The Baker girls and basketball teams started their campaigns to win the Greater Oregon League regular season titles with resounding wins over Pendleton on Tuesday evening, Jan. 14.

The Bulldog girls broke open a close game by outscoring the Buckaroos 15-3 in the third quarter and going on to win 43-31.

The Baker boys dominated from the start, scoring 12 straight points in the first quarter, leading 45-16 at halftime and breezing to the win, 72-38.

The girls ran their winning streak to four games. The boys have won three in a row.

Both Bulldog teams are ranked in the top 10 among Class 4A squads. The girls, 9-5 on the season, are ranked ninth. The boys, 8-6, with five of the six losses to teams from outside Oregon or from Oregon’s Class 6A, are ranked fourth.

Both teams began league play with momentum.

Boys

The Bulldogs had won two straight since leading scorer Isaiah Jones, the reigning Class 4A player of the year, returned after missing five of Baker’s six losses while recovering from an appendectomy and a subsequent illness.

Jones, who returned on Jan. 10 against Redmond, scored 18 points as Baker beat the Class 5A Panthers, 54-39. The next day Jones led all scorers with 24 points as the Bulldogs dominated another 5A team, Mountain View of Bend, 68-45.

Baker, the defending 4A state champion, has rarely been challenged in league games over the past two seasons. The Bulldogs were 6-0 in 2023-24 and 2022-23.

Baker’s last league loss was to La Grande on Feb. 8, 2022, in the Baker gym. Not including the pandemic season of 2021, when games were played in the late spring, the Bulldogs have won 27 of their last 30 GOL games.

Pendleton, also playing its first league game, is 6-8 on the season.

Baker and Pendleton have one common opponent this season — Class 5A Bend.

Baker routed the Lava Bears 73-52 on Dec. 6. Pendleton lost to Bend, 76-56, on Dec. 13.

Girls

Baker has won three straight, all by at least 19 points.

Pendleton is 3-11 on the season and has lost five of its last six games.

The Bulldogs and Lady Bucks have two common opponents this season in The Dalles and Burns.

Baker went 2-0 against those teams, beating The Dalles 46-42 on Dec. 19 and Burns 38-24 in the season opener on Dec. 4. The Dalles has lost just twice this season, to Baker and to Astoria.

Pendleton lost to both common opponents — 43-39 to The Dalles on Jan. 8, and 46-18 to Burns on Dec. 17.

Back to nonleague games

The Baker girls travel to Vale on Thursday, Jan. 16, for a rematch against the Vikings at 6 p.m. PST. Baker lost to Vale in overtime, 54-48, on Dec. 10 in the Baker gym.

The Baker boys are scheduled to play twice over the weekend, starting on Friday, Jan. 17, when the Bulldogs renew their rivalry with Cascade. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

The Cougars put the only blemish on Baker’s 28-1 record last season, a 59-51 win at Cascade on Feb. 10, 2024. Baker avenged that loss by routing the Cougars 74-54 in a semifinal game at the state tournament on March 8. 

Baker then travels to Vancouver, Washington, on Saturday, Jan. 18, to play Mountain View, Washington, at 2 p.m.

Girls game

On a night when the shots refused to fall in a variety of annoying ways, the Baker girls basketball team depended on defense.

The Bulldogs, opening the Greater Oregon League season at home against Pendleton Tuesday night, Jan. 14, made sure the frustrating offensive night wasn’t costly by stifling the Buckaroos 43-31 to win their fourth straight game.

Leading 18-13 at halftime, Baker held outscored Pendleton 15-3 in the third quarter, including a decisive 10-0 run.

Pendleton got as close as nine points midway through the final period, but Baker scored six of the next eight points to put the game away.

“Sometimes you have to win ugly,” Baker coach Jason Ramos said. “Defense is going to carry you through. For the most part I thought our defensive effort was good.”

Offensively, Ramos said he felt the Bulldogs rushed things several times, trying to make passes without recognizing that a defender was in the passing lane.

But Baker’s shot selection was generally solid, he said.

“It wasn’t our best performance, but a league win is a league win, and we’ll take them any way we can get them.”

First quarter

It was a sluggish start for both teams, as both were plagued by turnovers and missed shots.

Baker scored the first four points, on Molly Rasmussen’s inside basket and Lily Logsdon’s two free throws.

Pendleton got to within 4-3. Kathryn Gentry, Ashlyn Dalton and Emy Myer each made one of two free throws to give Baker a 7-3 lead after the first quarter.

Second quarter

After Pendleton’s Khimora Scott opened the quarter with a floater to cut the Baker lead to 7-5, the Bulldogs scored six straight, on two free throws by Gwen Rasmussen, a rebound basket by Molly Rasmussen and Logsdon’s 10-footer, to boost the lead to 13-5.

After Pendleton cut the lead to 15-11 on Jadyn Schmidt’s two free throws with 1:23 left in the half, Myer made the game’s first 3-pointer to give Baker an 18-11 lead. 

Baker led at halftime, 18-13, despite having several shots in the lane bounce off the rim.

Third quarter

Pendleton scored the first basket to get within 18-15, but Baker then took control with a 10-0 run that extended over most of the quarter. Five Bulldogs each scored two points during the key run. Logsdon, Gwen Rasmussen, Spike and Mary Schwartz each had a basket, and Molly Rasmussen made a pair of free throws.

After the opening basket, Pendleton didn’t score again until Rylee Jackson made one of two free throws with 1:31 left.

Gentry made a pair of free throws and Spike swished Baker’s second 3-pointer to give Baker its biggest lead at 33-16 entering the final period.

Logsdon led Baker with 13 points. Molly Rasmussen and Gentry had seven points each.

Boys game

The Bulldogs played like the juggernaut version of the 2023-24 team, making four 3-pointers, two by Eli Long and one each by Jaxon Logsdon and Isaiah Jones, to lead 24-9. Baker had a 12-0 run.

The Bulldogs were without two seniors, starting guard Grant Gambleton and guard Palmer Chandler.

Second quarter

Baker started the quarter with the fans’ favorite play, as Colton Clark threw a perfect alley-oop pass to Rasean Jones, who slammed the ball through the rim with authority.

Rasean Jones followed that a couple minutes later with a breakaway two-handed slam after stealing the ball near midcourt, and Baker led 29-9.

Baker extended its scoring run to 14-3 with contributions from multiple Bulldogs, including Long beating multiple defenders on a drive through the lane, a putback by Jake Holden, a conventional three-point play by Rasean Jones and Logsdon’s inside basket.

Quin Wellman swished a 3-pointer in the final 15 seconds to boost Baker to its biggest lead, 45-16, at the break.

Third quarter

The teams traded baskets a few times but the Bulldogs still extended the lead, to 60-25, after three quarters. That led to a running clock in the fourth quarter, as Baker’s lead was over 30 points.

In the boys JV game, Baker rallied from a 12-point deficit at halftime to get within three points, but Pendleton pulled away late for the win, 64-55.

Baker won a thriller in the girls JV game, 34-33.

Huntington boys and girls traveled to Jordan Valley Tuesday, Jan. 14.

Jordan Valley won the girls game, 64-32. Jordan Valley won the boys game, 70-26.