Fast Break

College basketball

Zags hosts to Griz in opener

Gonzaga coach Mark Few expects a tough test for his squad when it opens its regular season at home against Big Sky Conference favorite Montana this afternoon.

NBA

Morrison has knee surgery

Charlotte Bobcats forward Adam Morrison had surgery Saturday in Charlotte, N.C., to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Morrison suffered the season-ending injury in an exhibition game on Oct. 20.

Morrison will remain hospitalized until Monday, when he’ll begin several months of rehabilitation. Morrison is expected to be healthy in time for the start of training camp next fall.

High schools

NC qualifies for nationals

The North Central boys cross country team took first place in the Nike Team Nationals Northwest Boys Championship to qualify for the Dec. 1 finals in Portland.

They had 87 points to place ahead of Stark Street AC’s 95 over the 5,000-meter course at Eagle Island State Park in Boise. The top two teams earn a trip to the finals. NC’s first four runners finished 24th or better in the field of 124.

North Central was led by Andrew Kimpel who finished in 15:48.2, just one-tenth of a second back of winner Jonathon Lafler of Maple Valley. Besides Kimpel, NC’s top five included Leon Dean (10th, 16:11.0), Steve Hicks (16th, 16:21.8), Jeff Howard (23rd, 16:24.6) and Alex Avila (45th, 16:41.2).

Mead placed sixth behind fiifth-place finisher Kelly Lynch (15:54.1) and Central Valley was 13th behind Jayson Taylor (34th, 16:35.0).

Megan Bartlett of Sandpoint was seventh in the girls race at 18:46.8. The winner was Leah Francis of Juneau-Douglas TC in 18:20.9.

Baseball

You can call them Rays

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are gone. Trying to reinvent itself, the perennial last-place team officially shortened its nickname to simply “Rays” during a celebration that brought a crowd of about 7,000 to a downtown St. Petersburg, Fla., park Thursday.

New team colors and uniforms also were unveiled during a fashion show featuring current players, as well as manager Joe Maddon, senior advisor Don Zimmer and former Rays Wade Boggs and Fred McGriff as models.

Navy blue and light blue have replaced green and black as the primary colors. The club’s new logo, as well as the home and road uniforms for next season, feature the word “Rays” in navy blue lettering with a light blue shadow.