SPORTS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
1B
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NFL Playoffs
Saturday Prep Roundup
Dawgs,
Pirates
fi nish
well at
Oregon
Classic
East Oregonian
AP Photo/Jim Mone
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs (14) runs in for a game winning touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during the
second half of an NFL divisional football playoff game in Minneapolis on Sunday. The Vikings defeated the Saints 29-24.
Minnesota miracle
Diggs helps Vikings erase decades of heartache
By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Pro Football Writer
An exceptional medley of great aware-
ness, terrifi c balance and deft refl exes
allowed Stefon Diggs to ad lib and seize
both the ball and the moment in the
Vikings’ demon-exorcising “Minneapolis
Miracle .”
Diggs was supposed to go out of bounds
if Case Keenum threw his way on the play
dubbed “Seven Heaven,” although in
countless rehearsals at practice never did
the pass go to the deep receiver, according
to teammate Jarius Wright.
Ten seconds and no timeouts remained
when Keenum dropped back from his
39 on third-and-10 in the hushed U.S.
Bank Stadium, another haunting playoff
heartbreak looming for Minnesota . New
Orleans had taken a 24-23 lead just 15
seconds earlier.
The Saints had three defensive backs
guarding the sideline as Kyle Rudolph,
Wright and Diggs all ran sideline routes
from the right of their formation.
Diggs was the deepest, with his break
coming at about 25 yards, and just as he
swiveled his hips he noticed nothing but
green grass and purple end zone behind
rookie free safety Marcus Williams, who
was closing fast.
Diggs turned back to see the ball
heading his way.
“I was thinking, ‘Catch it, get out of
bounds and maybe kick a fi eld goal,”
Diggs said. “I took a picture before I turned
around to catch the ball. There was only
one guy there. If he slipped, then I was
See NFL PLAYOFFS/2B
AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Case Keenum (7) cel-
ebrates following a 29-24 win over the New Orleans
Saints in an NFL divisional football playoff game in
Minneapolis, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018.
REDMOND — In the
fi nal day of competition at the
Oregon Classic in Redmond,
the Hermiston and Riverside
wrestling teams claimed a
top fi nish in their respective
brackets.
In the Class 5A champi-
onship bracket, the Bulldogs
fi nished in eighth place,
while the Pirates edged out
Harrisburg for seventh place
in the Class 3A bracket.
Hermiston was handily
defeated by Dallas, 57-9, in
the quarterfi nals. The loss
put Hermiston in the conso-
lation bracket where it faced
defending state champion
Crater and again lost, 61-18
and again only three wres-
tlers were able to defeat their
opponents.
Hermiston was then
pitted against Silverton in
the seventh place match.
It was the Bulldogs’ best
performance of the day,
but they still fell short by a
47-31 score. Adrian Delgado
(106) won by forfeit, while
Gutierrez was fi nal able to
take the mat and pinned his
opponent in 1:34. Adrian
Tuia (145) won his bout by
a 7-1 decision. Kirkpatrick
fi nished the day 2-1 after
winning by fall in 1:20 in his
fi nal bout of the day. Sean
Stewart (220) didn’t need
more than a minute to pin his
Silverton foe, and ended his
bout in 0:55. Blake was the
most successful Bulldog of
the day and fi nished a perfect
3-0 after winning his last
bout by fall in 2:22.
Riverside was also in
the seventh place match in
the 3A bracket, though the
See PREPS/3B
Women’s College Basketball
Ionescu is about more than just those triple-doubles
“I just go out there and do the best I
Oregon sophomore
can in order for us to win. So if that’s
already holds NCAA
rebounding, passing, scoring, what ever
career record
it is. That’s what I focus on. Just to win.“
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
EUGENE — The video
scoreboard at Matthew Knight
Arena showed short vignettes
featuring Oregon players
musing about their possible
superhero names.
Sabrina Ionescu’s? “Super
Sabrina.”
Afterward, she
laughed about it. “That’s what it
was?” she asked incredulously.
