BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2022 A5
SPORTS
BAKER GIRLS BASKETBALL
BAKER BOYS BASKETBALL
Bulldogs split two
games on road trip
Bulldogs top Madras
and Crook County
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
The Baker girls basketball team
seemed poised to do something that
only one other Oregon team has ac-
complished this season.
Beat Crook County.
The Bulldogs were leading 24-19 in
the third quarter on Saturday, Jan. 8 at
Prineville.
Crook County, a Class 5A school
(Baker is Class 4A), came into the
game ranked second in the state with
an 11-1 record, its only loss to Philo-
math, 38-31 on Dec. 18.
But it wasn’t to be.
Crook County rallied with a 16-2
run that extended into the fourth
quarter, and the Cowgirls then held
off Baker’s comeback bid that saw the
Bulldogs get within five points late be-
fore falling 42-35.
Baker coach Jason Ramos credited
Crook County coach Bob Boback for
employing a defensive strategy that
had one player assigned to Jozie Ra-
mos, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, and
the four others playing zone defense.
“That kind of took us out of our
game, and we struggled the whole
game offensively,” said Jason Ramos,
who is also Jozie’s dad.
He blamed himself for failing to
make adjustments in the second half
to counter Crook County’s tactics.
“I wanted to make a couple other
adjustments and I just didn’t do that,”
Ramos said. “I need to coach better in
those situations.”
Crook County held Jozie Ramos to
a season-low three points.
Baker rallied after trailing by as
many as 11 points, but the Bulldogs’
struggles at the free throw line in the
fourth quarter were costly.
Baker was 7 for 14 from the line in
the final quarter — the seven missed
points equalling the final margin.
“We missed too many free throws
down the stretch,” Jason Ramos said.
That was disappointing not only be-
cause the misses thwarted the Baker
rally, but because the Bulldogs oth-
erwise did what he asked them to do
— continue to play aggressively on of-
fense and draw fouls.
A team trying to rally in the fourth
quarter always wants to get free throws
— it’s the only way to score points
without time ticking away.
“Credit to the girls to get the chances;
they attacked the basket,” Ramos said.
He described the loss as “a missed
opportunity” to not only hand Crook
County a rare loss, but to extend Bak-
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
BAKER (59)
Elms 4 0-1 8, Flanagan 3 1-1 7, Wilde
0 0-0 0, Gyllenberg 1 0-0 2, Pierce 1
1-2 3, Ramos 6 0-0 13, Roy 1 0-0 2,
Jaca 4 0-0 9, Moore 7 0-0 15. Totals
27 2-4 59.
MADRAS (43)
Wapshel 2 0-0 5, Martinez 1 0-0 2,
Tanewasha 0 0-0 0, Harry 2 0-0 4, Po-
land 3 0-0 6, Buck 0 0-0 0, Davis 6 6-9
20, Ramirez 2 2-2 6. Totals. 16 8-11 43.
Baker
8
14 18 19 — 59
Madras 12
4
13 14 — 43
BAKER (35)
Elms 3 2-4 8, Flanagan 1 0-0 2, Wilde
0 0-0 0, Gyllenberg 4 0-0 10, Pierce
0 1-6 1, Ramos 0 3-4 3, Roy 0 0-0 0,
Jaca 0 1-2 3, Moore 3 2-5 8. Totals 12
9-21 35.
CROOK COUNTY (42)
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Baker’s Taylor Gyllenberg in action earlier
this season.
er’s win streak to four games with the
Greater Oregon League season start-
ing tonight, Jan. 11.
“They’re having a really good sea-
son,” Ramos said of Crook County.
“We kind of knew what the matchup
was going to be like.”
He said the disappointment after
the game was similar to that for each
of the Bulldogs’ three previous losses
— two by a single point, and the third
by three points.
The game at Crook County was
close most of the way.
Baker led 12-11 after the first quar-
ter, with Taylor Gyllenberg scoring 10
of Baker’s 12 points, including a pair of
3-pointers.
