Times wires
Sunday, March 13, 2011
High schools
South Texas hoops player dies at game
McALLEN, Texas — A South Texas high school basketball player died after collapsing during a timeout at a tournament in Austin, coaches said.
Roma High junior Robert Garza, 16, was playing in the AAU tournament Saturday with the Hoopsters, a South Texas club team, when he collapsed.
"It's unexplainable. He got a glass of water. He 'high-fived' Pablo Adame (a Hoopster teammate), and then it just happened. He collapsed," Hoopster coach Arnold Martinez told The Monitor (McAllen).
The cause of death was not yet known, Martinez said.
"During pregame warm-ups, he was dunking the ball and laughing with his teammates. Everything looked good," he said.
Paramedics administered CPR, but Garza was pronounced dead at Austin's Brackenridge Hospital just more than an hour later, said Abelardo Escobar, Garza's high school coach. An autopsy was planned.
Garza's death comes more than a week after a 16-year-old Michigan basketball player collapsed and died after making a winning shot in overtime. Wes Leonard, a junior at Fennville High, died of cardiac arrest from an enlarged heart March 3, moments after his shot gave the undefeated Blackhawks a victory to wrap up the regular season.
Winter sports
Figure skating worlds could be canceled
Germany said Sunday that it will not send a team to next week's world figure skating championships in Tokyo, and international skating officials were weighing whether to hold the event after the earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Japan on Friday. The worlds are scheduled to begin March 21 at Yoyogi stadium in Tokyo.
U.S. Figure Skating said it was monitoring developments in consultation with the International Skating Union and U.S. Olympic Committee.
Speed skating: Americans Shani Davis, Trevor Marsicano and Jonathan Kuck clocked 3 minutes, 41.72 seconds to take the gold in the team pursuit ahead of Canada (3:41.85) at the world championships in Inzell, Germany.
Et cetera
Colleges: Florida, ranked No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll, defeated USF 10-2 at the Under Armour Showcase in Clearwater. The Gators (25-1), who lost their first game Saturday (1-0 to Nebraska), hit three home runs against the Bulls (14-13).
Cycling: Germany's Tony Martin (34 hours, 3 minutes, 37 seconds) won the Paris-Nice race, finishing 36 seconds ahead of countryman Andreas Kloeden.
Fishing: Gainesville's Shaw Grigsby, 54, won the Sunshine Showdown on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Lake County. He pulled in five bass totaling 12 pounds, 9 ounces for a four-day total of 75-4. It was Grigsby's ninth Bassmaster victory but first in a decade and earned him $100,000 and qualification into the 2012 Bassmaster Classic.
Iditarod: John Baker retained his lead in the 1,150-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and was the first to reach Shaktoolik, Alaska, about 230 miles away from the finish line in Nome.
NFL: Police said Vikings cornerback Chris Cook was arrested and charged with brandishing a handgun during a fight with another man Saturday in Lynchburg, Va., WSET-TV reported.
Olympics: The international basketball federation cleared Britain's men's and women's teams to compete in the 2012 London Games without qualifying. FIBA gave the teams a special exemption after receiving guarantees the host will improve its long-term basketball program.
Soccer: Manchester City held on for a 1-0 victory over visiting Reading to set up an FA Cup semifinal against fierce rival Manchester United.
Tennis: Andy Roddick beat Tampa resident James Blake 6-3, 7-5 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.
Times wires