BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2022 A3
SPORTS
CRANE BOYS, GIRLS BOTH WIN CLASS 1A STATE BASKETBALL TITLES AT BAKER HIGH SCHOOL
Crane holds off Redsides
to claim its first boys title
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
With the pressures starting
to stack up on their shoulders,
the Crane Mustangs shrugged
off the weight and soared.
Facing the prospect of cap-
ping a perfect season with the
school’s first boys basketball
state championship, the Mus-
tangs responded to a valiant
rally by South Wasco County
to finish the Class 1A title game
with a 12-3 run that gave Crane
a 62-53 victory before a packed
crowd Saturday night, March 5,
in the Baker High School gym.
“This is a feeling I’ve never
felt before,” Eric Nichols, Crane’s
second-year head coach, said
as Mustang fans thronged the
court in jubilation. “These boys,”
he said, his voice trailing away as
though he couldn’t summon the
words to describe their accom-
plishment. “It’s a great group.”
Crane’s first boys state title
didn’t come easily, or without
drama.
The Mustangs led 21-12 af-
ter the first quarter, but then
South Wasco County’s elec-
trifying senior guard, Oscar
Thomas, took over.
Thomas scored 12 straight
points for the Redsides in
the second quarter as South
Wasco closed to within 30-24.
Thomas scored both inside,
with a couple of tough run-
ners in traffic, and with a pair
of 3-pointers.
South Wasco’s Ian Ongers
scored the first two baskets
of the third quarter to get the
Redsides to within 34-32, the
closest they had been since
the first quarter.
Crane’s Jared Zander swished
a 16-footer to push the Mus-
tangs’ lead back to 41-36, but
Thomas hit another 3-pointer
and then found Ongers with a
nifty pass for a basket that tied
the score at 41 with 2:50 left in
the third quarter.
Crane responded with a
6-0 run capped by Zander’s
3-pointer, and Crane fresh-
man Cody Siegner scored in-
side to boost the lead to 49-42
at the end of the third quarter.
Siegner also scored the first
Bulldogs
Powder Valley boys finish 5th
The Powder Valley boys basketball team placed fifth in the Class
1A boys state tournament.
After beating Nixyaawii 60-45 in a quarterfinal game on Wednes-
day, March 2, the Badgers lost to South Wasco County 59-40 on Fri-
day, March 4.
The Badgers struggled offensively, shooting just 22% for the
game, 13 of 59, including just 1 of 13 3-pointers.
South Wasco, meanwhile, made 50% of its field goals in the first
half and ended up at 46% for the game, on 23 of 50, including 9 of 16
3-pointers.
Cole Martin led Powder Valley with 13 points.
In the 3rd-place game on Saturday morning, March 5, Powder Val-
ley lost 61-44 to Crosshill Christian.
Powder Valley’s shooting woes carried over from Friday’s game, as
the Badgers made 18 of 61 shots against Crosshill Christian, 29.5%.
The Badgers missed all seven of their 3-point tries in the first half, while
Crosshill Christian made 6 of 9 in racing to a 37-20 lead at halftime.
Cole Martin led Powder Valley with 14 points.
The Badgers finished the season with a 24-4 record.
Crane makes Class 1A history with dual titles
Based on records from the Oregon School Activities Association
(OSAA), Crane is the first Class 1A school to win the boys and girls
state basketball championship in the same season.
Girls tournaments date to 1976. The first tournament for the state’s
smallest high schools — then known as the B division — was in
1977. For more than 20 years there were four divisions — AAA, AA,
AA and B, later reconfigured as 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A. Two new classifi-
cations — 5A and 6A — were added for the state’s larger schools in
2006.
Crane joins these schools in winning both girls and boys state bas-
ketball titles in the same year:
• LaSalle (Milwaukie), 1981 (AA) and 1984 (AA)
• Stayton, 1995 (3A)
• Jefferson, 2010 (5A)
• Portland Christian, 2010 (2A)
• Jesuit, 2011 (6A)
basket of the fourth period to
push the lead to 51-42.
But the Redsides responded
with a quick 8-0 spurt, capped
by Brock LaFaver’s inside bas-
ket that cut the lead to 51-50
with 5:31 left.
It was almost all Crane af-
ter that.
Sophomore point guard
Carter Nichols (the coach’s
son) weaved his way inside
and lofted a shot over 6-foot-6
LaFaver, off the glass and
through. Nichols also drew a
foul and made the free throw
to give Crane a 54-50 lead.
Zander then made consecu-
tive 3-pointers in a little more
than a minute, the second, from
Bulldogs At State
Continued from Page A1
The four boys quarterfinal
games on Thursday will take
place at North Bend High
School, while the four girls
quarterfinal contests, also on
Thursday, will be a few miles
away, at Marshfield High
School.
Semifinals and the cham-
pionship games for both boys
and girls will be at Marshfield.
Coos Bay and North Bend
are separate, but adjoining, cities
on the southern Oregon Coast.
All tournament games will
be broadcast live on the NFHS
network (subscription re-
quired) at nfhsnetwork.com.
Statistics are also available at
osaa.org.