“Taylor had a great first quarter
shooting the ball,” Ramos said.
Baker led 20-19 at halftime and ex-
tended the lead to 24-19 before Crook
County took over.
Gyllenberg was the only Bulldog
in double figures, with 10. Rylee
Elms and Macey Moore had eight
points each.
The previous evening, Jan. 7, at Ma-
dras, Baker struggled early but domi-
nated much of the final three quarters
to beat the White Buffalos 59-43.
“We were a little sluggish out of the
gate but once we got it going, things
really started to click,” Ramos said.
Baker trailed 12-8 after the first
quarter but then outscored Madras
Woodward 2 2-4 7, Weaver 5 7-13
17, Kasberger 1 0-0 2, Jonas 1 0-2 3,
Bakes 4 4-6 12, Brooks 0 1-2 1. Totals.
12 14-27 42.
Baker
12
8
6
9 — 35
Crook
11
8
8 15 — 42
14-4 in the second. Baker extended
the lead to 40-29 after three quarters.
Ramos said the Bulldogs thrived
on the pressure defense and transi-
tion offense, often spurred by steals,
that is a hallmark of Baker basketball.
“That’s how we like to play all the
time,” he said.
Moore led Baker with 15 points.
Ramos added 13, Brooklyn Jaca had
nine, Elms had eight and Makenzie
Flanagan had seven.
Baker, 9-4 on the season and
ranked ninth in Class 4A, now pre-
pares to start the Greater Oregon
League schedule by playing host to
La Grande tonight at 6 p.m. in the
Baker gym.
La Grande also made the trip to
Central Oregon last weekend, and
like Baker, the Tigers went 1-1, beat-
ing Madras, 55-50, and losing to
Crook County, 43-41.
Jason Ramos said the comparison
between Baker’s and La Grande’s
results against the same two teams
is interesting, but ultimately not
terribly relevant to tonight’s league
match up.
“La Grande keeps getting better as
the season goes on, and it’s going to
be a good test for us,” he said. “We’re
going to have to play really well.”
Baker wrestlers compete at Rollie Lane
BAKER CITY HERALD
NAMPA, Idaho — Baker
wrestlers competed at one of
the bigger tournaments of
the year, the Rollie Lane In-
vitational, on Friday, Jan. 7,
and Saturday, Jan. 8.
The Baker boys amassed
38 points to place 47th out
of about 80 teams.
The Baker girls placed
36th out of 50 teams with
13 team points.
The two-day event at-
tracted teams from Oregon,
Idaho, Washington and
Montana.
“The Rollie Lane was as
tough as I have ever seen it,”
Baker coach Brandon Young
said. “The first round was
a tough one for us, and af-
ter that we seemed to com-
pete better, but we had some
tough draws and wrestled a
lot of the top kids in the first
two rounds of the tourna-
ment. I think we were a lit-
tle nervous going into a big
tournament and a big venue
at the Nampa Idaho Center.”
In the boys event, Gavin
Stone, Gauge Bloomer and
Jaden Martin all earned
points for Baker, and all
came close to placing, Young
said.
Martin wrestled Miguel
Perez of Caldwell, Idaho.
They had wrestled earlier in
the season, with Perez win-
ning by fall. At Rollie Lane,
the two were tied at 1 going
into the final round, and Pe-
rez won with a takedown in
the final seconds.
Aldo Duran lost 4-3 in
an exciting match to Cole
Currin of Kuna, Idaho, the
number two seed in the tour-
nament.
“Aldo just has a couple lit-
tle things we need to fix and
he is going to make a run at
a state title as a freshman,”
Young said.
Baker had three girls com-
pete, and all went 1-2.
Sarah Plummer was close
to pinning her opponent,
Zoe Fries of Kuna, but Fries
was able to roll Plummer
to her back and get the pin.
Fries placed third.
“Sarah was wrestling at a
very high level in only her
second season of wrestling,”
Young said.
He said the Rollie Lane
tournament will help prepare
the Bulldogs for the rest of
the season.
