Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Prep roundup
Knights pick up
volleyball wins over
Mustangs, Vikings
East Oregonian
The Irrigon Knights
volleyball team began the
2018 season with a pair of
victories on Friday, defeat-
ing Heppner 3-1 before
knocking off its league
rival, Umatilla, 3-0 as well.
Against Heppner, the
Mustangs (1-1) took the
first set 25-20, but Irrigon
came back to win the next
three sets 25-21, 25-20,
25-20. Haley White led the
Knights (2-0) with 13 kills,
Emma Muller had seven
and Brianna Rice had six,
while Makenna Collins led
the team’s defense with 16
digs. Sydney Wilson led
the Mustangs with six kills.
Then against Umatilla,
Irrigon won easily 25-15,
25-11, 25-13.
Heppner also matched
up with Umatilla (0-2) on
Friday, where the Mus-
tangs won 3-0 with scores
of 25-11, 25-8 and 25-14.
Jenna McCullough led the
Mustangs in the match
with nine kills and Nicole
Propheter had four, while
Claire Grieb, Wilson and
Propheter each had four
serving aces.
“We played hard and
today showed us what we
need to work on,” Heppner
coach Mindy Wilson said.
Echo wins twice at
1A Preview
The Echo volleyball
program started off 2018
in a good way, winning
two of its three matches
at the 1A Season Preview
Tournament on Friday
afternoon.
The Cougars (2-1)
started the day with a 2-1
win over Prairie City (25-
18, 25-20, 15-12), then
defeated Country Chris-
tian 2-0 (25-22, 25-20), but
finished the day with a 2-0
loss to Hosanna CHristian
(25-14, 25-15).
The Cougars continue
the tournament on Satur-
day against Days Creek
at 10 a.m., North Clacka-
mas Christian at 3 p.m. and
then against McKenzie at 6
p.m.
WNBA PLAYOFFS
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Koepka powers into a share of
the lead at Northern Trust
By DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press
PARAMUS, N.J. —
Brooks Koepka showed
some muscle and unleashed
a monstrous finish Friday to
share the lead in The North-
ern Trust.
Tiger Woods missed
yet another putt and was
relieved to still be playing.
Koepka spent most of the
second round trading birdies
and bogeys, going nowhere.
One swing changed every-
thing on the 631-yard 13th
hole at Ridgewood Coun-
try Club. From just under
310 yards, he swung his
3-wood as hard as he could
and saw the tight draw that
had been missing all day.
It stopped 20 feet from the
hole, Koepka made it for
eagle and then closed with
three straight birdies for a
6-under 65.
He tied Jamie Lovemark,
who shot a 66.
“I wasn’t happy the first
11 holes the way I hit it,”
Koepka said. “When I hit
that 3-wood, it all clicked.
I felt like I was finally able
to release the golf club.
Just tried to hit as hard as
I could, big draw. Aimed
at the tree on the right and
tried to draw it back to the
flag. When I did that, every-
thing started to click.”
The U.S. Open and PGA
champion took it from there.
Lovemark, winless in
135 starts as a pro, made five
birdies in a six-hole stretch
around the turn and was the
first to reach 10-under 132.
Before long, a list of
contenders lined up behind
them in an entertaining start
to the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Adam Scott, building on
his confidence from play-
ing in the final group at the
PGA Championship, had a
64 for the low round of the
tournament and was one
shot behind. Another shot
back was Dustin Johnson,
the world No. 1, who had
another 67 that for the sec-
ond straight day featured a
triple bogey on his card. At
least he got this one out of
the way early, taking five
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
Brooks Koepka acknowledges the gallery after chip-
ping on the 14th hole during the first round of the
Northern Trust golf tournament, Thursday, Aug. 23,
2018, in Paramus, N.J.
shots from a mangled lie in
deep rough behind the first
green.
“That was not a fun
start,” Johnson said. “There
was nothing to do but laugh
at that point.”
