Donkey basketball set for tonight

January 10, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

East Palestine

Buckeye donkey basketball will take place today at 7 p.m in the East Palestine high school gym. the band parents will present the event. Four teams will compete to outscore the other while riding a donkey. Team members include police, firefighters, city workers, teachers, coaches, as well as junior and senior students.

A portion of the proceeds will be put towards defraying the cost of band camp for students. Tickets prices are $6 in advance and $8 at the door. Advanced tickets can be purchased at the East Palestine City Office or by contacting Donna Thornton at 330-718-0823.

Bowling tournament heads to third round

Warren

The third round of qualifying for the 36th Warren Men’s Challenge bowling tournament starts at noon, today at Echo Lanes. At the end of qualifying the top 12 bowlers based on total pin fall for the 18 games of qualifying will advance to the finals. Adam Barta and Shelby Persons lead the top 12 group. The finals are scheduled for noon Sunday at Crest Lanes. The finalists will bowl 12 games head-to-head in match play to determine the 2015 Champion.

Former Mavericks center Tarpley dies

ARLINGTON, Texas

Roy Tarpley, the former Dallas Mavericks star center whose NBA career was cut short by drug abuse, has died. He was 50.

A Tarrant County medical examiner’s report says Tarpley died Friday afternoon at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital. No cause of death was given in the online report.

The 7-foot Tarpley was the seventh pick in the 1986 NBA draft out of Michigan. He played for the Mavs until October 1991, when he was kicked out of the NBA for using cocaine.

He played in Greece until the NBA reinstated him in 1994. He signed a six-year, $20 million contract with the Mavericks but was permanently banned from the NBA in December 1995 for using alcohol and violating the terms of a court-imposed personal aftercare program.

Tarpley averaged 12.6 points and 10.0 rebounds in 280 career NBA games.

Henley opens the year with a lead at Kapalua

KAPALUA, Hawaii

Russell Henley found Kapalua to be a lot more fun the second time around.

Henley ran off eight birdies on a gorgeous day with little wind for an 8-under 65 on Friday. That gave him a one-shot lead over Bae Sang-Moon in the opening round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Henley made his debut last year in the winners-only event that starts the year and never broke 70. The Plantation Course offered up far better scores without the typical wind off the west coast of Maui.

Bae opened with six birdies in eight holes. His year starts with some uncertainty over his travel status. South Korea is not extending his travel permit, and Bae might be facing his mandatory military service.

Ex-Sonic player Robert Swift arrested

SEATTLE

Troubled former NBA player Robert Swift was arrested Tuesday along with another man suspected of attempting to break into a home in Gold Bar.

The Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman, Shari Ireton, tells KIRO the 29-year-old former Sonic was arrested on a warrant from an earlier gun charge and jailed in Seattle.

The warrant was issued in November after Swift failed to show up in court on a charge of possessing a sawed-off shot gun that was found in an October raid on a home in Kirkland was living. His roommate was charged with drug offenses.

The King County prosecutor’s office says he’s scheduled for arraignment on the gun charge Monday in King County Superior Court.

A spokeswoman for the King County Department of Public Defense, Leslie Brown, said Friday it will defend Swift.

Staff/wire reports