Second Thoughts

Ball brothers pile up points in California

LaMelo Ball (left), a sophomore at Chino Hills (Calif.) High School, made 37 of 61 shots from the floor — including 7 of 22 three-pointers — and hit 11 of 14 free throws to finish with 92 points in a 146-123 victory over Los Osos, Calif., on Tuesday night.
LaMelo Ball (left), a sophomore at Chino Hills (Calif.) High School, made 37 of 61 shots from the floor — including 7 of 22 three-pointers — and hit 11 of 14 free throws to finish with 92 points in a 146-123 victory over Los Osos, Calif., on Tuesday night.

LaMelo Ball, the younger brother of UCLA's star freshman Lonzo Ball, scored 92 points -- 41 in the fourth quarter -- to help Chino Hills, Calif., beat Los Osos 146-123 on Tuesday night.

Ball only had 29 points at halftime. The 6-2 sophomore guard made 37 of 61 shots from the floor, including 7 of 22 from behind the three-point line, hit 11 of 14 free throws and had 7 assists and 5 rebounds.

The Balls' other brother, LiAngelo, who leads Chino Hills in scoring, sat out the game because of an ankle injury. LaMelo and LiAngelo are both committed to UCLA like their older brother, who is projected to be a top-five pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

LiAngelo has scored 72, 60, 59 and 58 points during games this season.

Chino Hills (26-1) had won 60 consecutive games before losing to Oak Hill Academy on Saturday-- in which LaMelo scored 36 points.

Lonzo tweeted: "Well I mean that's one way to bounce back after a loss ... I see you lil bro."

Chino Hills is ranked No. 3 nationally this week by MaxPreps. The Huskies are averaging 101.1 points per game this season.

Ball's effort is No. 2 all-time in California according to Cal-Hi Sports. The national record belongs to Danny Heater of Burnsville (W.Va.), who scored 135 points in January of 1960.

Inspired by Tiger

J.J. Spaun remembers the red sweater, the 4-foot putt and the uppercut from Tiger Woods when he won the 1997 Masters.

Spaun was 6 years old.

"He inspired me," Spaun said. "He inspired all of us from my generation to compete and be the best."

That explains why Spaun was nervous two weeks ago at Torrey Pines. The PGA Tour rookie who grew up in the Los Angeles area was sick when he arrived at the Farmers Insurance Open and had to rest Monday. He played the South Course on Tuesday and because he wasn't in the pro-am, he walked the North Course with his caddie.

When they got to the 14th hole, they noticed a huge crowd.

"I was like, 'Oh, that's Tiger. Let's stay out of the way,'" Spaun said.

That would have worked except that he ran into Amy Bartlett, who works at Nike and told him to stick around so he could meet Woods.

"I said, 'No, no, no, no. I'm not meeting him.' I was too scared. And I didn't want to bug him," Spaun said. "We were on 15 and he hits his tee ball. Amy gets his attention and says 'I want you to meet a fellow Nike guy who grew up in LA.' It was cool. We talked about the Rams, sports, where I went to school. He was really open, easy to get along with. It was totally not what I expected. I didn't think he would be that welcoming to a rookie.

"He made me feel like I belonged out there," he said. "It inspired me to play well. I wanted to play good to have a chance to play with him on the weekend."

Questionable hire?

The Atlanta Falcons hired interim Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian for the same position.

Wrote Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com: "Does Atlanta know Alabama was winless in the Sarkisian era?"

Sports quiz

What city were the Houston Rockets originally based?

Sports answer

San Diego from 1967 to 1970.

Sports on 02/09/2017

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