Minnesota Sports Briefs: T-Wolves caravan begins trek around state

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BRAINERD, Minn. -- The Minnesota Timberwolves began their annual caravan across Minnesota yesterday with a stop in Brainerd.

Minnesota guard Wayne Ellington, forward Anthony Tolliver, and former NBA player Shawn Respert are on the tour this year. The three will conduct youth basketball clinics at each of the stops. The caravan makes a visit to Alexandria today and Fairmont tomorrow.

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Game One of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder is tonight in Oklahoma City. Miami is in the Finals for the second straight year. Oklahoma City is appearing in the championship round for the first time since the franchise was located in Seattle as the SuperSonics in 1996.

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Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve says her team will go through a mini-training camp this week as they have a five-day layoff. The undefeated defending league champions beat Tulsa on Saturday and won't play again until a road game at Phoenix on Friday. The 9-0 Lynx matched the best record to start a season in WNBA history with the Saturday win. Reeve says they will use the extra practice time to work on defense.

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Here are scores from Monday's games in the American Association:

St. Paul 7, Fargo-Moorhead 6 (final)

Sioux City 8, Sioux Falls 6 (final)

Winnipeg 4, Lincoln 0 (final)

Kansas City 7, Newark 4 (final)

Gary 6, Wichita 0 (final)

Amarillo 10, El Paso 5 (final)

Grand Prairie 2, Laredo 1 (final - Game One)

Grand Prairie 7, Laredo 1 (final - Game Two)

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Here are scores from Monday's games in the Northwoods League:

Mankato 10, Alexandria 8 (final)

Willmar 5, Duluth 4 (final)

Thunder Bay 10, St. Cloud 5 (final)

Waterloo 21, Rochester 10 (final)

Wisconsin 9, Madison 6 (final)

LaCrosse 6, Lakeshore 1 (final)

Eau Claire 7, Battle Creek 3 (final)

Green Bay 5, Wisconsin Rapids 4 (final)

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The St. Paul Saints have signed former University of Minnesota pitcher Dustin Klabunde of Brownton. Klabunde just completed a season with the Golden Gophers where he had a 3.09 earned run average and one save. Klabunde graduated from McLeod High School and twice an all-state player in Minnesota.

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The eight-team field for the 2012 College World Series is set. The games kick off Friday when Stony Brook, the second-ever regional four-seed to make the CWS, takes on UCLA. Later Friday Arizona will battle Florida State. On Saturday Kent State will face Arkansas and Florida will battle two-time defending champion South Carolina. The eight teams will compete in double-elimination bracket play until there are two teams left. Those two schools will play a best-of-three series to determine a champion starting on June 24th. All games will be played at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska.

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The Los Angeles Kings hoisted Lord Stanley's Cup last night after a 6-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils in Game Six of the NHL Finals. It's the first Stanley Cup championship for the Kings. Goalie Jonathan Quick was named the Conn Smythe winner after posting a 16-and-4 postseason record with three shutouts.

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The new National Collegiate Hockey Conference says its postseason championship tournament will be at Target Center for five years beginning in March of 2014. Commissioner Jim Scherr points to Twin Cities hockey fans plus a "great fan base" from three schools within close driving distance -- University of Minnesota-Duluth, Saint Cloud State and the University of North Dakota. Scherr says the teams in the new NCHC are "eight of the very best" in collegiate hockey and says the championship will be "incredibly difficult" to win. The Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul has been hosting the WCHA Final Five and will do so again this year. That facility will also host the new Big Ten Conference hockey postseason tourney in 2014 and 2016.

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The U.S. Men's National Soccer Team takes on Guatemala in a World Cup qualifying match this evening. The Americans opened Group A play with a 3-1 win over Antigua on Friday. Tonight's match in Guatemala gets underway at 9 p.m.

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