The Gazette from Cedar Rapids, Iowa • P3

SPORTS SUNDAY Sunday, June 23, 2013 3CThe 2013 The azette Simonsen killed at Le Mans LEMANS, France Driver Allan Simonsen of Denmark died Satur- day during the 24-hour race at Le Mans. The 34-year-old died of his injuries shortly after being brought to a hospital, race organiz- ers said last night. wish to express our profound sadness regarding the death of Allan Simonsen at 24 Hours of Le organizers said in a statement on the race website, alongside a photo of Simonsen. would like to con- vey our deepest and heartfelt sympathies to family and friends. Our thoughts are also with his Aston Martin teammates at this difficult Simsonsen crashed his Aston Martin while driving in light rain.

Simonsen is the 117th fatality in the 90-year history of the endurance race. The last death was a driver killed during qualifying in 1997. Paul not happy Rivers deal collapsed Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul is unhappy that talks of a deal to send Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers to the Clippers broke down, according to Ya- hoo! Sports. Celtics general manager Danny Ainge reportedly wanted a first-round draft pick as compensation for Rivers, but the Clippers were only willing to part with a second rounder. The discussions ended Friday afternoon when Ainge and Rivers be- came frustrated with the negotiations.

USA Today reported that Rivers will assess his future and make a decision on Monday. Yahoo! Sports also reported that Clippers owner Donald Sterling might not be willing to pay Rivers a five-year, $35 million contract that was being negotiated, or give up a first-round draft choice. Paul was report- edly hoping the Clippers would land Rivers. Paul is eligible for free agen- cy on July 1. If Rivers does not return to the Celtics for a 10th season, he is also considering working as an NBA analyst on television.

Rivers has three years and $21 mil- lion left on his contract. Under Rivers, the Celt- ics won the NBA title in 2008 and reached the finals in 2010. Clippers focusing on Scott for coach The Los Angeles Clippers are focusing their coaching search on Byron Scott, ESPN The Magazine reported Saturday. After talks broke down with Boston Celt- ics coach Doc Rivers, the Clippers turned their focus toward Scott. Clippers President Andy Roeser has put together financial terms of a con- tract proposal for Scott.

The other candidates Scott, Lionel Hollins and Brian have met with Clippers man- agement and owner Donald Sterling. Financial terms have not been discussed with Hollins but the team does have an idea how much money Shaw is seeking. The front office is ex- pected to present their recommendations to Sterling on Monday. The Celtics are sched- uled to have a press conference regarding Rivers on Monday. Arrest made in Stoops burglary An arrest was made Saturday in the bur- glary of Oklahoma coach Bob home.

Corey McCarty, 21, was arrested and charged with first- degree burglary at 6:26 a.m. in Norman and sent to Cleveland County Detention Cen- ter, according to Sooner Nation. McCarty faces other charges, including pos- session of stolen prop- erty, larceny of a motor vehicle and use of a sto- len credit card. A second suspect is still being sought by police. Video surveillance of the suspects was re- leased Friday.

home was burglarized early Wednesday morning while the family was asleep. No one was in- jured, but a vehicle and several other items were stolen from the home. Navy assault suspects identified Three Navy football players accused of sexu- ally assaulting a female mid while she was blacked out were identi- fied. The (Annapolis, Md.) Capital reported Friday that the three midship- men are Josh Tate, Bush and Eric Graham. They were charged with rape, sexual as- sault, other sexual misconduct and making false official statements, according to a Naval Academy press release.

