Quick Hitters
Cibola girls stay undefeated
Cibola girls basketball improved to 3-0 in AIA play with another blowout win on Friday night.
The Raiders downed Westview 49-33 behind 14 points and seven assists from Arlyssa Underwood.
Arianna Burgos had 11 points and Rylee Lakey added 10 points and eight rebounds.
MORE GIRLS BASKETBALL San Pasqual 54, Mohave Accelerated 19
The Warriors were led by a big night from Mary Amador with 25 points and five assists.
Brianna Arriaga added 12 points and 14 rebounds and Keija Koteen had 10 assists.
BOYS SOCCER San Luis 3, Alhambra 0
The Sidewinders were led by first-half goals from Isaac Flores and Erik Vera. Samuel Apodaca scored in the second half with an assist from Cesar Meza to win 3-0.
GIRLS SOCCER Liberty 2, Cibola 1
The Raiders went down 2-0 before Lizbeth Rubio scored on a ball from Jada Barnett to cut the lead in half.
Pitcher Kelly gets $5.5M, 2-year deal with D-Backs
PHOENIX — Right-hander Merrill Kelly is joining his hometown Arizona Diamondbacks, agreeing to a $5.5 million, two-year contract.
The 30-year-old spent the past four seasons with SK Wyverns in South Korea. He was 48-32 with a 3.86 ERA, including 16-7 in 2017.
A Scottsdale native, Kelly attended Desert Mountain High School, Yavapai College and Arizona State. He was taken by Tampa Bay on the eighth round of the 2010 amateur draft and rose to Triple-A in the Rays’ system.
He gets $2 million next season and $3 million in 2020. The Diamondbacks have a $4.25 million team option for 2021 with a $500,000 buyout, and if that is exercised they have a $5.25 million option for 2022.
He cannot be sent to the minor leagues without his consent, and he will become a free agent at the end of the contract.
Kelly’s deal was announced Tuesday.
PHOENIX — The depleted Phoenix Suns gave the Heat a little resistance before normalcy was restored, and Miami became the latest team to win in the desert.
Bam Adebayo scored a career-high 22 points, 20 in the first half, and the Heat opened a six-game trip by handing the Suns their eighth straight loss, 115-98, on Friday night.
Justise Winslow added 20 points, including all four of his 3-point tries, and Rodney McGruder scored 14 points for Miami. Goran Dragic, back after missing eight games with a sore right knee, had 11 points and 10 assists.
“It feels good,” Dragic said. “I was a little winded but I feel great. I’m satisfied.”
The Suns again were without their top two scorers. Devin Booker missed his third straight with left hamstring strain, and T.J. Warren his fifth straight with right ankle soreness.
Troy Daniels made 6-of-10 3-pointers for a season-high 18 points for Phoenix. Deandre Ayton had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix. Rookie De’Anthony Melton, in his first career start, scored all 12 of his points in the third quarter for the Suns, who, at 4-22, have the NBA’s worst record.
“After the first quarter, that wasn’t the tone we wanted to set for the game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “From there we followed up with a 14-point defensive quarter in the second quarter and some good things in the second half on both sides of the floor.”
After scoring fewer than 10 points in the first quarter of each of their previous two games, the Suns shot out to a 36-34 lead after one period against Miami.
But coach Igor Kokoskov had a hard time calling it an improved offensive performance, considering his team’s 21 turnovers (resulting in 29 Miami points).
“It cost us the game,” he said.
Still, Kokoskov said, “the energy was much, much better than last night” in a blowout loss in Portland.
Daniels’ third 3-pointer of the half gave Phoenix its last lead, 45-43, with 4:53 left in the second quarter. Miami scored the next 11 points in what became a 17-2 run. McGruder’s 3-pointer capped the outburst and put the Heat up 60-47. Mikal Bridges’ steal and 3-pointer at the buzzer cut the Miami lead to 60-50 at the half.
Richardson and McGruder sank 3s in an 8-0 spurt that put the Heat ahead 8062, and they led 89-73 entering the fourth quarter.