Bryson
DeChambeau
had a 66 and joined John-
son at 134. The group at
7-under 135 included Sean
O’Hair, who is No. 112 in
the FedEx Cup and needs
to get to No. 70 by the third
playoff event at the BMW
Championship being played
this year at Aronimink, his
home club outside Philadel-
phia. He already is planning
to play the member-guest
a few weeks later, but
O’Hair would love to play
Aronimink for a $9 million
purse.
Woods was not part of the
action, even though he hit
the ball beautifully. Woods
had a birdie putt on every
hole until the par-3 15th,
when his tee shot rolled just
off the green against the col-
lar. All he had to show for it
was two birdies, giving him
four birdies in 36 holes.
He finished with a three-
putt bogey from just inside
30 feet, giving him another
71. He made the cut on the
number, leaving him 10
shots behind.
“The name of the game
is you’ve got to make putts,
and you’ve got to roll it,”
Woods said. “No matter how
good your drive, you’ve still
got to roll them and still got
to make putts, and I didn’t
putt very well today. I had
a hard time seeing my lines,
and consequently didn’t
make anything.”
Jordan Spieth made
putts to get off to a good
start, only to give it all back
with a triple bogey on his
10th hole of the round at
No. 18. Worse than pull-
ing his tee shots into the
trees, worse than the penalty
shot, was Spieth sweeping
in a 10-inch putt for double
bogey only to stub the put-
ter and move the ball only a
few inches.
Scott continues to keep
two putters in the bag, long
and short. The idea is to use
the short putter for the medi-
um-length putts that have
been a struggle for him. At
the PGA Championship and
at Ridgewood, however,
he has found a good stroke
with the long putter and felt
no need to change.
The biggest difference is
confidence. He is starting to
recognize the player who
reached No. 1 in the world
a few years ago, and only
a month ago was getting
closer to falling out of the
top 100. The third-place fin-
ish at Bellerive at least put
him back in the top 50, but
did a world of good between
the ears.
“It’s just been very hard
to find that consistency for
me this year, and I’ve been
chipping away at it the last
couple months and it all
came good at the PGA,”
Scott said. “And teeing off
this week, I felt the most
confident of any tournament
this year. I just couldn’t wait
to get up here, really.”
Koepka knows all about
confidence with two major
trophies sitting at home in
Florida. The knock has been
that he hasn’t won enough
regular PGA Tour events, so
he wanted to treat the FedEx
Cup playoffs like majors in
how he prepared, even down
to renting a house and bring-
ing his own chef, trainer and
regular crew.
Five shots out of the lead,
he tugged a tee shot into the
left bunker on the reachable
par-4 12th, and hit a clean
sand shot to 3 feet for birdie.
Then came a big drive on
the 13th, and a 3-wood that
carried him to his big finish.
Kevin Tway was the only
other play to reach the 13th
green in two. He shot 69
and was part of the group at
7-under 135.
SCOREBOARD
Sean D. Elliot/The Day via AP
Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi shoots over
Connecticut Sun defenders Jasmine Thomas, ob-
scured, and Shekinna Stricklen (40) during the sec-
ond half of a single-game WNBA basketball playoff
matchup Thursday in Uncasville, Conn.
The ultimate winner
Taurasi 13-0 in
winner-take-all
WNBA games
By DOUG FEINBERG
Associated Press
UNCASVILLE, Conn.
— When it comes to win-
ner-take-all games in the
WNBA playoffs, Diana
Taurasi takes them all.
Taurasi put on quite a
show in a single-elimination
matchup Thursday night,
helping the Phoenix Mer-
cury advance to the semifi-
nals by scoring 27 points in
a win at Connecticut.
The victory made Taur-
asi a perfect 13-0 in postsea-
son games that decide which
team advances to the next
round and who goes home.
That’s right, she’s never lost
a deciding Game 3 or 5, or
even a one-and-done. She’s
won seven of those decisive
contests on the road, too.
