In brief: South All-Stars, Cottonmouths win
SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The South team edged the North 116-115 on Saturday in the annual Georgia Athletic Coaches Association All-Star game at Savannah State.
Northside's Philip Whittington scored four points for the South.
The South team was coached by Columbus High's George Williams. His assistants were Northside coach Kenneth Lawrence and Hardaway assistant coach Pershin Williams.
The South trailed 107-93 with seven minutes left but closed on a 24-8 run to pull out the win.
JaShawn Brooks was the South MVP after leading the team with 21 points.
"I have to give the North a lot of credit," George Williams told the Savannah Morning News. "But we had a few guys that made the big plays down the stretch to win it. I tried to instill a little defense and playing team ball into them, and they took the coaching well. They showed a lot of character to come back from 16 down."
In the Junior All-Star game, the North won 125-105. Northside's Davion Thomas scored 13 points in the game.
SPHL
Snakes strike early, hang on for victory
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Columbus scored three goals in the first period and held on for a 3-2 win over Knoxville on Saturday night.
Bryce Williamson, who had a hat trick against Knoxville on Friday, gave Columbus a 1-0 lead 5:19 into the game with an assit by Matt Gingera.
Gingera gave Columbus a 2-0 lead on an unassited goal at 9:07.
Ben O'Quinn gave the Snakes a 3-0 lead on a power-play goal at 14:10. Neilsson Arcibal and Craig Simchuk had the assists.
Andrew Loewen picked up the win, stopping 22 of 24 shots.
With the win, the Snakes remained four points behind SPHL leader Peoria.
Columbus finishes the regular season next week with a Tuesday game at Louisiana, then home games against Huntsville on Friday and Saturday. Peoria has games at Mississippi on Friday and Saturday.
GOLF
Stenson closes fast, takes Palmer lead
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Henrik Stenson of Sweden made a 20-foot eagle and a tap-in birdie over the last three holes at Bay Hill to seize control Saturday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Stenson had his second straight 6-under 66 for a two-shot lead over Morgan Hoffmann, who had a 71.
Six players were separated by three shots going into the final round, including defending champion Matt Every.
Stenson was at 16-under 200.
Hyo Joo Kim leads LPGA Tour's Founders Cup
PHOENIX -- Hyo Joo Kim took the third-round lead Saturday in the LPGA Tour's JTBC Founders Cup, finishing another long day at Desert Ridge in the dark on the 18th green.
The 19-year-old South Korean player shot a 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead over 2013 winner Stacy Lewis.
Kim made three straight birdies -- the last with a 25-foot putt on the par-4 16th -- and closed with two pars to finish at 16-under 200. Kim holed her 1 1/2-foot par putt at 6:51 p.m. -- 11 minutes after sunset.
Lewis shot a 67.
Dawson leads Tucson Conquistadores Classic
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Marco Dawson made a 15-foot par putt on the par-4 18th for a 5-under 67 and the second-round lead Saturday in the Champions Tour's Tucson Conquistadores Classic.
The 51-year-old Dawson, making his 21st start on the 50-and-over tour, opened with two birdies, made four in a row on Nos. 7-10 and had his lone bogey on the par-3 17th.
Dawson had a 10-under 134 total in the first-year event on Tucson National's Catalina Course, the longtime home of the PGA Tour's defunct Tucson Open.
TENNIS
Djokovic, Federer advance to Indian Wells final
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray 6-2, 6-3 to reach the final of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday, handing Murray his worst hard-court loss against the world's top-ranked player since 2007.
Djokovic will play for his fourth career title in the desert in today's final against four-time champion Roger Federer, who beat sixth-seeded Milos Raonic 7-5, 6-4 in the other semifinal.
"It's the ultimate final that right now I can have," Djokovic said.
It will be the 38th career meeting between Djokovic and second-ranked Federer, who has won three of their last four. The Serb beat Federer in a third-set tiebreaker to claim last year's title, and also beat him in three sets in the semifinals here in 2011.
-- From staff, wire reports
"I feel great going into the finals, and I hope I can keep up this kind of a level," Federer said. "I'm happy I can still hang with him. He's in his absolute prime right now and I enjoy the challenge of him."
Third-seeded Simona Halep plays 2010 champion Jelena Jankovic in the women's final Sunday. Halep advanced by walkover after top-ranked Serena Williams withdrew before their semifinal Friday night with a sprained right knee.
Djokovic and Murray were playing for the first time since he beat Murray in four sets for the Australian Open title in January.
Murray's serve let him down, getting broken four times in losing for the sixth straight time to Djokovic, who connected on 56 percent of his first serves.
"I tried to go for a few more serves today and to try to get a few more free points, but serving 50 percent or just below is not good enough against the best players," Murray said. "I thought I actually hit my second serve better than I did in Australia today, but first serve percentage was too low."
Murray hadn't lost to Djokovic so badly since a 6-1, 6-0 drubbing on hard courts in Miami eight years ago. He had 29 unforced errors and just seven winners Saturday.
"I thought I played solid, with the right intensity from the beginning," Djokovic said. "Good first serve percentage. Got some free points there in the important moments. Just overall it was a good performance."
Murray had two break points on the Serb's serve trailing 3-1 in the second set. But he couldn't convert, and Djokovic hit a cross-court forehand winner to lead 4-1.
Djokovic had triple match point on his serve when he lost three straight points, including a double fault, before Murray netted a backhand to end the match. The Serb dropped just one service game in the 1 1/2-hour match.
Djokovic reached the semifinals after a walkover when Bernard Tomic withdrew because of a back injury.
Federer needed two minutes more than Djokovic to beat Raonic. He earned the only break of the first set in the 11th game, winning on his third break point when Raonic's backhand missed wide.
Federer served a love game to take the set, 7-5, then broke Raonic on a backhand down the line to open the second set.
Raonic managed just one break point on Federer's serve in the match, but couldn't convert and Federer held for a 3-1 lead in the second set.
Raonic defeated Rafael Nadal in three sets for the first time in the quarterfinals.
"I'm happy that I'm getting more and more traction each time and I can get some hopefully wins in my favor," he said. "It's never like you get on top of these guys. As you see between each other, they keep going back and forth with the results. I'm just trying to sort of get myself in that mix."
In the women's doubles final, top-seeded Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza defeated second-seeded Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, 6-3, 6-4.
BC-BKC--Mississippi St-Ray Fired,127
Mississippi State fires Rick Ray after 3 seasons
AP Photo TNMS105
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) -- Mississippi State has fired basketball coach Rick Ray after three losing seasons.
The school released a statement announcing the decision on Saturday. Ray had a 37-60 record over three seasons, including a 15-44 mark against Southeastern Conference competition.
Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin said in the statement that firing Ray was a "difficult decision, as I have the utmost respect for Rick, and am highly appreciative of the effort he put forth in leading our basketball program."
Stricklin acknowledged Ray was doing a good job in several off-the-court areas, but progress on the court "has not been satisfactory."
Ray took over for longtime coach Rick Stansbury, but struggled from the outset. The Bulldogs just finished a 13-19 season, which included a 6-12 mark in the SEC.
This story was originally published March 21, 2015 at 10:55 PM with the headline "In brief: South All-Stars, Cottonmouths win ."