The Baker teams will leave
Baker City Tuesday, March 8 at
5:30 p.m. and spend the night
at Hood River.
The Bulldogs will practice
somewhere in the Eugene area
on Wednesday, March 9, then
continue to Coos Bay, where
they’ll be staying at the Best
Western Holiday Hotel.
The players will have dinner
Wednesday night at the North
Bend High School cafeteria.
BOYS
• Play Junction City in a
quarterfinal game Thursday,
March 10, at 2 p.m. at North
Bend High School.
• Baker is making its
first state tournament
appearance since 2007,
when the Bulldogs won the
school’s second boys state
championship.
GIRLS
• Play Corbett in a
quarterfinal game Thursday,
March 10, at 7 p.m. at
Marshfield High School.
• Baker won the last state
tournament, played in 2019.
The 2020 and 2021 events
were canceled due to the
pandemic.
the left corner, giving Crane a
60-52 lead with 3 minutes left.
Zander, a junior who had
four 3-pointers overall and led
Crane with 16 points, credited
his teammates for making his
two key shots possible.
“They found the open guy
and it happened to be me,” he
said.
Nichols had 15 points for
Crane. Siegner and Mitch
Clark added 11 each.
Eric Nichols said South
Wasco was “outstanding,” but he
credited his team for respond-
ing to every Redsides rally.
“These guys answered the
bell,” Nichols said. “It’s a team
effort. Team basketball.”
lost 44-40 to Madras on Jan.
28, and lost 58-55 on Feb. 18.
Corbett is the highest-scor-
ing Class 4A team this sea-
son, averaging 56.4 points per
game. The Cardinals allowed
their opponents an average of
32.4 points per game.
Baker is a defense-minded
squad, giving up 31.2 points
per game. The Bulldogs aver-
age 51.9 points per game on
offense.
Baker and Corbett had three
other opponents in common
this season besides Madras.
The results:
Mustangs state champions again
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
The referees surprised
Crane senior Dani Clark
by telling her to take off the
black sleeve wrapped around
her left arm.
It might have been the
Mustangs’ best assist during
the Class 1A state cham-
pionship basketball game
Saturday night, March 5,
between the Mustangs and
Damascus Christian at
Baker High School.
Clark, who started wearing
the sleeve after having surgery
on her elbow, returned to the
court without the sleeve.
She is, by the way, a left-
hander.
Sleeveless, Clark made
four 3-pointers during a 23-0
Crane run that spanned most
of the second quarter and
propelled the Mustangs to a
56-47 win and their second
straight Class 1A state title.
Although Crane’s longtime
coach, Stub Travis, considers
this a threepeat.
The Mustangs won the 2020
title 64-44 over Country Chris-
tian in the early days of the
COVID-19 pandemic, capping
a 26-0 season.
The official 2021 tourney
was canceled, but Crane also
went unbeaten during the
abbreviated season in June
2021 and won a 16-team
tournament, also at Baker
High School, that concluded
that schedule.
And now the Mustangs
have another championship
trophy. Crane also won the
girls state title in 2004, also
with Travis at the helm.
As Crane fans congregated
on the court in the Baker
gym to celebrate the win over
Damascus Christian on Sat-
urday night, Travis said the
Mustangs’ three-year run — a
72-1 record — has been ac-
complished despite changes
in the roster each year.
“Our kids have great heart
and they’re great athletes,”
Travis said. “I’m really proud
of this group.”
Saturday’s win over Damas-
cus Christian brought Crane
more than a championship.
The victory also avenged
the only blemish on the Mus-
pandemic while Baker was pre-
paring for a quarterfinal game
at Forest Grove.
The 2021 tournament was
also canceled.
If Baker beats Corbett, the
Bulldogs would play in a semi-
final on Friday, March 11, at
8:15 p.m. at Marshfield High
School against the winner of
Thursday’s Cascade-Madras
quarterfinal.
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Damascus Christian’s Laelie
Rasmussen defends Crane’s
Alexia Ballard during the state
tangs’ record since 2019 —
a 54-53 loss to Damascus
Christian at a tournament in
Burns on Dec. 11, 2021.
Saturday’s championship
game looked to be just as
competitive early.
After the Eagles took a
9-3 lead on Laelie Rasmus-
sen’s rebound basket, Crane
scored the final 6 points of
the first quarter to forge a
9-9 tie at the break.
Rasmussen made a short
jumper early in the second
quarter to give Damascus
Christian a 13-11 lead.
It was their last.
Clark made consecutive
3-pointers in a 33-second span
to give Crane a 17-13 lead.
But the Mustangs were just
getting started.
Skye Miller swished a
3-pointer.
Crane then forced two
straight turnovers, which the
Mustangs’ poised sophomore
point guard, Kortney Doman,
converted into one free throw
and a layin to boost the lead
to 23-13.
Taylor Joyce and Clark
each made a 3-pointer, Les-
lie Doman hit a 15-footer
and Clark capped the
game-changing surge with
her fourth 3-pointer with 46
seconds left in the first half.
Crane led 34-13.