“It’s just, at the end of
the day: do you want to
keep playing?” Taurasi said
before the game. “Do you
want to keep playing? As a
team, do you want to come
out here tonight, try to win
the game, so you can get
on a plane and go to wher-
ever it is, and keep the sea-
son going, and keep playing.
You know, I want to keep
playing. I worked hard this
offseason, I think as a group
we’ve worked really hard.”
It sounds like a simple
enough philosophy, yet no
one can match her success
at it.
“If I had the answer, I’d
gladly tell you,” the former
UConn star said. “A lot of it
is luck. A lot of it is having
great teammates. You don’t
do it alone in this sport. We
relish these moments where
it’s up to you if you want to
keep playing.”
Next up, for Taurasi and
her team is a best-of-five
series against Seattle.
At 36, Taurasi is enjoying
one of the best seasons of
her career both from a scor-
ing and passing standpoint
— she averaged nearly 21
points per game, third best
in the league. She began
these playoffs by scoring 25
in a one-game elimination
win over Dallas.
“She amazes me really
every single day, to be able
to do what she continues to
do at such a high level at
her age is amazing,” Mer-
cury coach Sandy Brondello
said. “When we need her to
score, she scores, when we
need her to get us into our
sets and make the appropri-
ate play, she does it.”
Taurasi was instrumental
in the Mercury’s 96-86 win
over Connecticut, yet didn’t
take a shot in the fourth
quarter. She only scored two
points in the period, on free
throws. But she came up
with a big rebound late in
the game over 6-foot-5 Jon-
quel Jones.
“In that fourth quarter,
I’m not even sure that she
took a shot,” Brondello mar-
veled afterward. “It shows a
lot about her and her com-
petitiveness. She will do
whatever it takes to win
and I don’t know if I have
seen anyone with the will to
win bigger that what hers is
and she is so critical for our
success.”
Central Division
Local slate
VOLLEYBALL
Saturday
Pendleton at Lewiston (ID), 8 a.m.
Mac-Hi at La Grande, 8 a.m.
Weston-McEwen, Pilot Rock, Heppner at
Grant Union Tournament, 8 a.m.
Echo vs. North Clackamas Christian (at
Country Christian), 3 p.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Saturday
Mac-Hi at Estacada, 9 a.m.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Saturday
College of Idaho at Eastern Oregon, 6
p.m.
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL
Saturday
Eastern Oregon vs. Rocky Mountain (at
Butte, MT), 11 a.m.
Eastern Oregon vs. Montana Western (at
Butte, MT), 3 p.m.
Baseball
MLB
AMERICAN LEAGUE
East Division
W
L Pct GB
Boston
90 40 .692 —
New York
80 47 .630 8½
Tampa Bay
68 61 .527 21½
Toronto
59 69 .461 30
Baltimore
37 91 .289 52
Central Division
W
L Pct GB
Cleveland
73 55 .570 —
Minnesota
61 67 .477 12
Detroit
53 76 .411 20½
Chicago
49 79 .383 24
Kansas City
39 90 .302 34½
West Division
W
L Pct GB
Houston
78 50 .609 —
Oakland
77 52 .597 1½
Seattle
73 56 .566 5½
Los Angeles
63 66 .488 15½
Texas
57 72 .442 21½
———
Friday’s Games
N.Y. Yankees 7, Baltimore 5, 10 innings
Toronto 4, Philadelphia 2
Tampa Bay 10, Boston 3
Chicago White Sox 6, Detroit 3
Oakland 7, Minnesota 1
Kansas City 5, Cleveland 4
Seattle 6, Arizona 3
Houston 9, L.A. Angels 3
Texas at San Francisco, late finish
Saturday’s Games
N.Y. Yankees (Happ 14-6) at Baltimore
(Yacabonis 0-1), 10:05 a.m., 1st game
Texas (Perez 2-5) at San Francisco (Suarez
4-9), 1:05 p.m.
Philadelphia (Pivetta 7-10) at Toronto
(Sanchez 3-5), 1:07 p.m.
