More importantly, he defended Antetokounmpo on the final possession of r

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- Grant Holman almost gave away a crucial victory with his arm, then took it back with his bat. After being victimized for a three-run homer that put his Chula Vista, Calif., team in a hole on Wednesday night, the tall right-hander hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth, and California rallied for a 6-3 victory over New England champion Westport, Conn., to earn a berth in the U.S. championship game at the Little League World Series. "All I wanted to do was hit it hard," Holman said, his right arm in ice after a 10-strikeout performance and winning reliever Rennard Williams smiling at his side. Micah Pietila-Wiggs laced a one-out single to left, his third hit of the game, to start the ninth and Jake Espinoza followed with a double to right-centre before Holman connected off reliever Alex Reiner. Chula Vistas bullpen came up big, shutting down Westport over the final five innings. "It was fabulous," Chula Vista manager Rick Tibbett said about his relief corps. "Thats what they do." Matt Brown hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth for Connecticut, and the Northeast champions seemed headed for a big victory. But California shortstop Nick Mora hit his second homer of the game to make it 3-2 with one out in the top of the sixth and Chula Vista tied it when Reiner threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded. The victory snapped Connecticuts 20-game winning streak. "Its disappointing, of course, to lose," Westport manager Tim Rogers said. "Its painful to be so close to winning and lose. Obviously, theyre a very talented team. Theres no holes in their lineup whatsoever. Well play tomorrow." Westport plays Northwest champion Sammamish, Wash., on Thursday. Sammamish (3-1) moved on to the matchup in the U.S. bracket by eliminating Nashville, Tenn., 6-5 on Tuesday. Westport was coming off a 9-7 victory over Sammamish on Sunday. Holman pitched 3 2-3 strong innings. Chasing his second no-hitter of the World Series, Holman had struck out nine -- including the first six batters he faced, swinging -- and was cruising when Max Popken drew a leadoff walk to start the fourth. Harry Azadian broke up Holmans no-hit bid with a single to right field and Brown then homered. TOKYO, JAPAN 5, TIJUANA, MEXICO 2 The big bats of Tijuana, Mexico, were silenced by Tokyo, Japan, in the first game Wednesday. When Brandon Montes crushed a home run off Japan starter Kazuki Ishida, the big bats of Mexico seemed ready to rumble again. "I definitely felt chills," Ishida said. "But I made sure to keep my composure and keep on throwing." And hitting. Taken out after three innings with an eye on a future game, Ishida slammed a tie-breaking home run in the bottom of the fifth inning and unbeaten Tokyo rallied past powerful Tijuana 5-2 on Wednesday to earn a berth in the international championship game at the Little League World Series. Westport, Conn., faced powerful Chula Vista, Calif., under the lights in Wednesdays other game in the double-elimination tournament. Ishidas blast came off Tijuana starter Ramon Mendoza. Kouyou Mizushima followed with an RBI single and pinch-hitter Kyousuke Kobayashi capped the winning rally for Japan (3-0) with an RBI double off the left-centre field wall. "Im glad that we won. Everybodys starting to get their groove back," said Seiya Nishino, whose pinch-hit home run tied it at 2 in the fourth. Mexico (2-1) still has a shot. It will play Aguadulce, Panama, on Thursday in a rematch. Mendoza hit two of Tijuanas five home runs in a 13-0 four-inning win over Panama on Sunday in the winners bracket. That game was stopped because of Little Leagues 10-run rule, the second time Mexico had done that in the World Series. Not on this day, though. Ishida and winning reliever Ryutarro Takeo kept the Mexican players off-balance with a variety of off-speed pitches, never allowing the Tijuana offence to get untracked. Mexico, which also beat Perth, Australia, 12-0 in 4 innings last week, managed just five hits against Japan. "They handle their pitchers well," Tijuana manager Francisco Fimbres said. "They paint the corners, a lot of breaking balls down low. Ill have to congratulate Japans pitchers. The first two games we hit great. It might have been a little bit of nervousness with the importance of the game." Mexico took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Axcel Mandujano reached on an error by third baseman Shunpei Takagi, who bobbled Mandujanos bouncer and threw wide of first as the Mexican player ducked under the tag. The call stood as ruled after a challenge by Japan, and after Jorge Romero bounced into a fielders choice, eliminating pinch-runner Luis Manzo, left-handed hitting shortstop Jorge Rodriguez doubled down the left-field line over the outstretched glove of Kobayashi to score Romero from first. Japan evened the score in the bottom of the second. Kouyou Mizushima had a hustling double to right centre and scored on a two-out single up the middle by Ryusei Hirooka. Montes, who homered on the fifth pitch of the game in Mexicos rout of Panama, struck again in the top of the third. He slammed an 0-1 delivery well over the fence in left-centre for a 2-1 lead. Mendoza got out of a big jam in the bottom of the inning as his pitch count mounted. He walked Ishida to start the inning and Sho Miyao followed with an infield single that caromed off Mendozas glove. That gave Japan two men on and nobody out, but first baseman Jorge Rodriguez robbed Shunpei Takagi with a beautiful stop behind the bag as the runners moved into scoring position and Mendoza induced two weak popups to escape. Mendoza ran out of luck in the bottom of the fourth when Nishino crushed a 1-0 pitch far over the fence in centre to tie it again. Ji-man Choi Rays Jersey . