The Westside and Red Bank boxing clubs will be holding a joint Golden Gloves warmup event with 27 bouts Saturday at Red Bank's Luken Arena, beginning at 5 p.m. There will be boxers from Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Arkansas as well as Tennessee. Tickets will cost $10 for adults, $5 for students, and barbecue plates will be available. All proceeds will go to the Mike Booth Memorial Fund, helping Booth's family with expenses following his death of a heart attack last week at age 58. A carpenter by trade, Booth helped build the Luken facility, and he has been a longtime worker in support of local amateur boxing. "He was a key volunteer for us," said Joe Smith, president of the local Golden Gloves Charities and a past national boxing official. "He set up the ring when we would have events, and he worked as a judge and referee. Most of what he did was behind the scenes. He and I went to school together at Red Bank, and he was a good friend. I'm going to miss him terribly."
Running
• University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior Lucas Cotter set a school record in winning the men's 3000-meter run Thursday in the first day of the Southern Conference indoor track and field meet at Birmingham. Cotter's time was 8:09.89. UTC's Amanda Sumner was fifth in the women's 3000 in 9:54.46
• The Scenic City Half Marathon, 5k and Charity Challenge will take place Saturday morning in downtown Chattanooga, beginning and ending at Finley Stadium. The 13.1-mile race will start at 8 a.m., the 3.1-miler at 8:15. The half marathon has been designated the Tennessee state championship race by the Road Runners Club of America. Seven local charities will benefit: Area 4 Special Olympics, Chattanooga Community Kitchen, Chattanooga Room in the Inn, Children's Advocacy, Children's Home/Chambliss Shelter, McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center and the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults.
Basketball
• Top-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan, ranked 24th in NAIA Division II, overcame a five-point halftime deficit in defeating visitinig Virginia Intermont 73-68 in the semifinals of the Appalachian Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament Friday night. Wesleyan (23-9) will host No. 2 seed Reinhardt (18-11) at 7 p.m. Saturday for the championship and automatic bid in the national tournament. Jesse Booher scored 17 points with four 3-pointers and Desmond Crisp and Quincy Scates added 16 and 14 points for the Bulldogs, who got eight assists from E'Jay Ward.
• Host Shorter University won both Southern States Athletic Conference basketball games against Lee in matchups of ranked NAIA Division I teams Thursday in Rome, Ga. The No. 20 Lady Hawks (24-5, 15-3) whipped the No. 4 Lady Flames (28-2, 19-1) 60-44 as Brittney Smith had 20 points and 12 rebounds. Angela Spann had 16 points and nine rebounds, Hollie German scored 11 points and Karley Miller had 11 rebounds for Lee. Former UTC player Dante Harvey had 16 points and 13 rebounds and Anthony Banks also scored 16 in the No. 2 Hawks' (27-2, 16-1) 61-55 victory. Tyrone Caldwell, Ryan Westbrooks and Steve Bennett had 13, 12 and 10 points and Josh Henley grabbed 10 rebounds for the No. 16 Flames (19-7, 13-5).
• The Sewanee men's basketball team is playing this evening in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament after totaling the program's most wins since a 20-6 season in 1997-98. Coach Bubba Smith's Tigers (13-12, 6-10) are seeded fourth from the East and face West top seed Trinity (17-8, 12-4) at 6 p.m. CST at Birmingham-Southern, and Sewanee pulled off a 61-58 upset win when they met in the regular season. Trinity won 53-52 in overtime in Sewanee's last SCAC tournament appearance in 2009. Host BCS faces Dallas in the first quarterfinal today at 1 CST. Semifinals are set for 1 and 3 p.m. CST Saturday, the championship game at noon Sunday.