Boston (Porcello 15-6) at Tampa Bay
(Yarbrough 12-5), 3:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Giolito 9-9) at Detroit
(Carpenter 1-1), 3:10 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees (Gray 9-8) at Baltimore
(Ramirez 1-5), 4:05 p.m., 2nd game
Oakland (Fiers 9-6) at Minnesota (Gon-
salves 0-1), 4:10 p.m.
Cleveland (Kluber 16-6) at Kansas City
(Fillmyer 1-1), 4:15 p.m.
Seattle (LeBlanc 7-3) at Arizona (Ray 3-2),
5:10 p.m.
Houston (Verlander 12-8) at L.A. Angels
(Barria 8-7), 6:07 p.m.
AL WILD CARD
New York
Oakland
Seattle
W
80
77
73
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East Division
W
Atlanta
72
Philadelphia
69
Washington
64
New York
57
Miami
52
L
47
52
56
L
56
59
65
71
78
Pct GB
.630 +4
.597 —
.566
4
Pct GB
.563 —
.539
3
.496 8½
.445 15
.400 21
Chicago
St. Louis
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
West Division
W
74
72
72
63
56
L
53
57
58
66
73
Basketball
Pct GB
.583 —
.558
3
.554 3½
.488 12
.434 19
WNBA PLAYOFFS
W
L Pct GB
Arizona
71 57 .555 —
Colorado
70 58 .547
1
Los Angeles
68 61 .527 3½
San Francisco
63 66 .488 8½
San Diego
50 81 .382 22½
———
Friday’s Games
Chicago Cubs 3, Cincinnati 2, 10 innings
Toronto 4, Philadelphia 2
Miami 1, Atlanta 0
N.Y. Mets 3, Washington 0
St. Louis 7, Colorado 5
Seattle 6, Arizona 3
Milwaukee 7, Pittsburgh 6, 15 innings
L.A. Dodgers 11, San Diego 1
Texas at San Francisco,late finish
Saturday’s Games
Cincinnati (Castillo 7-10) at Chicago Cubs
(Quintana 10-9), 11:20 a.m.
Texas (Perez 2-5) at San Francisco (Suarez
4-9), 1:05 p.m.
Washington (Roark 8-12) at N.Y. Mets
(Wheeler 8-6), 1:05 p.m.
Philadelphia (Pivetta 7-10) at Toronto
(Sanchez 3-5), 1:07 p.m.
Atlanta (Sanchez 6-4) at Miami (Chen 4-9),
4:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh (Taillon 9-9) at Milwaukee
(Chacin 13-4), 4:10 p.m.
Seattle (LeBlanc 7-3) at Arizona (Ray 3-2),
5:10 p.m.
St. Louis (Gant 5-5) at Colorado (Marquez
11-9), 5:10 p.m.
San Diego (Kennedy 0-2) at L.A. Dodgers
(Kershaw 6-5), 6:10 p.m.
NL WILD CARD
St. Louis
Milwaukee
Colorado
Philadelphia
Los Angeles
W
72
72
70
69
68
L
57
58
58
59
61
Pct GB
.558 +½
.554 —
.547
1
.539
2
.527 3½
MiLB
NORTHWEST LEAGUE
North Division
W L Pct.
Vancouver (Blue Jays) 17 12 .586
Spokane (Rangers)
16 13 .551
Tri-City (Padres)
13 15 .464
x-Everett (Mariners)
12 16 .428
South Division
W L Pct.
x-Hillsboro (D-Backs) 21 8 .724
Salem-Keizer (Giants) 13 16 .448
Eugene (Cubs)
13 16 .448
Boise (Rockies)
10 18 .345
x-first-half champions
———
Friday’s Games
Spokane 10, Salem-Keizer 2
Vancouver 2, Boise 1
Tri-City 5, Eugene 4, 11 innings
Hillsboro 1, Everett 0
Saturday’s Games
Salem-Keizer at Spokane, 6:30 p.m.
