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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2021)
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2021 BAKER CITY HERALD — A5 SPORTS Baker wrestlers open season Baker City Herald Baker High School wrestlers had a busy start to the season with events Friday at Enterprise and Saturday at BHS. On Friday, the Baker JV squad placed second at the Enterprise Kickoff tournament, which also included girls competition. Senior Alex Ritter and sophomore Russell Walden both pinned all of their opponents as they returned to wrestling after missing the past two seasons, Baker coach Brandon Young said. Baker had 103 points to finish behind Riverside, with 157.5 points. Irrigon was third at 101. Individual results for Baker: • Alex Ritter, senior, 3-0, 1st, 220 pounds • Russell Walden, sophomore, 5-0, 1st, 285 pounds • Lilly Collins, fresh- man, 3-1, 2nd, 135 pounds • Sarah Plummer, se- nior, 2-1, 2nd, 155 pounds • Ethan Morgan, freshman, 2-1, 2nd, 182 pounds • Jacob Mills, junior, 2-1, 2nd, 195 pounds • Samuel Nelson, freshman, 2-2, 4th, 132 pounds • Alena Hills, fresh- man, 0-2, 115 pounds • Michael Endersby, freshman, 0-2, 126 pounds • William Brown, junior, 0-2, 138 pounds • Julian Garcia, fresh- man, 0-2, 145 pounds • Sheylin Karolski, freshman, 0-2, 155 pounds • Ben Coburn, sopho- more, 0-2, 160 pounds • Ryan Brown, junior, 1-2, 170 pounds • Tristan Mulkey, freshman, 0-2, 182 pounds • Billy Kargianis, senior, 0-2, 220 pounds Saturday at BHS Action started in the morning with the inau- gural Baker Duals tour- nament, with five teams including Grant Union, Imbler, and Nampa Christian/Garden Valley. There was also a kids tournament in the after- noon, with teams from Baker, John Day and Union competing. “It was quite larger than we expected,” Young said. “Pretty awesome to see kids wrestling ev- erywhere at BHS. It was a great day of wrestling. Thank you to everyone that helped out and those that came and supported us.” Baker’s varsity won duals against Grant Union (60-18), Imbler (60-18) and Nampa Christian/Garden Valley (63-15). The Baker JV beat Imbler 48-18, Grant Union 42-24, and lost to Nampa Christian/Gar- den Valley, 38-27. Young thanked Mark Boothby, a BHS gradu- ate and former wrestler, for bringing his Nampa Christian team to com- pete at his alma mater. In the duals competi- tion, several Baker wres- tlers went undefeated: • Aldo Duran, fresh- man, 4-0, 120 pounds • Sage Darlington, sophomore, 4-0, 126 pounds • Gavin Stone, senior, 4-0, 160 pounds • Adrian Allen, senior, 4-0, 182 pounds • Gauge Bloomer, senior, 4-0, 195 pounds • Alex Ritter, senior, 4-0, 220 pounds • Jaden Martin, se- nior, 4-0, 285 pounds The girls competed in a round robin format. BAKER BOYS BASKETBALL Bulldogs rally late to top Banks By JAYSON JACOBY jjacoby@bakercityherald.com Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain Baker’s Alex Ritter, top, pins Riverside’s Gerardo Medel to win the 220-pound title at the Enterprise Kickoff Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. Freshman Lilly Collins won both of her matches to finish first at 140 pounds. Senior Sarah Plum- mer won all three of her matches at 155 pounds to finish first, and freshman Sheylin Karolski went 1-2 to finish in third place at 155 pounds. lain won by fall over Joey Duncan • Aldo Duran won by fall over River Clark • Riley Martin won by major decision 20-9 over Troy Bennett • Julian Garcia won 10-7 over Michael Endersby • Cole Hester won by fall over Jimmy Sullivan • Ben Coburn won by Intrasquad results fall over William Brown Saturday evening • Gavin Stone won by featured Baker’s annual intrasquad tournament, fall over Paul Still • Ethan Morgan won with Team Jaden Martin by fall over Ryan Brown topping Team Gauge • Billy Kargianis Bloomer, 79-29. won by fall over Tristan • Julian Garcia won Mulkey by technical fall over • Jayden Clark won Andrew Gardner by fall over Jacob Mills • Jimmy Sullivan • Alex Ritter won by won by fall