SPORTS SECTION E
NFL PICKS
Week 9, Page 3
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2018
Fox named to West team in ‘Fall Stars’ showcase
BAHAMIANS BEGIN TREK TO THE CCAA TITLE BERTH By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
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ucius Fox continues to earn accolades at each step of his minor league progression with the latest coming in the form of recognition by the Arizona Fall League. Fox was named to the West roster of the league’s 13th Annual “Fall Stars” game, a showcase for several of the game’s top prospects. The Fall Stars game will be hosted Saturday at Surprise Stadium in Arizona, the spring training home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals. MLB Network will broadcast the game live at 8pm local time and MLB. com will stream the contest live. The game will feature 12 of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects and seven, including Fox, also played in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. The 21-year-old shortstop is hitting .327 for the Peoria Javelinas with a .439 OBP, an .839 OPS in 13 games. Fox has 18 hits including one double, one home run, collected nine RBIs, six stolen bases and 12 runs scored – tied for third in the league. Fox advanced to the Double-A level for the first time when the Rays assigned him to the Montgomery Biscuits this season. In 27 games with the Biscuits, Fox hit .221 with a .284 OBP, four stolen bases, 23 hits, three doubles, one triple, nine RBI and 14 runs scored. He previously spent 91 games with the Charlotte Stone Crabs of Single-A Advanced of the Florida State League. He hit .282 with a .724 OPS, .371 OBP, 23 stolen bases, 99 hits, 17 doubles, one triple, two home runs, 30 RBI and 54 runs scored. He was named to the Florida State League’s Southern Division All-Star Team at the midseason classic. “Going to Double-A in August, for that one month,you learn a lot,
LUCIUS FOX, of the Bahamas, at bat during the 2017 MLB Futures Game at Marlins Park. Fox has been named to the West roster of the league’s 13th Annual “Fall Stars” Game, a showcase for several of the game’s top prospects. and it’s not the ability anymore, it’s about the mental part of the game. I was able to see that for a month, and that helped me,” Fox told MLB.com. “This opportunity has blessed me with the teammates that have been in Double-A and Triple-A and being able to see what they do before the game, how they prepare, what they think about pitchers, how they think about the game, it all makes me a better player. I’m taking it all in and learning something new every day.” Fox said the AFL is serving as a proving ground to sharpen his skills and improvement as he looks to further progress in the Rays organisation.
“Being closer to the big leagues, you want to almost be perfect with your throwing -- you don’t have time to figure it out up there,” he said. “Just working on stealing more bases and hitting -- working counts better, taking pitcher’s pitches, swinging at my pitches and being more disciplined.” The rosters have been announced for the game, but Jazz Chisholm was also listed on a special online ballot with the opportunity to be named as one of two additional players. The Final 2 Fan Vote, presented by Bowman Baseball Cards, concluded voting yesterday with the announcement of the winning players still pending.
BAHAMIAN basketball players at the collegiate level in Canada began seasons in their respective conferences this month and began their trek toward a CCAA National Championship Tournament berth. Samson Cleare has taken on a greater role with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Ooks this season as the team looks to contend in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference. Cleare has been named team captain in his final collegiate season and has averaged 14.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game on 57 per cent shooting from the field. He opened the season with a 24-point, 12-rebound performance against Lakeland College. In the second game of the back-to-back he finished with 13 points and four rebounds. In the second series of the season, Grand Prairie Regional College Wolves, Cleare posted games of nine points, 10 rebounds and 13 points, four rebounds. Last season, he averaged 12.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Cleare entered this season ranked sixth in rebounds in NAIT history with 354. The school record is currently held by Sebastian Cava with 512. The Ooks finished last season with a 16-8 regular season record which placed them 2nd in the ACAC North Division. After defeating the RDC Kings in the quarter-final round, the Ooks would find themselves matched up with the No.1 seed and host SAIT Trojans.
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Buddy grabs career high 11 rebounds for first double By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net BUDDY Hield has been on a torrid stretch during the final week of October and his latest performance produced one of the best all-around games of his career and a fourth win for his Sacramento Kings. Hield finished with a season high 25 points and a career high 11 rebounds in the Kings’ 107-99 win over the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday night. It was his fourth straight game scoring at least 20 points and was also the first double double of his NBA career. Hield shot 9-15 from the field, added three assists and was a perfect 6-6 from the line in 39 minutes. “Just trying to help the bigs out rebounding. That effort shows on the stat sheet. We need extra bodies down there and once I get it we can push the ball and that makes us harder to guard if me or Fox gets it out on the break and people fill the lanes or spots up to shoot it.” The Kings outrebounded the Magic 51-48 on the evening. It was the third time in four games that they have posted 50 or more rebounds in a game.
Hield scored six points in a 13-2 run to close out the third quarter, and the Kings held on to match their longest winning streak since February 2017. “We had a great training camp, it didn’t show in the preseason at times, but we know what we’re capable of doing,” Hield said. “It just takes a while until we click and we’re clicking at a good time, so we just have to keep rolling and playing together.” Hield’s jumper with 1:28 left to play gave the Kings a 10-point lead (101-91). “We got six stops in a row,” said coach David Joerger, referring to a three anda-half minute sequence after their 13-point lead was cut to three. “We had to get some stops and we got those stops. We locked back in and made some plays.” Since he posted a season low five points in an October 23 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Hield has averaged 23.2 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 43 per cent from three-point range in 38 minutes per game. The Kings have also won four consecutive games in that time span. The last time the team won four straight was February 14, 2017. “It shows our poise, it shows our maturity, we’re just going to keep learning as we go. I can’t lie to you, we’ve never been in this
SACRAMENTO Kings’ Buddy Hield (24) drives around Orlando Magic’s Evan Fournier, left, in the first half on Tuesday night. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
situation before, but it’s fun to see us have coach call a play and we execute. Even when we don’t execute we’ve been figuring a way to get it going and get in our spots to get continuity in our offence,” Hield said. “We just have to stay humble, we can’t let this get to our heads. Stay in the film room, watch film, try to fix our weaknesses and, most of all, have fun. We have to have fun, this is our job. The fans’ spirit has been down for a while so we have to try to build it back up.” Following the Nuggets game, Hield had 23 points and seven rebounds in a 97-92 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. He followed with 22 points and five rebounds in a 116-112 win over the Washington Wizards and 23 points and eight rebounds in a 123-113 win over the Miami Heat. “Next guy up is our mentality. The next guy makes the right play and we play for each other. We use our playmaking ability to our advantage and we grow just by seeing each other succeed on the court,” Hield said. “It started in the offseason. We came in with the mindset that we have to mature, grow up and buckle down the last five minutes of the game. We still make mistakes down the stretch, we just have to keep learning to make it work.”