8A — BAKER CITY HERALD
MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2019
BAKER BOYS BASKETBALL AT
JUNCTION CITY TOURNAMENT
BAKER GIRLS BASKETBALL WINS JUNCTION CITY TOURNAMENT
Bulldogs remain perfect
on Sand’s conviction that
defense is the key to success.
The Baker girls found
Although Baker scored just
themselves in an unfamil-
3 points in the second quarter,
iar situation at halftime of
he attributed the Bulldogs’
Friday night’s game against
struggles more to their lack of
tournament host Junction
defensive pressure. Defense,
City.
he said, not only can lead to
The Bulldogs were behind. steals and easy baskets, but
This predicament didn’t
Baker’s offense seems to fl ow
last long.
more effi ciently when the
Baker quickly erased the
Bulldogs are playing well on
Tigers’ 24-22 lead.
defense.
And the Bulldogs didn’t
Sand said he was pleased
stop there.
that his players took his half-
Baker outscored the Tigers time advice.
26-10 in the third quarter
“We extended our defense,
and went on to win 60-41.
raised our intensity, and
Senior point guard Sydney that turned things around,”
Younger scored 14 of her
he said. “It was really fun to
game-high 24 points in the
watch. We kind of rolled from
decisive third quarter, includ- there.”
ing three of her four three-
Sand said Younger’s big
pointers.
third quarter was also key to
Fellow senior Isabella
the comeback.
Nemec and junior Hailey
“She kind of took over the
Zikmund each added 5 points game,” he said.
in the quarter as Baker
Sand said Younger’s
turned the 2-point defi cit into shots, including her trio of
a 14-point lead entering the
three-pointers, all were open
fi nal period.
looks that came as a result
The difference between
of Baker’s crisp passing on
the second and third quar-
offense.
ters, Baker coach Mat Sand
He said freshman Jozie
said, was Baker’s defensive
Ramos has proved to be as ef-
intensity.
fective a passer from the post
“In the second quarter we as senior Rose Gwillim was
just stopped,” he said. “We
last year.
were too rushed on the of-
The Bulldogs capped a 3-0
fensive end and we let them record at the Les Schwab-Ea-
back in it.
gle Booster Club tournament
“At halftime we had a little by beating Harrisburg 49-29
talk.”
on Saturday. It was Harris-
That conversation centered burg’s fi rst loss of the season
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
“We rattled their guards,”
Sand said. “That really gives
other teams fi ts.”
Younger had 8 points in
the quarter, including a pair
of three-pointers, and Ramos
added 6 points, including 4 of
5 from the free throw line.
Baker allowed just 10
points in the second half and
breezed to the win.
Younger again led Baker
with 13 points. Ramos added
12, Nemec 8 and Keller tal-
lied 7.
Ramos continued her solid
free throw shooting, making
6 of 7.
Saturday’s Game
“She really worked on that
Baker started sluggishly
this summer,” Sand said. “As
against Harrisburg, a Class
a post player you’re going to
3A school that had won its
get fouled a lot.”
fi rst four games all by at least
Baker returns to the court
18 points.
Tuesday when it plays host to
Baker led just 7-5 after the Burns at 6 p.m. The Class 3A
fi rst quarter.
Hilanders were the only team
Sand said fatigue was a fac- to beat Baker last season, a
tor, as Baker played its third 61-46 win at Burns.
game in three days.
Baker will unveil its Class
“We’re not quite in basket- 4A state championship brack-
ball shape yet,” he said.
et Tuesday night at BHS.
But the Bulldogs, much as BAKER (60)
Hellberg 0 0-0 0, Keller 3 1-4 7, Younger 9 2-4 24,
they did in the third quarter
Zikmund 2 0-0 5, Carter 2 0-0 4, Mackenzie 0 0-0
0, Nemec 5 0-1 12, Ramos 3 2-2 8, Benson 0 0-0
the night before, exerted
0. Totals 24 5-11 60.
themselves in the second
JUNCTION CITY (41)
Hartle 2 0-0 4, Liebersbach 3 0-0 6, Long, 3 0-0 8,
quarter, outscoring Harris-
Thompson 1 1-1 3, Bedacht 3 5-9 11, Nelson 1 0-0
3, Taylor 2 0-0 4, Fuller 1 0-0 0. Totals 16 6-10 41.
burg 25-14 to take a 32-19
lead at halftime.
Baker
19
3 26 12 — 60
Junction City
9 15 10 7 — 41
As was the case against
Three-point baskets — Long 2, Nelson,
Younger 4, Zikmund, Nemec 2. Total fouls —
Junction City, defense was
Baker 15, Junction City 10.
the key, especially the duo of
BAKER (40)
Younger and her backcourt
Hellberg 1 1-2 4, Keller 2 3-10 7, Younger 4 2-2
13, Zikmund 1 0-0 2, Mackenzie 0 0-0 0, Nemec
teammate, Sydney Keller
3 2-2 8, Ramos 3 6-7 12, Benson 1 0-0 2. Totals
with their pressure.