over William fall over Adrian Allen Brown • Sarah Plummer • Cole Hester won by won by fall over Sheylin fall over Troy Bennett • Graison Stone won Karolski • Jaden Martin by technical fall over won by fall over Gauge Ryan Brown Bloomer • Jayden Clark won Baker will travel by fall over Russell to Nampa, Idaho, on Walden Wednesday, Dec. 8 to • Sarah Plummer take on Columbia and won by fall over Lilly Vallivue, with matches Collins starting at 5 p.m. PST. • Marcus Chamber- Baker rallied from a seven-point deficit in the final minute to force overtime, took a quick lead in the ex- tra period and held off Banks 85-81 in a fast-paced boys basketball game Saturday, Dec. 4. Baker freshman Isaiah Jones hit a three-pointer just before the buzzer to tie the score at 75 and force overtime. Jones led all scorers with 30 points. Baker, which improved to 2-0 on the season, outscored the Braves 10-6 in overtime in a game played at Powder Valley High School. The Baker wrestling team was competing in the Baker gym on Saturday. Baker coach Jebron Jones, who is also Isaiah’s dad, said Baker’s last-minute rally seemed to deflate Banks, giving the Bulldogs an edge in overtime. “I think they thought they had the game in the bag,” Jones said of Banks. He said he told his team, during a timeout with about 50 seconds left and Baker trailing by seven, that he had seen teams rally from bigger deficits with less time on the clock. “I told them, ‘this game is not over,’ ” Jones said. “The boys just continued to fight and scrap and claw. It was a great game. It showed that these young men don’t like los- ing. It was a great team victory. A lot of people did a lot of great things to help. It was a total team effort.” Baker scored the first six points in overtime to take control, on three- pointers by freshmen Jaxon Logsdon and Jaron Long. Baker’s late rally was the last in a series of momentum swings. Baker led 16-6 in the first quarter, but Banks dominated the rest of the first half to lead 41-30 at halftime. Baker outscored Banks 25-16 in the third quarter to narrow the Braves’ lead to 57-55 entering the final period. Jones said he was impressed by the resilience of his young team against a Banks squad that has only juniors and seniors. The Braves dominated their first two games, beating St. Helens 52-32 on Dec. 1, and routing Ontario 69-21 on Friday in a game played at Baker High School. A quartet of freshman scored 60 of Baker’s 85 points. In addition to Isaiah Jones’ 30 points, Logsdon had 14 points, Grant Gambleton nine, and Long seven. Two sophomores added 18 points — Hudson Spike with 10, and Paul Hobson with eight. “I’m not surprised,” Jebron Jones said of his young players’ performance. “I’ve been seeing them play for the last five or six years. They are in the position they’re in because of the hard work they do when no one is watching.” Jones said Baker in its first two games has shown its ability to play at a slower pace — the Bulldogs beat Homedale, Idaho, 55-49 on Dec. 2 — and to thrive in a high- scoring contest. “We’re a versatile team,” Jones said. “We’re not very big, but we can adjust to a bigger team like Banks. It was a good test.” Baker travels to Fruitland, Idaho, this evening for a 6 p.m. PST tipoff against the Grizzlies. Their first home game is Thurs- day against Homedale with tipoff at 7:30 p.m. in the Baker High School gymnasium. The Bulldogs then embark on a longer trip to the Portland area for a pair of games, Friday at Estacada and Saturday at Molalla. Jones said he appreciates that Buell Gonzales Jr., Baker School District athletic director, was able to schedule nonleague games against teams from Western Oregon. “We don’t always have a chance to play against teams from the west side,” Jones said. “It helps us see where we stand.” Baker County's Leading and Locally Owned Real Estate Team! Thanks to all our incredible clients in 2021. THE GROVE TEAM We love helping you! THE GROVE TEAM www.TheGroveTeam.com 845 Campbell Street, Baker City OR • 541-523-6485