Bulldogs take 2nd at Idaho tourney

Dec. 19—Baker's bid for a tournament title collided with a couple of stout obstacles.

One is the Pocatello Thunder.

The second was the absence of the Bulldogs' leading scorer, Isaiah Jones.

With Jones on the bench in street clothes due to an ankle injury he sustained late in the Bulldogs' win over Rocky Mountain in a semifinal game Friday, Dec. 16, Baker couldn't keep up with the unbeaten Thunder in the championship game of the Pro Image Sports tournament Saturday afternoon at Meridian, Idaho.

The 72-52 loss snapped Baker's 5-game winning streak, including four in a row over Idaho schools. Baker fell to 6-2 on the season.

Baker led 6-4 early, but Pocatello, powered by Julian Bowie, a 6-foot-3 guard who has committed to play at Boise State University, scored nine straight points and 16 of 20 to take a 20-10 lead after the first quarter.

"They came out and jumped on us by 10 in the first quarter, they played harder than we did early on," Baker coach Jebron Jones said. "They did many things better than we did tonight, especially the little things that made a big difference, they moved the ball better than we did."

Bowie made three straight 3-pointers in the first 2:30 of the second quarter as part of a 21-8 Pocatello run that gave the Thunder a 41-18 lead.

Baker didn't get closer than 18 points thereafter, as Pocatello quickly thwarted any potential Bulldog rally.

Both teams scored 30 points in the second half.

Jaron Long and Jaxon Logsdon led Baker with 11 points each. Rasean Jones added 10.

Bowie led all scorers with 21 points.

The Bulldogs opened the tournament with a pair of close wins, 53-52 over Twin Falls on Thursday, Dec. 15 and 72-67 over Rocky Mountain the next evening.

"I was extremely happy to play in the tournament against three tough teams, it will hopefully prepare us for the rest of the season," Jones said. "I was proud of the young men for overcoming sicknesses and injuries and competing like they did. We will continue to work hard and improve for the rest of the season."

BAKER (52)

Gambleton 1 0-0 2, Logsdon 2 4-5 11, Quintela 1 0-0 2, R. Jones 5 0-0 10, Rigueiro 1 0-1 2, Spike 3 0-0 6, Long 5 1-1 11, Hobson 1 0-1 2, Jensen 3 0-0 6. Totals 22 5-8 52.

POCATELLO (72)

Bowie 9 1-3 21, Hales 2 1-1 5, Zweigart 2 0-0 4, Snell 0 0-0 0, Vaughn 6 0-0 14, Evans 2 0-0 4, Smith 3 2-4 9, Magnuson 2 0-0 4. Totals 26 4-8 72.

Baker 10 12 13 17 — 52

Pocatello 20 22 15 15 — 72

Baker 72, Rocky Mountain 67

Friday's game looked as though it would be decided in the final minute, just as with the Bulldogs opening-round win over Twin Falls on Thursday, Dec. 15.

But Paul Hobson, Logsdon and Hudson Spike averted a second straight nailbiter.

Hobson scored 11 straight points, including the final basket of the third quarter, over a 3-minute span, including a trio of 3-pointers, and Baker went on to win, 72-67.

"I'm extremely proud of the young men fighting together and playing hard the whole game," Jebron Jones said. "It was a good win, especially beating the home team in a tournament on their court."

Hobson's last long ball broke a 48-48 tie and gave Baker a 51-48 lead with 5 minutes left in the game against the Grizzlies, who were playing on their home court.

Hobson's 3-pointer also kickstarted a 16-1 Bulldog spurt that turned a close game into a late blowout.

Logsdon followed by breaking loose on an inbounds play for an easy lay-in. Then he swished a 3-pointer with 3:45 left, and Baker led 56-48.

After a free throw by Rocky Mountain, Baker's torrid shooting continued.

Isaiah Jones grabbed an offensive rebound and made a 12-foot jumper, Hobson made two free throws, and Spike raced down the lane and scored off a nifty pass from Logsdon.

Spike concluded Baker's game-defining streak with another driving basket that boosted the lead to 64-49, the largest of the game with less than 3 minutes left.

Rocky Mountain put on a brief rally with five straight points, but Baker made seven of eight free throws in the final 2 minutes to keep the Grizzlies at bay.

Rocky Mountain made a pair of 3-pointers in the final 13 seconds to narrow the led, but the outcome was never really in doubt after Baker lead by 15 points.

Hobson led a balanced Baker scoring attack with 20 points. Isaiah Jones added 18 points, Spike

had 14 and Logsdon 13.

The game started in opposite fashion from Baker's first-round game against Twin Falls. In that contest, Twin Falls led 7-0 before Baker rallied with 12 straight points.

Against Rocky Mountain, by contrast, Baker was the aggressor from the opening tip, taking an 11-1 lead in the first 2 1/2 minutes as Logsdon, Spike and Isaiah Jones each made a 3-pointer.

But after Hobson's 3-pointer gave Baker a 16-6 lead, Rocky Mountain had three straight 3-pointers as part of an 11-0 run that gave the Grizzlies a 17-16 lead.

After the score was tied at 23, 25 and 26, Isaiah Jones hit a 3-pointer off an assist from his brother, Rasean, to give Baker a 29-26 lead with 1:23 left in the first half.

Isaiah Jones scored the final 7 points of the half for the Bulldogs, who led 33-28 at the break.

"Ebbs and flows for sure," Jebron Jones said of the back-and-forth game.

"We jumped on them early on and they kept battling and battling throughout."

Baker quickly expanded the lead to 37-28 with consecutive baskets by Spike and Logsdon, but Rocky Mountain responded immediately with a 9-0 streak to tie it at 37.

The Grizzlies took their first lead of the second half on a basket with 45 seconds left in the third quarter, but Hobson then started his personal 11-point run with a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left that gave Baker a 43-42 lead entering the final quarter.

BAKER (72)

Gambleton 0 0-0 0, Logsdon 5 0-0 13, Quintela 0 2-2 2, R. Jones 0 3-4 3, Rigueiro 0 1-4 1, Spike 6 0-0 14, I. Jones 5 6-6 18, Long 0 1-2 1, Hobson 6 5-8 20, Jensen 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 18-26 72.

Rocky Mountain individual statistics not available

Baker 16 17 10 29 — 72

Rocky Mt 9 19 14 25 — 67

Up next

Baker has one more game scheduled before the Bulldogs head to Stayton for a 3-day tournament starting Dec. 28.

Baker will travel to Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario for a nonleague game against Lapwai, Idaho, on Thursday, Dec. 22 at 5 p.m. PST.

Lapwai, 4-0, is led by 6-foot-6 junior Kase Wynott, who has had a scholarship offer to play for Idaho State University.

Lapwai is averaging 91 points in its four wins over Post Falls, Prairie, Genesee and Clearwater Valley. Wynott is averaging 40.3 points per game and has made 76% of his field goal tries.