Ontario’s Xiomara Ortega made a 3-pointer from the top of the key less than a minute into the Tigers’ girls basketball game against Baker in the Bulldogs’ gym.

Ontario led 3-0.

And that was about the only surprising thing to happen Friday evening, Jan. 21.

Baker scored the next 16 points and went on to a rather predictable 69-16 rout of the winless Tigers.

The Bulldogs, now 2-0 in the Greater Oregon League, improved to 12-4 overall. Baker is ranked fifth in the state in the Class 4A division.

Baker led 26-8 after the first quarter and 48-13 at halftime.

Although the Bulldogs slowed down their offense in the second half — partly on purpose — Baker’s defense was even more smothering, holding Ontario to just three points in the second half, including a scoreless third quarter.

Baker coach Jason Ramos said he talked with his players before the game about the need to stay focused even against an opponent that was likely to be overmatched.

“We talked about trying to maintain a high level of basketball continuity, and I think that’s what we saw in the first half,” Ramos said.

He was also pleased with Baker’s success at another point of emphasis in the game — avoiding what he called “silly” fouls.

The Bulldogs committed a season-low seven fouls, including only one in the second half.

Ontario shot just six free throws.

With a 35-point lead at halftime, Ramos said he sought to use the second half to work on running offensive sets, inevitably a more relevant situation than a practice.

“The girls were still playing at our level, and we had a chance to get into our sets and run our halfcourt offense,” he said.

Baker junior Rylee Elms, who scored six of Baker’s first eight points and finished with 10, said that although it can be difficult to maintain focus in a game when the outcome isn’t in doubt after the first quarter, she thinks the Bulldogs did well.

Elms said Ramos talked before the game about taking advantage of the chance to fine-tune the Bulldogs’ offense.

“I feel like we definitely executed, and we ran a couple of new plays,” Elms said.

She said Baker, which has won six of its past seven games, is “really starting to communicate and play as a team.”

Baker had five players in double figures, led by Elms’ fellow junior, Jozie Ramos, who scored in every quarter and finished with a game-high 25 points.

Two other juniors, Sydnee Pierce and Taylor Gyllenberg, joined Elms in double figures with 10 points each.

Another junior, Macey Moore, added nine points.

After playing three games in eight days, Baker has most of this week off to prepare for a game that could help decide the GOL title.

The Bulldogs travel to La Grande on Friday, Jan. 28, for a 6 p.m. game against the Tigers, who are 9-5 overall and sit atop the league standings with Baker at 2-0.