BAKER GIRLS BASKETBALL: Turnovers, scoring droughts costly in Baker’s loss to Fruitland

Published 5:54 am Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Baker started slowly in all four quarters, and the Bulldogs’ better play early and late in the game couldn’t make up the difference.

Fruitland dominated the second and third quarters — outscoring Baker 28-8 — and went on to a 52-33 win in a nonleague girls basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 12 in the Baker gym.

The loss ended Baker’s winning streak at three games and evened the Bulldogs’ season record at 4-4.

The Grizzlies had big scoring runs to start each quarter — 8-1 in the first, 12-0 in the second, 11-3 in the third and 9-1 in the fourth.

Baker also had two extended scoreless stretches, of 6:33 in the second quarter and 6:27 in the third.

All of this was keyed by Fruitland’s relentless full-court press, which forced numerous Baker turnovers and led to easy baskets for the Grizzlies.

“We just can’t turn the ball over that much,” Baker coach Jason Ramos said. “We need to make better decisions. They got after us and we didn’t handle it very well.”

Ramos said Fruitland also deployed the press when the teams played a week earlier, on Dec. 5 in Fruitland.

The Grizzlies won 53-40. Ramos said Baker struggled against the press in the first half of the Dec. 5 game, but cut down on turnovers in the second.

But in the rematch in Baker, the Bulldogs couldn’t consistently break the press in either half.

When Baker did thwart the Grizzlies’ swarming defense, they did so by doing what coaches emphasize — passing the ball rather than dribbling it.

The ball, needless to say, moves faster than a defender.

On several possessions the Bulldogs dissected the press with quick, pinpoint passes.

But more often, a Baker player either dribbled into a trap, or threw a slightly errant pass, or threw an accurate pass that a teammate briefly mishandled, giving a Fruitland defender a chance for a steal.

“When we’re able to execute, good things happen,” Ramos said. “We were just out of sync a lot.”

After Emy Myer scored the game’s first point on a free throw, Fruitland scored four straight baskets, all resulting from steals forced by the press.

Ramos called timeout with 5:59 left.

Baker took advantage of the break.

The Bulldogs broke the press and Kathryn Gentry made a nifty pass to a cutting Ashlyn Dalton for an easy basket and a three-point play.

Lily Logsdon scored in the lane and Gentry scored inside to cut the Fruitland lead to 10-8 and prompt Grizzly coach Willie Lake to call timeout with 2:21 left in the first quarter.

Kyndal Chandler’s 3-pointer gave Baker the lead at 11-10, and after Fruitland regained the lead at 12-11, Gentry and Chandler each made a free throw in the final minute to give the Bulldogs a 13-12 lead after the first quarter.

The advantage was shortlived.

Fruitland scored the first 12 points of the second quarter to take control.

Aleksi Drollinger, the Grizzlies’ quick point guard, scored two of the first three baskets after the press forced steals.

Then Brooke Hardy had consecutive rebound baskets to boost the lead to 22-13.

Baker went scoreless for more than six minutes, breaking the streak when Gentry again assisted Dalton on a basket with 1:27 left in the first half.

But those were Baker’s only two points of the quarter. Fruitland led 24-15 at halftime.

Myer swished a 3-pointer 10 seconds in the second half to get Baker within 24-18, but it wasn’t the start of a rally.

The Bulldogs didn’t score again for more than six minutes.

Fruitland, meanwhile, scored 11 straight points.

When Logsdon ended the scoreless stretch with a 3-pointer with 1:23 left in the third quarter, Fruitland’s lead was 35-21.

The Grizzlies scored the last five points of the quarter to lead 40-21, and they pushed the lead to as much as 27 points in the fourth quarter.

Ramos said he was generally pleased with Baker’s defense.

Fruitland scored more than half its points on baskets after turnovers. When the Grizzlies had to rely on their halfcourt offense, Baker clogged the lane and stole or deflected multiple passes into the post.

“Our issue tonight wasn’t defensively,” Ramos said.

Gentry led Baker with 11 points. Dalton and Chandler had seven points each. Baker struggled from the free throw line, making nine of 18 shots.

Baker doesn’t have a game for more than two weeks, and Ramos hopes to take advantage of the extra practice time.

The Bulldogs will play against a team of alumni on Dec. 22 at 6 p.m. in the Baker gym. Members of the 2023 state championship team will receive their rings that night.

Baker’s next official game is Dec. 27 against Gladstone — the team the Bulldogs beat in the state title game last March — at 3 p.m. in a tournament at Stayton.

Baker will also play on Dec. 28 and 29, the opponents and times to be determined.

In Tuesday’s other games, the Baker JV beat Fruitland 60-31. Fruitland won the JV2 game, 60-40.

FRUITLAND (52)

A. Drollinger 8 0-0 17, Van Hofwegen 0 0-0 0, Kreigh 0 0-0 0, Rawlinson 0 0-0 0, Lindsey 7 3-4 17, Tubbs 1 0-0 3, Hardy 3 0-0 6, H. Drollinger 1 0-0 2, Gibb 3 0-0 9, Howell 0 0-0 0, Philpot 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 3-4 52.

BAKER (33)

Gentry 2 5-9 11, Logsdon 2 0-0 5, Spike 0 0-0 0, Dalton 3 1-1 7, Whitford 0 0-0 0, Chandler 2 1-2 7, Myer 1 1-2 4, Rasmussen 0 1-1 2, Robb 0 0-2 0, Gulick 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 9-18 33.

Fruitland 12 12 16 12 — 52

Baker     13   2   6 12 — 33