SPORTS BRIEFS: Lee County baseball beats Perry 12-2

Lee County baseball whips Perry

Lee County downed Perry 12-2 in five innings Wednesday evening on Senior Night. The Trojans improved to 12-3 on the season.

Dean Tompkins earned the victory on the mound, working the first three innings and recording four strikeouts.

The Trojans finished with 11 hits. Dallas Greene went 3 for 3 with a homer and three RBIs, while Robbie Feagans went 1 for 3 with an RBI.

Lee County will play host to Valdosta Friday night at 7 p.m.

Saints’ Brees won’t be traded

The New Orleans Saints made three trades in the first week of the new NFL year, including dealing their best offensive weapon, but general manager Mickey Loomis earlier this week shot down speculation that they are going to trade their quarterback.

“Anybody who thinks we’re trading Drew Brees, that’s just not true,” Loomis told USA Today at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix.

The Saints traded tight end Jimmy Graham to the Seattle Seahawks on March 10, netting center Max Unger and Seattle’s first-round pick this year while also flipping a fourth-rounder to the Seahawks.

The Saints also traded guard Ben Grubbs to Kansas City and wide receiver Kenny Stills to Miami, and they reportedly shopped linebacker Curtis Lofton before cutting him.

Brees, 36, did not have his best year in 2014, when he threw 17 interceptions, but he still completed 69.2 percent of his passes for 4,952 yards and 33 touchdowns.

The Saints faced major salary cap issues heading into March, and many of their moves — including cutting running back Pierre Thomas and redoing deals for wide receiver Marques Colston and others — were made in an effort to slice more than $22 million off their cap number.

Loomis denied the Saints were in dire straits.

“We’re not in cap jail,” he told USA Today. “That’s a myth since it’s always a year-to-year deal.”

Gibbs getting treatment for brain issue

J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing and son of team owner Joe Gibbs, is undergoing treatment for “symptoms impacting areas of brain function,” the racing team announced Wednesday.

Gibbs, 46, has experienced problems with “speech and processing” and has undergone tests, the team said.

Doctors believe the complications were triggered by head injuries suffered earlier in life. Gibbs played football at William & Mary in the 1980s and has long been an extreme-sports enthusiast.

As he undergoes more testing and treatment, “his presence at the race track will be limited,” JGR said. He will continue to work at JGR’s headquarters in Huntersville, N.C., though.

“All members of the NASCAR and France family extend our thoughts and prayers to J.D. Gibbs and his loved ones,” NASCAR CEO Brian France said in a statement. “We’ve all watched J.D. grow up within our community, and he always has represented himself, his family, the entire Joe Gibbs Racing organization and NASCAR with the utmost professionalism, enthusiasm and energy. We wish him the best during this time and eagerly anticipate his recovery.”

Gibbs has been president of his father’s racing team since 1997, and the team has won three Sprint Cup titles.

Joe Gibbs, a Hall of Fame coach in the NFL, started the team in 1992.

Rockets Beverley has torn ligaments in wrist

The Houston Rockets hope that starting point guard Patrick Beverley can avoid season-ending wrist surgery and are seeking medical advice on their options.

Beverley suffered torn ligaments in the wrist during Monday night’s victory over the Indiana Pacers. He saw a doctor in Houston on Wednesday and will get a second opinion before deciding on a course of action, coach Kevin McHale said during a shootaround in New Orleans before a game against the Pelicans.

A final decision is not expected for seven to 10 days until the swelling goes down in the wrist.

Beverley is averaging 10.1 points and 3.4 assists per game this season.

Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni are expected to fill in at the point during Beverley’s absence.

Beverley went down just as the Rockets were about to get back cetner Dwight Howard, who missed 26 games with a right knee injury.