061116WHT_B01

11

Are You Ready? Prepare for emergency situations before they occur. Pick up a copy of the Handbook for Emergency Preparedness at our offi ces in Hilo, Kona or Waimea or online at hawaiielectriclight.com COUNTDOWN TO IRONMAN | PAGE 2B B SPORTS SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2016 | WEST HAWAII TODAY SEE BASEBALL PAGE 3B WARRIORS LEAD THE SERIES 3-1 June 2: Golden State 104, Cleveland 89 June 5: Golden State 110, Cleveland 77 June 8: Cleveland 120, Golden State 90 Friday: Golden State 108, Cleveland 97 Monday: Cleveland at Golden State, 3 p.m. x-June 16: Golden State at Cleveland, 3 p.m. x-June 19: Cleveland at Golden State, 2 p.m. Best-of-7; x-if necessary OBITUARY LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL NBA 17 3-pointers made by Golden State in Game 4, an NBA record. Howe was indeed larger than hockey BY HELENE ELLIOTT TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE It’s comforting to think a spectacular game of celestial shinny has just begun, now that Gordie Howe has joined Rocket Richard and Jean Beliveau on a perfect sheet of ice where they can swap stories and elbows and can skate forever on again-youthful legs. Howe’s death Friday at 88 was not a shock but it was still a jolt, a moment to pause during the cross-country mayhem of the Stanley Cup Final and reflect on a rare athlete who was larger than the game he played. The Cup Final resumes Sunday in San Jose, with Pittsburgh up, 3-2. Howe suffered a stroke in October 2014 but he had, improbably, rallied to the point of being able to go out shopping and make brief public appearances with one of his four children. That was entirely in character for the man who dodged Father Time for so long, who grudgingly ended his NHL career at 43 after winning the Cup four times, the scoring title six times and most valuable SEE HOWE PAGE 3B Joaquin leads North Hawaii past Hilo North Hawaii’s Aiden Joaquin loves to strike batters out. He said so after his dominating performance against Hilo in the District 4 Minors (8-10 year-olds) baseball tournament, which kicked off at Old Airport Park on Friday. With seven strikeouts in 2-2/3 innings of work, Joaquin helped lead North Hawaii to an 18-2 rout in the first round and a date with top-seeded Kona in the second round of the tourney at 10 a.m. today. North Hawaii jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the top of the first inning, allowing Joaquin plenty of leeway on the hill. BY RICK WINTERS WEST HAWAII TODAY rwinters@westhawaiitoday.com LEFT: North Hawaii pitcher Aiden Joaquin striked out the side in the first inning of Friday’s District 4 Minors baseball tournament game at Old Airport Park. RIGHT: Hilo right fielder Treysten Carvalhoto attempts to make a play in the first inning. RICK WINTERS/WEST HAWAII TODAY A championship repeat draws closer for Warriors BY TIM REYNOLDS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CLEVELAND — LeBron James said Game 4 was another “do-or-die” scenario for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He can only hope he was wrong. The NBA Finals have all but slipped away from James and the Cavaliers, an offensive disaster of a fourth quarter their undoing in what became a 108-97 loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 on Friday night. Cleveland now trails the series 3-1, a deficit that no team has ever successfully overcome in the championship round. Game 5 is Monday in Oakland, where the defending champion Warriors are 50-3 this season. If Cleveland is going to pull off this miracle, it’ll need to win there twice. So it’s not over. It only seems that way, and James’ all-too-familiar June nightmare is one loss away from being officially complete — though he certainly didn’t sound Friday night that the series was over. “We feel like the chips have been stacked up against us all year anyway,” James said. This is James’ seventh trip to the finals, and barring the most improbable of comebacks this will be his fifth time watching someone else hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy. He’ll likely be blamed for yet another setback, even though he’s averaging 24.7 points, 11 rebounds and 9.3 assists in this series. He told the Cavaliers to follow his lead, took the blame when they fell behind 2-0 in the series, has tried to say and do all the right things. “We’re just trying our best,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He’s a freight train out there. We have certain rules and we’re trying to follow our rules … but no matter what you do, he’s going to have a huge stat line and he’s going to impact the game 1,000 different ways.” True, but the Warriors are one win from denying him again. It went six games last year when the Cavaliers didn’t have Kevin Love for the entirety of the series and Kyrie Irving for most of the matchup. This one could end in five even though Irving has played well for much of this matchup and Love returned to the lineup for Game 4 after missing essentially six quarters with a concussion. “If you don’t think we can win, don’t get on the plane,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said, when asked what the approach is now. “I just think we’ve got to come back anyway, so we might as well come back and play. We’ve got to come back to Cleveland, don’t we?” LEBRON, CAVS ON THE ROPES AFTER GAME 4 LOSS Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, right, and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, left, argue while being separated by Channing Frye during the second half of Game 4. RON SCHWANE/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SEE NBA PAGE 3B


11
To see the actual publication please follow the link above