Clark said that although it
was “pretty weird” to have to
remove her sleeve, it didn’t af-
fect her shooting.
“After the first shot went in
I just got into a rhythm,” she
said.
Damascus Christian’s Em-
ily Powers was fouled on a
3-point try and made two of
on Jan. 7
• Baker: won 82-49 on Dec.
18.
Mazama
• Junction City: won 63-42
on Dec. 28
• Baker: won 64-53 on Dec.
17.
Banks
• Junction City: won 51-46
on Dec. 30
Boys
• Baker: won 85-84 on Dec. 4
Baker is returning to the
The Baker-Junction City
state tournament for the first
match up pits two teams that,
time since 2007, when the Bull- at least statistically, are quite
dogs beat Stayton to claim the different.
Baker is the highest-scoring
Mac-Hi
school’s second boys state title,
Class 4A team, averaging 68.2
• Corbett: won 58-28 on
and first since 1938.
Dec. 20
Baker qualified for state with points per game and scoring
at least 80 points six times.
• Baker: won 66-10 on Jan.
a dominating 80-52 win at
14, won 62-21 on Feb. 4
Gladstone on Friday, March 4. Defensively, the Bulldogs have
allowed 56.9 points per game.
The Bulldogs are 19-6 in
Junction City, meanwhile,
coach Jebron Jones’ fourth
Molalla
has the stingiest defense
• Corbett: won 61-42 on Jan. season.
among Class 4A teams, al-
They will play top-seeded
on Saturday afternoon, March 21, won 45-35 on Feb. 10
5, in the Baker gym.
• Baker: won 50-33 on Dec. Junction City (22-3), which ad- lowing just 38.2 points per
game. The Tigers average
vanced with a 54-39 win over
The Bulldogs enter the
11
53.9 points on offense.
Molalla on Friday, March 4.
tournament with a 20-5 re-
If Baker beats Junction
Molalla is one of four com-
cord. They will open the tour- Estacada
nament Thursday at 2 p.m.
• Corbett: won 57-23 on Feb. mon opponents for Baker and City, the Bulldogs would
play in a semifinal on Fri-
Junction City this season.
against Corbett, which beat
2, won 72-20 on Feb. 21
Baker beat Molalla 85-68 on day, March 11, at 1:30 p.m.
Banks 66-48 on Saturday,
• Baker: won 59-4 on Dec. 10
at Marshfield High School.
Dec. 11.
March 5.
Baker returns to the state
Their opponent would be
The others:
Corbett, a school in the Co- tournament as the defending
the winner of the quarterfi-
lumbia Gorge east of Trout-
champion from the last official
nal game between Philomath
dale, is 21-3. Two of the Car-
tournament, in 2019.
Klamath Union
and Seaside.
Girls
dinals’ three losses were to
It was Baker’s first state girls
• Junction City: won 49-28
Baker qualified for the state league rival Madras, a team
basketball title.
tournament by routing — coin- that Baker beat 59-43 in a non-
The 2020 tournament was
cidentally — Marshfield 50-20 league game on Jan. 7. Corbett canceled due to the COVID-19
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three shots to cut the halftime
lead to 34-15.
Travis said the 23-0 run, fu-
eled by six 3-pointers, didn’t
shock him.
“It wasn’t a fluke that we shot
like that,” he said. “We have
four guards that can shoot like
that on a given night.”
The Eagles got within 10
points, at 40-30, late in the
third quarter, but Crane scored
the final 7 points of the quarter
— 5 by Kortney Doman — to
push the lead back to 17 enter-
ing the final period.
Damascus Christian made
three 3-pointers late in the
game — two by Sierra Hale —
to get as close as 52-45 with 55
seconds left, but the Mustangs
made enough free throws to
thwart the comeback bid.
Crane’s final points were
particularly poignant.
During the final minutes
the Mustang fans chanted “we
want Kelsie,” a reference to
Crane senior Kelsie Siegner.
Siegner, who led the Mus-
tangs to the 2020 state title
with 25 points in the cham-
pionship game, injured her
knee in the fourth quarter of
the final game of the June 2021
tournament.
Although she hasn’t been
able to play this season, Travis
had her sub in during the final
30 seconds Saturday. Siegner
— the 2020 Class 1A player
of the year who also made a
cameo appearance in Crane’s
quarterfinal win over Jordan
Valley, making a basket — was
fouled, and she swished both
free throws with 11.8 seconds.
“I loved it,” Travis said
of watching Siegner score
the final points of her high
school career.
Kortney Doman led Crane
with 19 points. Clark added 14
— all during the decisive sec-
ond-quarter run.
Rasmussen led the Eagles
with 19 points.
Crane’s dominating sea-
son included a rare win over a
Class 4A team — and on the
same court where the Mus-
tangs won the state champion-
ship Saturday.
Crane rallied in the fourth
quarter to beat Baker 49-46 in
a holiday tournament at BHS
on Dec. 28.
More about the
Bulldogs
Please turn to Page A5 for a
story about the Baker boys
playoff game, and to Page
A6 for a story about the
Baker girls clinching a state
tournament berth.
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