading McCoy is a bigrisk for Kelly, who firmlybelieves players in his systemare replaceable. McCoythrived in Kelly’s up-tempooffense in 2013, leading theNFL with a franchise-record1,607 yards rushing. His pro-duction, along with the rest

of the offense, slipped in2014 and he finished with1,319 yards. Inconsistencyand injuries on the offensiveline were a major factor.

It was never clear howmuch the 26-year-oldMcCoy and Kelly got along.McCoy said Kelly pushedhim harder than any coach hehad. “Chip is constantly onme,” McCoy said lastAugust. Kelly later created astir when he said McCoysometimes practices “not sogreat.”

Whatever the relationship,McCoy is gone. Kelly getsanother player he’s quitefamiliar with in Alonso. Theinjury-prone linebackerplayed for Kelly at Oregon.He had an outstanding rookieyear after Buffalo selectedhim in the second round in2013. But he tore the ACL inhis left knee and missed the2014 season. Alonso tore theACL in his right knee atOregon in 2010. He also hadhip surgery last offseason.

Kelly could be gearing upto make a run at another oneof his former players. Talkabout Heisman Trophy win-ner Marcus Mariota comingto the Eagles has dominatedconversations inPhiladelphia. The Eagleswould have to trade up fromNo. 20 in the first round ofthe draft to get Mariota, whois projected to go as high asNo. 1 or 2.

A blockbuster deal to getMariota was highly unlikelywhen Roseman was the GMbecause he values draftpicks. But with Kelly callingthe shots, anything is possi-ble.

— The Associated Press

Philadelphia Eagles coach reportedly trading LeSean McCoy to Bills

Manny a big hit in Vegas books vs FloydBy Tim DahlbergThe Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — MannyPacquiao has alwaysbelieved he can do what 47other fighters before himhave failed to do — beatFloyd Mayweather Jr. in thering.

Turns out a lot of otherpeople are believers, too.And they’re backing theiropinions with real money.

A flurry of early action onPacquiao has already nar-rowed the odds for the bigfight in this city’s legal sportsbooks. By the time they getinto the ring May 2, it’s con-ceivable that Mayweathermight not be favored at all.

“I’ve never seenMayweather this low eightweeks out before the fight,”said Jimmy Vaccaro, who hasbooked money on every bigfight for the past fourdecades in Las Vegas. “Thisis as close as we get to alegitimate pick ‘em fightsince Mayweather fought(Oscar) De La Hoya.”

Mayweather opened as a2 1/2-1 favorite in mostsports books when the fightwas announced, and at thatprice Pacquiao backerscouldn’t wait to get their betsdown. At Vaccaro’s SouthPoint hotel sports book, therewere 150 tickets written onPacquiao in the days after thefight was announced to just10 on the favoredMayweather.

Over the weekend,Vaccaro said his book took acouple of $10,000 bets onPacquiao, which prompted

him to move the betting linecloser to try and draw moreaction on Mayweather.

“It’s a one-way attack onPacquiao,” Vaccaro said.“We’re well into a six-figureloss right now if Pacquiaowins.”

That could change whenthe so-called “smarts” startweighing in on a fight that isstill two months away. BothPacquiao and Mayweatherbegan training camps thisweek, giving bettors plentyof time to form their opinionsas more news circulatesabout their training status.

Vaccaro actually saw aninflux of Pacquiao moneyfirst in October when he putup a line on the fight before itwas made, makingMayweather a minus-300favorite and Pacquiao a plus-250 underdog.

That meant a bettor had towager $300 to win $100 onMayweather, while Pacquiaopaid $250 for every $100 bet.Vaccaro had barely postedthe line when he got a $3,000bet on Pacquiao, and thetrend has continued unabat-ed.

“The smarts really aren’tjumping in yet, they’re goingto wait to see how low itgoes,” Vaccaro said. “They’retelling you that they think itwill get much lower.”

The latest odds at theSouth Point still favoredMayweather, but now atminus-200.

Editor’s note: Visitwww.thedailymail.net orwww.registerstar.com to readthis story in its entirety.