EDITORIAL: Bulldogs’ hoops title a testament to tenacity, teamwork, friendship

Published 12:45 pm Wednesday, March 15, 2023

No single photo can capture the range of emotions that spilled across the polished wood floor of Joe Moran Court at Forest Grove High School around 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 11.

But Campbell Vanderwiele, a Baker High School senior, preserved several images that poignantly express how meaningful the moment was as the Baker girls basketball team celebrated its Class 4A state championship win over Gladstone.

Fitting, too, that Vanderwiele was behind the camera.

She played for several years with the six Bulldog seniors whose final game together on Saturday night fulfilled the goal they set for themselves about eight years ago.

Five of the six — Jozie Ramos, Macey Moore, Sydnee Pierce, Rylee Elms and Brooklyn Jaca — combined to score 56 of Baker’s 60 points against Gladstone.

The sixth, Makenzie Flanagan, wasn’t in uniform due to a season-ending knee injury she sustained in late December.

But her smile, enthusiasm and encouragement ensured that she continued to contribute a great deal to her teammates even if it wasn’t measured in points and rebounds and assists.

The group, as best they can remember, first daydreamed about winning a state title, wearing the Baker purple and gold, when they were in the fourth grade.

Over the next several years they competed together at tournaments around the state. They won many of those events, demonstrating the skill and teamwork that foreshadowed what they would accomplish later.

Their high school career, unfortunately, was interrupted irreversibly by the pandemic.

Ramos, Moore, Elms and Flanagan, as freshmen, traveled with the team to Forest Grove in March 2020 as Baker sought to repeat its 2019 state title — the school’s first girls state basketball championship.

But the pandemic put paid to the tournament.

As sophomores the group again missed out, as the state tournament was again canceled.

With two chances left, they had a stellar 2021-22 season and qualified for the state tournament. After losing their opening game, the Bulldogs won two straight to claim the fourth-place trophy.

Their business unfinished, the six seniors were determined to cap their high school careers with that coveted first-place trophy. And their performance throughout the season showed their resolve.

Baker lost just twice — by a total of four points — and again qualified for the state tournament.

And for the first time since the Bulldogs won in 2019, the event took place at Forest Grove.

About those photos.

There is the timeless image of Ramos, who capped her award-filled career with 28 points in the championship game, hugging her dad, Jason Ramos, who was also her coach the past two seasons.

A beaming Moore standing between her parents.

Pierce, the shortest of the seniors at 5-foot-4, flanked by Elms, 6-foot-1, and Ramos, 6-foot.

All permutations of the teammates holding the championship trophy draped in one of the nylon nets.

And of course the frenzied mass of players piling atop one another on the court, the basketball rolling away, forgotten, after the final buzzer.

It was a testament to tenacity and teamwork.

But perhaps most important of all, to what a group of great friends can accomplish.

The girls team wasn’t alone in bringing back a trophy from Forest Grove.

The Baker boys, although their season ended with two disappointing losses, won the sportsmanship award for the second straight state tournament.

This is not surprising.

Boys coach Jebron Jones, like Jason Ramos, extolls his team to play hard but always with respect for their opponents and the referees.

They are fine representatives for their school and their community.