BAKER GIRLS BASKETBALL: Bulldogs rout Pelicans, return to state tournament

Mar. 5—The five teammates, who over four years won so many games on the Baker High School gym floor, left the expanse of polished hardwood for the final time just as they had played.

Together.

Seniors Jozie Ramos, Macey Moore, Sydnee Pierce, Rylee Elms and Brooklyn Jaca walked to the bench with 36 seconds remaining in their final triumph on their home court.

And they were greeted there by another senior, Makenzie Flanagan, who, but for a knee injury she sustained in late December, would have been in uniform with them.

The group celebrated Baker's 56-36 win over Klamath Union Friday night, March 3, a victory that propelled the Bulldogs back to the Class 4A state tournament.

Baker, 22-2 and the top-ranked team in the state, will play Madras on Thursday, March 9 at 1:30 p.m. at Forest Grove High School.

"It was special to get one last win in front of our home crowd," said Jozie Ramos, who led all scorers with 19 points in the win over Klamath Union.

"I am so blessed to have found this sport and a team I love so much," Jaca said.

That quintet of seniors combined for 46 of Baker's 56 points as the Bulldogs weathered a sluggish stretch in the first half and a pesky Pelican squad that had a losing record, at 8-9, before Friday's playoff game.

"Just an amazing group," Baker coach Jason Ramos said of the seniors. "All the time and hard work they've put in over the years, to culminate that by achieving their goal to get back to state. I'm proud to be a part of it."

Baker, which won two of three games and finished fourth in last year's tournament, won the state title in 2019.

The Bulldogs were favorites to repeat that feat in 2020, but the tournament was canceled, due to the pandemic, just hours before Baker's first game was scheduled to tip off.

Jozie Ramos was a freshman starter on that squad.

The 2021 season was moved to late spring, and there was no official state tournament.

Baker gets off to fast start

On Friday at BHS, with a return to the state tournament at stake, Baker had a nearly perfect start.

Jozie Ramos won the opening tip, and after Baker ran its usual play to open the game — passing to a teammate cutting to the hoop — Pierce was fouled going to the basket just five seconds in.

She made both free throws and Baker led 2-0.

Moore followed with a 3-pointer and a lay-in.

Baker led 7-0, and with less than two minutes gone, Klamath Union coach John Najar called timeout.

The interruption worked.

Baker, after scoring seven points in less than two minutes, went almost four minutes without a point.

Jozie Ramos broke the scoreless streak with her first basket with 1:12 left in the first quarter. Baker led 14-7 after the first period.

Baker's offensive doldrums, however, continued into the second quarter.

Neither team scored for more than two minutes.

Ashlyn Dalton had a basket on an assist from Jaca with 5:36 left in the first half to boost Baker's lead to 16-7.

Pierce's layin two minutes later gave Baker its biggest least to that point, at 18-7, but Dianara Pena-Hutchinson scored five straight for the Pelicans, and Baker's lead was 21-12 at halftime.

Jason Ramos said Baker struggled at times to deal with Klamath's defense, which alternated between man-to-man and zone.

The Pelicans also had an unusual substitution pattern, swapping all five players at the same time.

Although Baker hadn't played in two weeks, since beating La Grande for the Greater Oregon League district title on Feb. 18, Ramos didn't think the extended break was responsible for the offensive struggles.

He pointed out that the Bulldogs started fast.

After that initial flurry, he said, "we rushed some shots, and our shots weren't falling."

But even as Baker was struggling to score, the Bulldogs' defense prevented the Pelicans from cutting deeply into the deficit.

"Defense was great," Ramos said. "We make it hard for people to score. As long as we do that we're going to be in every game."

Klamath's Lina Derry scored the first basket of the second half on a rebound hoop 13 seconds in to get the Pelicans within 21-14.

They would get no closer.

After Derry's basket the Bulldogs dominated the rest of the third quarter, scoring 17 of 20 points to take control.

Baker seniors accounted for all 17 of those points.

Jozie Ramos had eight, Jaca had five, and Moore and Pierce two each as Baker extended its lead to 38-17 with 1:31 left in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs breezed from there, although Jason Ramos wasn't pleased at times with Baker's perimeter defense.

Klamath Union's final four baskets were all 3-pointers, including a pair of consecutive high-arcing shots by Emma Langley over a 45-second period. The Pelicans had more 3-pointers — seven — than 2-point baskets — five.

But by then the game's outcome was not in doubt.

Jozie Ramos, who has scored more than 1,300 points in her career, tallied her final two points in the Baker gym on a pair of free throws with 46.8 seconds left.

As a fitting preview for the future, it was a freshman, Gwen Rasmussen, who scored Baker's final points with a late basket.

Although Baker will bring its number one ranking and top seed to the state tournament, Jason Ramos said he isn't worried about that status putting added pressure on the Bulldogs.

"Anybody can beat anybody (at the state tournament)," he said. "Our being number one doesn't mean anything."

And with a senior-laden team, all with state tournament experience, Ramos is confident that the Bulldogs will be prepared for the rigors of playing for another trophy.

"We've got a veteran group," he said. "I don't think anything's going to faze them. They're looking forward to going down there."

Baker's first opponent at Forest Grove — the Madras White Buffalos — are somewhat familiar.

The teams played during the regular season, with Baker winning 55-45 on Jan. 6 in the Baker gym.

The Bulldogs had to rally, though, after trailing 28-19 at halftime.

Baker outscored Madras 36-17 in the second half of that game. Moore led the Bulldogs with 17 points. Ramos had 12 points.

If the Bulldogs beat Madras, they would play the winner of Henley and Marshfield in a semifinal on Friday at 1:30 p.m. Marshfield is one of two teams to beat Baker this season, 40-39 on Dec. 30, a game in which Baker was leading 33-25 with five minutes left when Jozie Ramos fouled out.

KLAMATH UNION (36)

Shaw 1 0-0 2, Zumwalt 0 0-0 0, Langley 3 0-0 9, Hall 1 1-2 3, Garcia 0 0-0 0, Hutchinson 4 0-0 11, Harmon 1 0-0 2, Armco 1 0-0 3, Slaven 0 0-0 0, Derry 2 0-0 4, Niece 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 1-2 36.

BAKER (56)

Elms 3 0-0 6, Dalton 3 0-0 7, Llaurado 0 1-2 1, Pierce 1 4-5 6, Ramos 6 7-8 19, Jaca 3 0-0 7, Robb 0 0-0 0, Moore 3 1-2 8, Whitford 0 0-0 0, Myer 0 0-0 0, Rasmusen 1 0-0 2, Spike 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 12-17 56.

Klamath 7 5 10 14 — 36

Baker 14 7 21 14 — 56