BAKER GIRLS BASKETBALL: Crane rallies in fourth quarter to nip Bulldogs

Feb. 5—You don't expect a basketball team that had won 91 of its last 93 games to panic.

And the Crane girls did not.

Not when Baker, the top-ranked Class 4A team and winners of 18 of 19 this season, took a 46-39 lead entering the final quarter.

And not with the Bulldogs getting vocal support from their home fans on Saturday evening, Feb. 4.

The Mustangs, ranked No. 1 in Class 1A, scored the first 11 points of the final period, then held off a Baker rally to win 57-54.

It was Crane's second straight victory over Baker, and Saturday's win followed a pattern nearly identical to what transpired when the Mustangs won 49-46, also in the Baker gym, on Dec. 28, 2021.

In that contest, Crane scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to rally from a 41-34 deficit.

"We did everything we could," Baker coach Jason Ramos said after Saturday's loss in a back-and-forth game pitting two of the state's top teams and players, in Baker's Jozie Ramos, who led all scorers with 30 points, and Crane's Kortney Doman, who paced the Mustangs with 25.

"Credit to them, but we had way too many turnovers against a good team," Jason Ramos said. "That's on us."

With Baker leading 46-39, Crane opened the final period with a pair of 3-pointers, the first by Ava Bowen, the second by Taylor Joyce. The latter long ball cut Baker's lead to 46-45 with 6:37 left in the game.

Doman followed with a pair of free throws with 5:39 left to give the Mustangs their first lead since 20-18 early in the second quarter.

Moreover, the foul was on Jozie Ramos, her fourth, and she came out of the game.

Doman hit a floater from the key just 13 seconds later. Crane led 49-46 and Jason Ramos called timeout.

After Joyce made one of two free throws to give Crane a 50-46 lead, Jozie Ramos made two free throws to get Baker within 50-48 with 3:55 left.

For the rest of the game Ramos generally stayed on the court when Baker had the ball, then went to the bench when Crane had possession, a strategy designed to reduce the risk that she would foul out.

Doman answered Ramos' free throws with a pair of her own with 3:14 left, and the Mustangs' lead was back to four, at 52-48.

Sydnee Pierce made a nifty pass to Ramos inside for a basket that cut the lead to 52-50 with 2:34 left.

But Baker wouldn't score again for more than a minute.

Crane, meanwhile, added to its lead with Joyce's lay-in and Doman's free throw after Joyce stole a pass. Crane led 55-50 with 1:16 left.

Baker, whose only previous loss this season was 40-39 to Marshfield on Dec. 30 at the Stayton tournament, rallied.

Ramos scored inside with 1:01 left and was fouled. She made the free throw to cut the lead to 55-53.

Crane's Alexia Ballard missed a shot with 55 seconds left, and Ramos grabbed the rebound.

But Crane got a key steal with 23 seconds left, and Baker was forced to foul.

Bowen missed the first of two free throws but made the second to give the Mustangs a 56-53 lead with 19.5 seconds left.

Baker's Ashlyn Dalton was fouled after grabbing a rebound, and the sophomore sank the first of two free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining.

After two timeouts, one by Baker and one by Crane, Dalton intentionally missed the second free throw to give Baker a chance to get a rebound and a game-tying basket.

But Doman grabbed the loose ball and in the ensuing collision she went out of bounds under the Baker basket, slamming into the padded wall.

The referees called an intentional foul, giving Doman two free throws with 1 second left and, more importantly, possession of the ball after the free throws.

She made one of two, and Crane was able to inbound the ball, from under the Baker basket, to run the final second off the clock.

The fourth quarter was a disappointing conclusion to a strong middle of the game for the Bulldogs.

"We did a lot of good things," Jason Ramos said.

After Baker led 4-0 on Jozie Ramos' two baskets in the first minute, the second on an assist from Emma Llaurado, Crane scored 12 straight points, with five Mustangs tallying points.

The Mustangs' full-court press stymied Baker, forcing consecutive turnovers.

