Baker girls fall in overtime

Playing its third game in five days, Baker took Ontario into overtime before falling 48-41 in the title game at Ontario.

“IT was kind of bittersweet,” said Baker coach Tim Smith. “The girls played well enough to win. We just didn’t get the breaks in overtime, and had a couple of untimely turnovers.

“The girls have shown a lot of heart, a lot of growth this past week,” Smith said. “I’m proud of the girls. They played very well. We just ran out of gas, but they battled to the end. They represented Baker just like they should have.”

Ontario outscored the Bulldogs 9-2 in the overtime to defeat Baker for the third time in four meetings this season. The teams combined for just one basket in the extra period. But, Ontario made 7-of-8 free throws to just 2-of-4 for the Bulldogs.

After Aly Ogan’s opening basket for Baker, Ontario led the rest of the first half, holding a 19-17 edge at halftime.

Haley Adams hit a three-point basket with 2:15 left in the third quarter to give Baker a brief 25-22 lead. Ontario then ran off seven straight points on the way to a 30-26 advantage entering the fourth quarter.

With Ontario leading 32-26 midway through the fourth quarter, Baker went on its own 7-0 run to take a 33-32 lead with 4:53 left in regulation. Mackenzie Srack led the way with a three-point play. Whitney Phillips and Mackenzie Warner each added two points.

Another Phillips basket with about a minute left in regulation gave Baker a 39-37 edge. Ontario then tied the game at 39-39 when Katie Hendon rebounded her own miss and scored with 40.8 seconds left.

Neither team scored again in regulation, sending the game to overtime.

Phillips gave Baker its final lead, 40-39, with a free throw early in the overtime.

Warner added Baker’s other free throw with two minutes left to tie the game at 41-41. Ontario then hit 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch for the win.

Warner led Baker with 11 points. Phillips added 10.

Baker travels to Turner to play third-ranked Cascade Friday in the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs. The winner of that game advances to the Class 4A tournament March 10-13 at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis.

“Cascade is a solid team,” Smith said. “But we’ve played the underdog role before. We just have to put a game plan together and complete it.”

Baker    6    11    9    13    2     – 41

Ontario    10    9    11    9    9     – 48

Baker (41) — Warner 3 5-6 11, Burk 1 0-0 2, Adams 1 0-0 3, Srack 3 1-4 7, Phillips 4 2-5 10, Trees 1 0-1 3, Smith, Ogan 2 1-2 5. Totals 15 9-18 41.

Ontario (48) — Hendon 2 2-4 6, Mauer, Sherrell 1 0-0 2, Gallegos 2 4-4 8, Babij 4 9-11 17, J. Yano 5 3-4 14, Lopez 0 1-3 1, A. Yano. Totals 14 19-26 48.

Three-point goals — Adams, Trees, J. Yano. Fouled out — Phillips. Total fouls — Baker 19, Ontario 16. Technicals — none.