“It’s good for us to wrestle
kids at the highest level as it
points out little things that
each individual on the team
needs to work on,” Young
said. “This was our largest
and toughest match of the
year. Hopefully we can take
the intensity from Rollie
Lane to practice and the Ore-
gon Classic this weekend.”
The Baker boys will com-
pete in the Oregon Classic,
the state dual tournament in
Redmond, on Friday, Jan. 14,
and Saturday, Jan. 15.
The Baker girls will com-
pete in the Jaybird Invita-
tional on Friday, Jan. 14, at
Columbia High School in
Nampa.
Baker improves to
9-3 on the season
pounds, 1-2
• Marcus Chamberlain,
106, 2-2, 4 points
• Aldo Duran, 113, 2-2, 3
points
• River Clark, 120, 0-2
• Samuel Nelson, 126, 0-2
• Sage Darlington, 126, 0-2
• Riley Martin, 132, 0-2
• Cole Hester, 132, 1-2
• Gavin Stone, 145, 3-2, 7
points
• Ben Coburn, 152, 0-2
• Ryan Brown, 160, 0-2
• Adrian Allen, 182, 2-2, 3
points
• Gauge Bloomer, 195, 5-2,
13 points
• Russell Walden, 220, 2-2
• Jaden Martin, 285, 3-2,
8 points
Baker girls individual results
• Lilly Collins, 132, 1-2, 3
points
• Sarah Plummer, 145, 1-2,
6 points
• Sheylin Karolski, 160,
1-2, 4 points
Baker boys basketball coach
Jebron Jones had a couple reasons
to worry as the Bulldogs took the
court against Crook County early
in the afternoon on Saturday, Jan.
8 at Prineville.
Baker was playing its third game
in less than three days — and its
second in less than 20 hours.
And Jones knew the Cowboys,
who had a height advantage,
would be a tough foe.
“I knew they would battle,”
Jones said.
His trepidation seemed reason-
able early on, as Crook County
led 18-17 after the first quarter.
But the Bulldogs’ defense
toughened in the second quarter,
and Baker led 35-28 at halftime.
Both teams scored 15 points
in the third quarter, but the Bull-
dogs, showing no signs of fatigue,
dominated the final quarter 20-
10 to roll to a 70-53 win.
“Three games in three days is
tough, especially on a road trip,”
Jones said. “They did a great job
of staying focused.”
Although balanced scoring was
a trademark of most of Baker’s
previous eight wins, two Bull-
dogs, both freshmen, accounted
for the bulk of the points against
Crook County.
Isaiah Jones led all scorers with
31 points, and Jaron Long had 23.
Jebron Jones, who is also Isa-
iah’s dad, said having two play-
ers put up most of Baker’s points
resulted not from any strategy,
but because both freshmen had
multiple layins, most coming off
steals or outlet passes.
“That’s just the way the game
played out,” Jebron Jones said.
“They were both running the
floor and got some easy baskets.”
Hayden Younger and Diego
Quintela added six points each.
Jones said he was pleased with
Baker’s free throw shooting, as
the Bulldogs made 13 of 15. It
was a major improvement over
Baker’s 8 for 18 shooting in the
72-68 win at Madras on Friday,
Jan. 7.
“I’m not a genius but I know 8
for 18 isn’t very good,” Jones said
with a chuckle. “Free throws can
cost you games. We shoot a lot
of free throws in practice when
the boys are tired to approximate
game situations. They did much
better against Crook County.”
In the win over Madras, Baker
demonstrated its versatility and
its ability to distribute points
across the roster.
Seven Bulldogs scored during
the decisive second quarter, when
Baker extended its 18-16 lead to a
41-26 advantage at halftime.
The Bulldogs still led by 15
points entering the fourth quar-
ter, but the White Buffalos rallied,
hitting five 3-pointers to trim the
final margin to just four points.