But to some, her career with
— Sabrina Ionescu,
Oregon Ducks sophomore wing
the Ducks thus far has indeed
been super. Ionescu holds the
NCAA record for most career
triple-doubles (with eight) and
she’s just a sophomore.
Humble about her record,
Ionescu insists she’s just
focused on whatever it takes to
help the Ducks.
“I just play, to be honest, I
don’t think about anything,”
she said. “I just go out there and
play and do the best that I can in
order for us to win. So if that’s
rebounding, passing, scoring,
whatever it is. That’s what I
focus on. Just to win.”
The Ducks are winning.
They’re 17-2 and 6-0 in the
Pac-12, the only undefeated
team left in the conference.
They’ve won nine straight and
all 12 games at home.
Oregon is coming off a
74-64 victory at home Sunday
over No. 18 Arizona State. On
Monday, the Ducks moved up
a spot in the AP rankings to No.
7.
Oregon made history last
season, going to the Elite Eight
for the fi rst time as the surprise
of the NCAA Tournament.
The Ducks fi nished the
season 23-14 overall and 8-10
in the Pac-12 to fi nish sixth.
Then they lost to Stanford in the
Pac-12 tournament title game.
But they won an at-large spot
in the tournament, upsetting
seventh-seeded Temple, No.
2 Duke and No. 3 Maryland
See IONESCU/2B
Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard via AP
Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu, right, shoots over
Arizona State’s Sophia Elenga during the fi rst
half of Sunday’s game in Eugene.
Sports shorts
Pirates trade OF McCutchen to
Giants for two prospects
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The Giants acquired
Andrew McCutchen from the Pittsburgh Pirates
for right-hander Kyle Crick, minor league
outfi elder Bryan Reynolds and $500,000 in inter-
national signing bonus allocation.
McCutchen become the second
star jettisoned by the Pirates in three
days, following Saturday’s trade that
sent ace Gerrit Cole to Houston.
Earlier in the offseason, the
Giants acquired third baseman Evan
McCutchen
Longoria from Tampa Bay.
McCutchen, the 2013 NL MVP,
takes over in center from Denard Span, who was
traded to the Rays in the Longoria deal.
The reliable, durable 31-year-old McCutchen
has played at least 153 games in each of the past
three seasons for the Pirates, batting .279 with 28
home runs and 88 RBIs in 156 games in 2017.
“It’s a tough pill to
swallow, I’m not going
to lie. I’ve played hard
and I’ve battled. I’m a
professional in that I’ve
played a long time and
I’ve now missed a game.”
— Andrew Cogliano
The Anaheim Ducks forward had
his streak of 830 career NHL games
played in snapped after being
suspended two games Sunday for
a hit to the head of Los Angeles’
Adrian Kempe. The streak was the
longest among active players and
the fourth-longest in NHL history.
Warriors use big second half
to earn season sweep of Cavs
CLEVELAND (AP) — Kevin Durant
scored 32 points, Stephen Curry added 23 and
the Golden State Warriors extended their road
winning streak to 13 games with
a 118-108 Martin Luther King
holiday victory Monday night
over the Cleveland Cavaliers,
their struggling NBA Finals foes.
Durant scored 16 in the third
quarter for the defending NBA champions, who
haven’t lost outside Oracle Arena since Nov. 22.
LeBron James scored 32 points and Kevin
Love 17 for Cleveland, which had its home
winning streak stopped at 13. Isaiah Thomas,
getting his fi rst taste of the Warriors-Cavaliers
rivalry, had 19 points..
It was Golden State’s second straight win
over the Cavs, who have dropped eight of 10
dating to a loss to the Warriors on Christmas
Day.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1974 — Mickey Mantle
and Whitey Ford are elected
to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Mantle is elected in his fi rst
year of eligibility and Ford in
his second year.
1993 — Michael Jordan
scores 64 points, but Chicago
is upended in overtime by
visiting Orlando 128-124.
The Magic are led by rookie
center Shaquille O’Neal,
who has 29 points and 24
rebounds.
2008 — Bob Knight
becomes the fi rst men’s Divi-
sion I coach with 900 wins
when Texas Tech beats No.
10 Texas A&M 68-53.
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