6A — BAKER CITY HERALD
SPORTS
SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 2021
Gambleton, Van Arsdall awarded Baker routs Eagles
BAKER GIRLS BASKETBALL
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
Gabe Gambleton and
Mason Van Arsdall, Baker
High School teammates and
2021 BHS graduates, re-
cently learned they had each
received a Scholar-Athlete
award and scholarship from
the Oregon chapter of the
National Football Foundation.
“I was honored, we have
a lot of great seniors on the
football team, a lot of great
guys, so it was an honor to be
chosen for that scholarship,”
Gambleton said.
“To be selected to receive it
(the scholarship), especially
two of us from Baker, to be
selected is defi nitely a proud
moment,” Van Arsdall said.
To qualify for a scholarship,
students must have played
football their senior year, been
selected either fi rst- or second-
team all conference, and have
a grade-point average of at
least 3.0 midway through
their senior year.
Baker football coach
Jason Ramos, who submitted
information to the National
Football Foundation for all
his graduating players, said
he’s grateful to see Gambleton
and Van Arsdall rewarded
for their hard work in the
classroom.
“I’m appreciative of the pro-
gram to actually rewarding
or honoring the kids for what
they do in the classroom,”
Ramos said. “Both Mason
and Gabe are great examples
of what we would strive our
kids to do to be recognized as
a student athlete, especially
of what they’ve done in the
last year and a quarter, going
through what we’ve gone
through with the pandemic
and still maintaining a real
focus, and high expectations
for their academics.”
Gambleton was one of the
three valedictorians for the
BHS Class of 2021, which
graduated Sunday, June 6. He
credits his parents for helping
him prioritize being success-
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
Mason Van Arsdall during a football prac-
tice this winter.
ful in the classroom before
he was able to excel on the
football fi eld.
“My parents taught me at
a very young age about study-
ing hard and getting good
grades,” he said. “It’s a huge
deal to me and I took it very
seriously.”
Van Arsdall is proud to
show his work ethic with aca-
demics as well as athletics.
“It’s not just on the fi eld
that matters, it’s life that mat-
ters to you,” he said. “That you
are going to leave school, leave
college with a work ethic in
everything that you do.”
Van Arsdall will attend
Eastern Oregon University
this fall, where he signed a
letter of intent to play base-
ball.
Gambleton will attend Gon-
zaga University in Spokane,
Washington.
Van Arsdall to represent
Baker in Shrine Game
Van Arsdall has had quite
the week. In addition to
graduating from BHS and
receiving the scholarship,
he was picked to compete in
the 69th-annual East-West
Shrine All-Star Football
Baker’s Gabe Gambleton, left, tries to
elude Pendleton’s Zaanan Bane on April
2, 2021, at Pendleton.
Game, which returns to
Baker Bulldog Memorial
Stadium on Aug. 7. The game,
which features top players
from Class 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A
schools, is a major fundraiser
for the Shrine Hospital for
Children in Portland, was
canceled in 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“I actually found right be-
fore our basketball game the
other day that I got selected,
it was pretty exciting,” Van
Arsdall said. “I had some
people coming up to me, con-
gratulating me and I hadn’t
even known yet. So I went to
my dad and he showed me
that I was on the roster and it
was a pretty amazing feeling.”
Van Arsdall’s dad, Jef,
understands that feeling.
So does Jef’s dad, and
Mason’s grandpa, Jim Van
Arsdall.
Both Jef and Jim also
played in the Shrine game,
making Mason, who plays on
both offensive and defensive
lines, a third-generation
honoree.
Jef played in the 1990
game, representing Seaside.
Jim played in the 1961
game, representing Franklin
High School in Portland.
Knowing that his dad
still has his jersey from the
1990 game, Mason is excited
to cherish his jersey for the
memories that are bound to
come.
“My whole family has got-
ten to be a part of this orga-
nization, it’s pretty amazing
to be a part of this program,
this whole community to
have through Shriners,” Van
Arsdall said.
Ramos is proud that Van
Arsdall was picked for the
game.
“We are always proud of
our kids that get selected
to be on the Shrine team,
because that is such an
important distinction for
kids,” Ramos said. “He is a
great representation of our
program.”