Bush started at safety last season as a senior and was second on the team in tackles. Reuters NATIONAL NEWS NOTES INDOOR FOOTBALL NHL STANLEY CUP FINAL By Tom Savage, correspondent SIOUX The Cedar Rapids Titans set an impressive tone Sat- urday night in the United Conference Champion- ship game against the Sioux Falls Storm by scoring on their opening drive. Sioux Falls en- tered the game with the Indoor Football top-rated defense, allow- ing just 35.7 points per game. But the Titans moved the ball easily to open the game and scored on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Colton Hansen to Lacey to take an early 7-0 lead. For the Titans, that trend did not continue as Cedar Rapids lost all momentum and fell 44-20 to finish the sea- son with a record of 9-6.

just really started to press after that open- ing said Titans Coach Mark Stoute. the coaches and the players did, and when you play a team like Sioux Falls, been together for so long, not going to work. We talked all week about needing to make plays, and we started pressing and got away from Saturday was a tall order for the Titans, as Sioux Falls entered the game on a 32-game home winning streak and were in defense of their back- to-back United Bowl Championships. The opening drive for Cedar Rapids went for 35 yards on five plays, and touchdown catch from Hansen was a spectacular one as he stretched out for the ball and landed outside the boards. The Titans actually took a 10-0 lead after the Storm fumbled the ensu- ing kickoff and Rockne Belmonte hit a 46-yard field goal four plays later.

From that point, however, the offense sputtered for the balance of the half and the Titans managed just 54 more yards before halftime. During the Cedar Rap- ids offensive struggles, the Sioux Falls offense came to life and scored 20 unanswered points. How- ever, it took a bit for the Storm to get going. With just more than three minutes to play in the opening quarter, Sioux Falls had managed just 2 yards of total offense. Down 20-10, the Titans looked to cut it to three just before the half when Hansen hit Carl Sims for what appeared to be a nine-yard touchdown strike, but an illegal block in the back negated the score.

An area the Titans will probably be scratching their heads is their rush- ing attack. They entered the game against Sioux Falls as the lead- ing team on the ground, averaging 98.7 yards per game, but managed just 38 yards on the ground against the Storm. Titans knocked out of playoffs by Storm Emily Falls Argus Leader Cedar Rapids Lacey pulls in a touchdown reception against Roy Polite of the Sioux Falls Storm in an IFL playoff game last night at Sioux Falls. The Sports Xchange Two goals by Patrick Kane and a strong bounce- back performance by goalie Corey Crawford put the Chicago Black- hawks on the verge of winning their second Stanley Cup in four sea- sons. And they did it with their captain on the bench for the final period with an injury.

Crawford made 24 saves as the Blackhawks held on for a 3-1 victory in Game 5 last night at the United Center. Chi- cago leads the Stanley Cup Final 3-2 with Game 6 set for Monday night in Boston. Dave Bol- land scored an empty-net goal with 14 seconds remaining to ice the vic- tory. Zdeno Chara ended shutout bid with a blast from the left faceoff circle, making it 2-1 at 3:40 of the third period. The goal came as the Bruins increased their pressure after putting only five shots on goal in the second period.

Both teams finished the game without key players. Patrice Bergeron return to the Bos- ton bench for the third period after playing only 49 seconds in the sec- ond. NBC reported that Bergeron was taken by ambulance to a local hos- pital while the game was still in progress. Jonathan Toews came out for the third period but leave the bench. He took a vicious hit from Johnny Boychuk mid- way through the second period.

Scoring chances plentiful in the first period, but the Blackhawks were able to break through at 17:27 on first goal of the night. Kane stuffed in a re- bound to the right of a fallen Boston goalie Tu- ukka Rask, who control a slap shot from Johnny Oduya. Toews also assisted. The period was marked by physical play, highlighted by a scuffle between Nick Boyton and Patrick Sharp along the boards just inside the Bruins zone 30 seconds after the Chicago goal. Rask tested often but did withstand two close calls that would have cost the Bru- ins dearly.

The first came when Jonathan Toews hit the post to right at 3:38. Rask went from left to right across the crease to deny Sharp with about five minutes left in the first to keep it scoreless at that point. second goal was his ninth of the play- offs and third of the se- ries, both coming in the past two games. Blackhawks a win from Cup Reuters Chicago Patrick Kane celebrates his goal during the second period in Game 5 last night. two goals guided the Blackhawks to a 3-1 win and a 3-2 series lead.

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As the Iowa Department of Transportation continues the Highway 100 extension preconstruction work, The Gazette reports on the efforts being made to protect the wildlife affected by the project. Another important local issue that shapes your community, brought to you by The Gazette..