Boise at Vancouver, 7:05 p.m.
Tri-City at Eugene, 7:05 p.m.
Everett at Hillsboro, 7:05 p.m.
GB
—
1
3½
4½
GB
—
8
8
11
LITTLE LEAGUE
Little League World Series
At South Williamsport, Pa.
Saturday’s Games
International Championship
Game 27: Seoul (South Korea) vs. Kawa-
guchi (Japan), 9:30 a.m.
United States Championship
Game 28: Honolulu vs. Peachtree City
(Ga.), 12:30 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
At Lamade Stadium
Third Place
Game 29: Loser Game 27 vs. Loser
Game 28, 7 a.m.
World Championship
Game 30: Winner Game 27 vs. Winner
Game 28: Noon
Semifinals
(x-if necessary)
(Best-of-5)
Seattle vs. Phoenix
Sunday: Phoenix at Seattle, 2 p.m.
Tuesday: Phoenix at Seattle, 7 p.m.
Aug. 31: Seattle at Phoenix, 7 p.m.
Sept. 2: Seattle at Phoenix, TBA
Sept. 4: Phoenix at Seattle, TBA
Atlanta vs. Washington
Sunday: Washington at Atlanta, Noon
Tuesday: Washington at Atlanta, 5 p.m.
Aug. 31: Atlanta at Washington, 5 p.m.
Sept. 2: Atlanta at Washington, TBA
Sept. 4: Washington at Atlanta, TBA
Soccer
MLS
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W L T Pts GF GA
Atlanta United FC 16 4 6 54 55 30
New York
15 6 4 49 48 26
New York City FC 14 6 6 48 49 34
Columbus
11 8 7 40 33 33
Philadelphia
10 11 3 33 34 39
Montreal
10 13 3 33 33 42
New England
7 9 8 29 38 40
D.C. United
7 9 6 27 39 39
Toronto FC
6 12 6 24 40 45
Chicago
6 15 6 24 37 52
Orlando City
7 16 2 23 38 59
WESTERN CONFERENCE
W L T Pts GF GA
FC Dallas
13 5 7 46 40 31
Los Angeles FC 12 7 7 43 50 40
Sporting K.C.
12 6 6 42 45 30
Real Salt Lake
11 10 5 38 36 44
LA Galaxy
10 9 8 38 49 48
Portland
10 6 7 37 35 34
Seattle
10 9 5 35 31 26
Vancouver
9 9 7 34 40 49
Minnesota United 9 14 2 29 38 50
Houston
7 11 7 28 41 37
Colorado
6 13 6 24 31 42
San Jose
3 13 8 17 34 44
NOTE: Three points for victory, one point
for tie.
———
Friday’s Games
Atlanta United FC 2, Orlando City 1
Los Angeles FC 1, LA Galaxy 1
Saturday’s Games
New England at Philadelphia, 4 p.m.
Montreal at Toronto FC, 5 p.m.
Minnesota United at Sporting K.C., 5:30
p.m.
Real Salt Lake at Colorado, 6 p.m.
Vancouver at San Jose, 7 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
D.C. United at New York, 4 p.m.
Seattle at Portland, 6:30 p.m.