15 15-25 49.
after winning four straight.
Baker, meanwhile, im-
proved to 6-0 on the season.
The Bulldogs, ranked third
in Class 4A, have won 25
straight games dating to last
season, which culminated in a
state championship.
Baker’s halftime defi cit
against Junction City, how-
ever modest, was surprising
considering how the Bulldogs
started the game.
Baker led 19-9 after the
fi rst period, as Ramos scored
all 8 of her points in the fi rst
8 minutes.
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Baker drops 2
of 3, the last in
a heartbreaker
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
In a game decided by 2 points, one or two defensive
lapses can cost the losing team dearly.
Baker boys basketball coach Jebron Jones was dis-
appointed that on Saturday, that team was his own.
The Bulldogs couldn’t hold their 35-33 lead over
Harrisburg at the start of the fourth quarter, and Bak-
er went on to lose 46-44 in the last of its three games
at the Les Schwab-Eagle Booster Club tournament.
The difference, Jones said, was that Baker defend-
ers failed to close out on Harrisburg’s Tyler Baker and
Tyler Thompson. Baker made a pair of three-pointers
and Thompson one in the fi nal quarter, accounting for
9 of Harrisburg’s 13 points.
“We lost our man on a couple of those 3s,” Jones said.
“They got open looks and they knocked them down.”
Gabe Gambleton led Baker with 18 points, including
a trio of three-pointers. Caden Long added 15 points.
On Friday the problem wasn’t Baker’s defense,
Jones said, but Junction City’s offense. The Tigers
scored 45 points in the fi rst half, including 10 three-
pointers.
“Our boys played hard,” Jones said. “(Junction City)
hit a lot of shots with a hand in their face. All credit
goes to them.”
Although Baker wasn’t able to overcome a 17-point
halftime defi cit, the Bulldogs did outscore Junction
City 33-28 in the second half.
Long led Baker with 18 points. Riley Flanagan
added 13, and Gambleton 12.
Baker (2-3) returns to action Tuesday when the
Bulldogs travel to Burns for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
FRIDAY
BAKER (61)
Gambleton 5 2-2 12, Flanagan 4 2-4 13, Robb 1 0-0 2, Rigueiro 2 0-0 4, Wright 0 0-1 0, Long
7 3-6 18, Smith 2 0-0 5, Van Arsdall 3 1-4 7. Totals 24 8-17 61.
JUNCTION CITY (73)
Knabe 6 7-8 24, Emanual 0 0-0 0, Sangermano 3 5-5 11, Gerdes 5 2-2 13, Heitz 1 2-4 5,
Story 1 2-2 4, Ohman 6 0-1 16. Totals 20 18-22 73.
Baker
15
13 12 21 — 61
Junction City
21
24 13 15 — 73
Three-point baskets — Knabe 5, Gerdes, Heitz, Ohman 4, Flanagan 3, Long, Smith.
Total fouls — Baker 24, Junction City 15.
HARRISBURG (41)
Buzzard 2 0-0 6, Christensen 1 0-0 2, Langley 4
0-0 9, Buchard 0 3-5 3, Cheek 1 1-5 3, Woodruff 0
0-0 0, Johnson 2 0-0 4, Thomas 0 0-0 0, Traw 1 0-2
2, Smathers 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 4-12 29.
SATURDAY
BAKER (44)
Gambleton 5 3-4 18, Flanagan 1 1-4 3, Robb 0 0-0 0, Rigueiro 1 1-2 4, Wright 0 0-0 0, Long
7 1-1 15, Smith 1 0-0 2, Van Arsdall 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 6-11 44.
HARRISBURG (46)
Gallegos 0-0 2, Gaines 3 5-8 11, Baker 2 1-2 7, Davis 0 0-0 0, Crabb 3 1-2 8, Thompson 2
0-1 5, Meadows 5 0-0 11, Perry 2-4 2. Totals 16 9-17 46.
Baker
7 25 12 5 — 49
Harrisburg
5 14
5 5 — 29
Three-point baskets — Buzzard 2, Langley,
Hellberg, Younger 3. Total fouls — Baker 16,
Harrisburg 20.
Baker
10 10 15 9 — 44
Harrisburg
6 11 16 13 — 46
Three-point baskets — Gambleton 3, Rigueiro, Baker 2, Crabb, Thompson, Meadows.
Total fouls — Baker 16, Harrisburg 14.