But after Jason Ramos called timeout with 3:54 left in the first quarter, the Bulldogs adjusted their press break and regained the momentum.

Baker scored eight straight points to tie the score at 12.

Ballard made a 15-footer late to give Crane a 14-12 lead after one quarter.

The Mustangs started fast in the second, scoring the first six points, including a 3-pointer by Leslie Doman, to boost the lead to 20-12.

But Baker responded with its best stretch of the game, a 20-4 run over five minutes to turn an eight-point deficit into a 10-point lead at 32-22 with 2:34 left in the first half.

Jozie Ramos had 11 points during the run, and Brooklyn Jaca had six points.

The 10-point lead was Baker's biggest.

Crane rallied late in the quarter to get within 33-28 at halftime.

After Crane got within 37-35 on Kortney Doman's inside basket with 4:23 left in the third quarter, Jaca made a 3-pointer and Ramos drove the lane for a basket that swelled Baker's lead back to seven, at 42-35 with 3:39 left.

Ramos made a 10-footer with 1:02 left to give Baker the lead at 46-39 entering the final quarter.

Jason Ramos said the Bulldogs couldn't continue their recent streak of playing stifling defense in the second half.

Crane scored 29 points in the final two quarters, including an 18-8 advantage in the final period.

"They shot the ball well, and we didn't close out on the shooter a few times on 3-pointers," Ramos said. "It wasn't a typical second half for us."

Crane had five 3-pointers, three of those in the second half.

Baker was playing again without two senior starters. Makenzie Flanagan has been out since late December with a knee injury, and Macey Moore has missed three games after twisting her ankle in practice.

Jason Ramos said he expects Moore to return soon.

Baker wraps up its regular season with two more home games, Tuesday, Feb. 7 against Burns at 5:30 p.m., and Friday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. against Ontario. Baker's seniors will be honored. The Bulldogs have already clinched the Greater Oregon League title.

"We like where we're at," Ramos said. "We just need to take care of business next week."

After the GOL district championship game on Feb. 18, likely against La Grande at BHS, the Bulldogs will await their playoff opponent, with a berth in the state tournament at stake.

"All of our goals are still there," Ramos said.

The loss to Crane doesn't affect any of those goals, but Ramos said the experience was valuable.

"It was a good basketball game to have late in the season, to be in those situations against a really good team," he said. "We had the capability of winning that game."

Baker clinches GOL regular season title

The night before the Crane game, Baker traveled to Pendleton and quickly took control, breezing to a 47-18 win to clinch the league regular season championship. Baker led 27-10 at halftime.

Jozie Ramos had 24 points. Jaca added eight, Llaurado six and Dalton five.

Friday's game

BAKER (47)

Elms 1 0-0 2, Dalton 2 1-2 5, Llaurado 3 0-0 6, Pierce 0 0-0 0, Ramos 9 6-6 24, Jaca 4 0-1 8, Robb 1 0-0 2. Rabourne 0 0-0 0, Whitford 0 0-0 0, Myer 0 0-0 0, Rasmussen 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-9 47.

PENDLETON (18)

Schumacher 0 1-2 2, Boatman 0 0-0 0, Schmidt 3 0-0 7, Krigbaum 1 1-2 4, Sprawling 0 1-2 1, Edmonds 0 0-0 0, Thorne 0 0-0 0, Wilson 1 2-2 4, Elrod 0 0-0 0, Jenness 0 1-2 1. Totals 5 6-10 18

Baker 14 13 9 11 — 47

Pendleton 7 3 1 7 — 18

Saturday's Game

CRANE (57)

L. Doman 3 0-0 7, Bowen 4 1-2 12, Joyce 3 2-4 9, Ballard 2 0-0 4, K. Doman 8 9-13 25,Taylor 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 12-19 57.

BAKER (54)

Elms 1 0-0 2, Dalton 1 1-2 3, Llaurado 1 1-2 3, Pierce 2 0-0 5, Ramos 12 5-5 30, Jaca 3 1-2 9, Robb 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 8-11 54.

Crane 14 14 11 18 — 57

Baker 12 21 13 8 — 54