Football
NFL PRESEASON
Week 3
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
East
W L
T Pct PF
New England 2 1
0 .667 77
Buffalo
1 1
0 .500 42
N.Y. Jets
1 2
0 .333 46
Miami
0 2
0 .000 44
South
W L
T Pct PF
Houston
2 0
0 1.000 33
Jacksonville 1 1
0 .500 34
Indianapolis 1 1
0 .500 38
Tennessee
0 2
0 .000 31
North
W L
T Pct PF
Baltimore
3 0
0 1.000 70
Cincinnati
2 0
0 1.000 51
Cleveland
2 1
0 .667 42
Pittsburgh
1 1
0 .500 65
West
W L
T Pct PF
Oakland
2 1
0 .667 44
L.A. Chargers 1 1
0 .500 41
Kansas City 1 1
0 .500 38
Denver
1 2
0 .333 80
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
East
W L
T Pct PF
N.Y. Giants 2 1
0 .667 62
PA
62
45
37
53
PA
23
34
37
61
PA
42
40
29
65
PA
35
38
31
83
PA
53
Washington 1 2
0 .333 49 68
Dallas
0 2
0 .000 34 45
Philadelphia 0 3
0 .000 34 73
South
W L
T Pct PF PA
Carolina
3 0
0 1.000 80 57
Tampa Bay 2 1
0 .667 86 71
New Orleans 1 1
0 .500 39 40
Atlanta
0 2
0 .000 14 45
North
W L
T Pct PF PA
Green Bay
2 1
0 .667 88 64
Minnesota
2 1
0 .667 73 62
Detroit
1 2
0 .333 60 76
Chicago
1 2
0 .333 67 70
West
W L
T Pct PF PA
Arizona
2 0
0 1.000 44 32
San Francisco 1 1
0 .500 37 37
L.A. Rams
1 1
0 .500 26 48
Seattle
0 3
0 .000 51 64
———
Friday’s Games
Carolina 25, New England 14
Denver 29, Washington 17
N.Y. Giants 22, N.Y. Jets 16
Minnesota 21, Seattle 20
Detroit 33, Tampa Bay 30
Oakland 13, Green Bay 6
Saturday’s Games
Kansas City at Chicago, 10 a.m.
Tennessee at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
Houston at L.A. Rams, 1 p.m.
San Francisco at Indianapolis, 1:30 p.m.
Atlanta at Jacksonville, 4 p.m.
Baltimore at Miami, 4 p.m.
New Orleans at L.A. Chargers, 5 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
Cincinnati at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Arizona at Dallas, 5 p.m.
Golf
PGA TOUR
Northern Trust
Friday
At Ridgewood Country Club
Paramus, N.J.
Purse: $9 million
Yardage: 7,385; Par: 71 (35-36)
Second Round
Jamie Lovemark
66-66—132
Brooks Koepka
67-65—132
Adam Scott
69-64—133
Dustin Johnson
67-67—134
Bryson DeChambeau 68-66—134
Sean O’Hair
66-69—135
Kevin Tway
66-69—135
Tommy Fleetwood
67-68—135
Ryan Palmer
68-67—135
Jhonattan Vegas
67-68—135
Peter Uihlein
68-68—136
Adam Hadwin
71-65—136
Phil Mickelson
68-68—136
Tony Finau
69-67—136
Patrick Cantlay
69-67—136
Justin Thomas
69-67—136
Chez Reavie
71-66—137
Jason Day
71-66—137
Harold Varner III
69-68—137
Louis Oosthuizen
71-66—137
Notables
Bubba Watson
71-67—138
Jordan Spieth
70-70—140
Patrick Reed
69-71—140
Tiger Woods
71-71—142
LPGA
Women’s Canadian Open
Friday
At Wascana CC
Saskatchewan
Purse: $2,250,000
Yardage: 6,675; Par: 71 (35-37)
Second Round Leaderboard
Amy Yang
66-65—131
Brooke M. Henderson 66-66—132
Angel Yin
65-67—132
Sung Hyun Park
70-64—134
Maria Torres
68-66—134
Ariya Jutanugarn
64-70—134
Nasa Hataoka
64-70—134
Mariah Stackhouse
66-69—135
Austin Ernst
66-69—135
Anna Nordqvist
70-66—136
Ashleigh Buhai
70-66—136
Su Oh
70-66—136
Yu Liu
67-69—136
Jennifer Song
71-66—137
Angela Stanford
70-67—137
-10
-10
-9
-8
-8
-7
-7
-7
-7
-7
-6
-6
-6
-6
-6
-6
-5
-5
-5
-5
-4
-2
-2
E
-13
-12
-12
-10
-10
-10
-10
-9
-9
-8
-8
-8
-8
-7
-7