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Custom Tampa Bay Rays Jerseys .Y. -- Leading 3-0 with only 11:25 left, the Colorado Avalanche committed a seemingly meaningless penalty to give the New York Islanders a power play. https://www.cheapraysonline.com/746i-brendan-mckay-jersey-rays.html . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. Yandy Diaz Jersey . The defending champion beat Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-3, while second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain dispatched Edouard Roger-Vasselin, also of France, 6-3, 6-3. Making his first appearance since injuring his wrist a month ago, Del Potro had difficulty with his service games in the first set. Johnny Davis Rays Jersey . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. DALLAS -- When the Dallas Mavericks signed Harrison Barnes to a max contract in the offseason, they probably had nights like this in mind.With the team in search of its first win and two starters out, Barnes scored a career-high 34 points and the Mavericks beat the Milwaukee Bucks 86-75 in overtime Sunday.Barnes, who left Golden State to sign a $94 million, four-year contract with Dallas, has scored at least 30 points twice this season after hitting the mark only once in his four years with the Warriors.His 20-foot jumper opened the scoring in overtime, and the Mavericks (1-5) never trailed in the extra period, outscoring the Bucks 12-1 and forcing five turnovers.I think the biggest thing that Coach (Rick Carlisle) has told me is just look for my shot and be aggressive, Barnes said. My teammates have a lot of confidence in me and when I was able to get into a good rhythm, the basket got bigger and bigger.Dallas played without starters Dirk Nowitzki (right Achilles soreness) and Deron Williams (left calf strain).J.J. Barea added 21 points for Dallas, including five in overtime.Jabari Parker led Milwaukee with 16 points, only two after halftime. Greg Monroe had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks, who had won three straight.I didnt finish really well, Parker said. Id rather have a bad first half and have a good second half.Wesley Matthews shook off a 3-for-17 shooting night to hit a 3-pointer with 59 seconds remaining in overtime that put the Mavs up by nine.Barnes driving layup with 13 seconds to play in regulation tied the score at 74. Giannis Antetokounmpos long jumper at the buzzer missed, forcing overtime.The Bucks led by 13 points in the first quarter but went cold in the second and trailed 47-39 at the break.Barnes scored 19 points in the first half, including nine in a 14-0 Dallas run to end the half. It was the Mavericks first lead at the end of any quarter this season.TIP-INSBucks: Antetokounmpo picked up two fouls in the first 1:37 and played only 6 minutes in a scoreless first half.dddddddddddd. He finished with 11 points. . The Bucks had 27 turnovers.Mavericks: The team honored longtime team physician J.R. Zamorano, who died June 12 at age 81, with a moment of silence before the game. Players wore uniform patches and Mavericks coaches wore lapel pins with the letters JRZ. . Andrew Bogut, back in the lineup after missing Fridays game for personal reasons, had 16 rebounds.BREAKING INDallas rookie Dorian Finney-Smith played 31 minutes, including most of the second half and overtime, after playing less than 5 minutes cumulatively over the first five games.He finished with five points, the first of his NBA career. More importantly, he defended Antetokounmpo on the final possession of regulation, forcing the long miss. The team gave Finney-Smith a game ball after the game.It felt good to know that (Carlisle) trusts me enough to play me down the stretch to get stops, Finney-Smith said. Thats what I like to do. I like to play defense.SLOWING DOWN THE BUCKSMilwaukee had scored 117 or more points in three consecutive games for the first time since February 2009. But the Mavericks held the Bucks to 75 by taking away the two things they like to do most -- score in the paint and on the fast break. The Bucks had only 28 points in the paint, less than half their season average of 57, and managed just 12 points in transition as Dallas often used the entire shot clock on offense.We couldnt find stops, Parker said. When we find stops we are able to go out in transition. They eliminated that by playing the clock out.UP NEXTBucks: Host the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday. The Bucks beat the Pelicans 117-113 on Tuesday.Mavericks: At the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, the start of a four-game road trip that takes Dallas to both coasts.---This story has been corrected to show Monroe had 12 rebounds. ' ' '