Van Arsdall looks forward
to playing one fi nal game on
what’s been his home fi eld for
the past four years.
“The fact that I get to be
the host, and bring visitors
onto my fi eld and to play one
last game on my fi eld with
people coming from all over
the state is an amazing op-
portunity,” Van Arsdall said.
The Baker girls basketball team rebounded from a
loss to La Grande on Tuesday, June 9 to rout visiting
Nixyaawii 62-26 on Wednesday in the Baker gym.
Baker (5-2) dominated from the start, clamping
down defensively on the Eagles to take a 17-2 lead after
one quarter. Sydney Keller and Macey Moore had fi ve
points each in the quarter.
Jozie Ramos then took over in the second quarter,
scoring nine of her game-high 23 points as Baker led
28-15 at halftime.
Nine Baker players scored in the game.
Rylee Elms had eight points, Moore and Keller seven
points each, Makenzie Flanagan fi ve and Brooklyn
Jaca and Campbell Vanderwiele four each.
Baker continues its grueling schedule — fi ve games
in six days — with home games Friday, June 11 against
Nyssa and Saturday against Burns at 3 p.m.
Results will be published in the June 15 issue of the
Baker City Herald.
NIXYAAWII (26)
Bronson 2 0-0 5, A. Hart 1 0-0 3, Sohappy 0 0-2 0, M. Hart 2 2-2 6, Bevis 1 1-2 1, Kiona 3 2-6
9, Willingham 1 0-0 2. Totals 9 5-10 26.
BAKER (62)
Elms 3 2-3 8, Flanagan 2 1-2 5, Jaca 2 0-0 4, Wilde 1 0-0 2, Keller 3 0-1 7, Pierce 1 0-0 2, Roy
0 0-0 0, Ramos 10 2-6 23, Vanderwiele 1 1-2 4, Moore 3 0-0 7. Totals 26 6-14 62.
Nixyaawii
2
13
7
4 — 26
Baker
17
11 21
13 — 62
Three-point baskets — Keller, Ramos, Vanderwiele, Moore, Bronson, Hart, Kiona. Total
fouls — Nixyaawii 13, Baker 12.
BAKER BOYS BASKETBALL
Nixyaawii tops Baker
Nixyaawii pulled away
from Baker in a nonleague
boys basketball game
Wednesday, June 9 in the
Baker gym.
Baker trailed 50-43 af-
ter three quarters, but the
Eagles went on an 18-8
run in the fi nal period.
Nixyaawii improved
to 8-1, its only loss by
a single point, 85-84,
to Yakama Tribal of
Washington on June 7.
Nixyaawii has dominated
its Oregon opponents,
including a 77-41 win over
La Grande June 1, and
two wins over Powder Val-
ley, 64-25 on May 26 and
84-45 on June 10.
Baker lost its second
straight game to fall to
5-3.
Senior Gabe Gamble-
ton continued his torrid
stretch, scoring a game-
high 23 points against
Nixyaawii, following a
35-point performance in a
70-69 loss to La Grande on
Tuesday, June 8.
Baker played host to
Nyssa on Friday.
Results will be pub-
lished in the June 15 issue
of the Baker City Herald.
NIXYAAWII (68)
G. Sams 3 2-2 8, Abrahamson 2 0-0 6,
Burns 10 2-3 22, Howle 1 0-0 2, D. Sams
8 0-0 17, Barkley 1 0-0 2, Deming 5 1-1 11.
Totals 30 5-6 68.
BAKER (51)
Gambleton 9 4-7 23, Harper 0 0-0 0, Quin-
tela 0 202 2, Younger 0 0-0 0, Dalke 0 2-2
2, Spike 5 0-0 11, Hobson 2 0-0 5, Wright 0
0-0 0, Van Arsdall 3 2-3 8, Michell 0 0-0 0,
Pepera 0 0-0 0, Morrison 0 0-0 0, Conklin 0
0-0 0, McCulloch 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 10-14 51.
Nixyaawii 17
17
16
18 — 68
Baker
18
12 13
8 — 51
Three-point baskets — Abrahamson 2,
D. Sams, Gambleton, Spike, Hobson. Total
fouls — Nixyaawii 10, Baker 13. Technical
— Deming.
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