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Baker’s Jaron Long goes up for a
shot against Fruitland on Jan. 6,
2022, in the Baker gym. Long had
23 points and his teammate and fel-
low freshman Isaiah Jones (far right)
had 31 points to lead the Bulldogs
to a 70-53 win at Crook County on
Jan. 8.
BAKER (72)
Logsdon 1 0-0 2, Harper 1 0-0 2,
Gambleton 1 1-2 3, Quintela 1
0-0 2, Younger 0 0-0 0, Spike 5
0-1 10, Molina 1 0-0 2, Jones 9
2-5 23, Long 3 2-4 8, Hobson 8
3-6 22. Totals 30 8-18 72.
MADRAS (68)
Ball 9 3-4 24, Strong 0 0-0 0,
Main 0 0-0 0, Wallulatum 0 0-0
0, Poland 0 0-0 0, Simmelink 2
1-4 5, Meither 0 0-0 0, Harry 6
0-0 18, Boyle 0 3-3 3, Smith 6
2-3 18. Totals 23 10-18 68.
Baker 18 23 17 14 — 72
Madras 16 10 17 25 — 68
BAKER (70)
Logsdon 0 0-0 0, Gambleton 0
0-0 0, Quintela 2 0-0 6, Younger
2 2-2 6, Molina 0 0-0 0, Spike 0
2-2 2, Jones 12 5-6 31, Long 9
4-4 23, Hobson 1 0-0 2. Totals 28
13-15 70.
CROOK COUNTY (53)
Teasdale 1 0-0 2, Mathews 4
0-2 9, West 3 2-3 7, Teskey 1 0-0
3, Freauf 7 2-4 16, Carr 1 0-1 2,
Ossenkop 2 0-0 4, Levesque 1
0-2 2, Martinez 2 0-0 6 Totals. 22
4-11 53.
Baker 17 18 15 20 — 70
Crook 18 10 15 10 — 53
“That was us being lackadaisi-
cal in the fourth quarter and tak-
ing the game for granted,” Jones
said. “I’ll take responsibility for
that. That won’t happen again. It
was a learning situation for sure.”
Madras didn’t rely on the 3-point
shot only to make the game com-
petitive in the final quarter.
The White Buffalos had 12 to-
tal 3-pointers, to Baker’s four.
But even that 21-point advan-
tage wasn’t enough to overcome
Baker’s domination in 2-point
baskets — 26 to 11.
See, Bulldogs/Page A6
Top-ranked Badger boys run record to 11-1
NORTH POWDER – The Class 1A
top-ranked Powder Valley boys bas-
ketball team opened Old Oregon
League play with a pair of dominat-
ing wins that ran the Badgers’ overall
record to 11-1.
Powder Valley traveled to Halfway
on Friday, Jan. 7, and beat Pine Eagle,
68-41.
The next day the Badgers played
host to Imbler and beat the Panthers,
66-32.
Powder’s lone loss was 80-75 to
Adrian on Dec. 27 at the Baker Holi-
day Tournament.
The Powder Valley girls won their
league opener, 50-22 at Pine Eagle
on Jan. 7.
The Badgers lost to Imbler, 41-37,
on Jan. 8. Powder Valley fell to 4-8
overall, and 1-1 in league play.
The Huntington boys basketball
team lost to Crane, 66-28, on Friday,
Jan. 7 in Huntington. The Locomotives
are 0-3 on the season and 0-3 in High
Desert League play.
The Huntington girls lost 54-30 to
Crane at Huntington on Jan. 7, to drop
to 2-2 on the season and 1-2 in High
Desert League play.
Baker boys individual results
• Joey Duncan, 106
E
Come and see us for all
O
of your vision needs
• A great selection of frames to choose to
get the look you want.
• We carry both regular and prescription
sunglasses.
• In house repairs and special packages
starting at $ 99
Eagle Optical
3705 Midway Drive • Baker City
541.523.2020
GARAGE DOORS
With Thermospan TM doors, you have your choice
of styles, colors and customizing options.
N E -H I E NTERPRISES
CCB#155399
2122 10th • Baker City • 541-523-6008