With games being canceled north and south because of flooding, the Mount Baker girls and boys basketball teams were just happy to get in their non-league doubleheader with visiting Friday Harbor on Wednesday, Dec. 10.
When the lights were turned off in the Deming Dome, the Mounties were even happier. The Baker girls won the afternoon opener, 53-23, to raise their record to 3-1, and the Baker boys claimed the nightcap, 63-38, to improve to 1-1 on the young season.
“I feel like we’re deep and can play all 10 guys,” said Mounties boys coach Tony Clark, who could just as well be talking about the girls team. “They all play hard and gave a good effort.”
Girls: Mounties Blitz Wolverines From Start In 53-23 Win
It took a little while for the Mounties’ offense to get in gear — it only scoring seven points in the first four minutes — but their pressure defense was relentless right from the start. Friday Harbor didn’t score for the first six minutes and were down 20-2 at the end of the first quarter.
That was the reverse of Mount Baker’s previous game, a 58-51 victory in which the Mounties trailed by 13 after the first period.
“I told them, ‘You need to put the other team in a hole,’” said Mount Baker coach Tiffany Ramirez. “I’d love to go with the press all game. They are getting after it.”
Mount Baker junior Rebeca Soares, who dominated the middle, agreed. “We started off slow but our defense got really aggressive,” she said.
The Mounties never let the lead slip under double digits, holding Friday Harbor to just 12 points in the second half and using their strong bench to stretch the margin to 30.
“It was nice to play everybody,” said Ramirez. “This year, we have numbers (of players). Everybody has a role. They (the reserves) have to bring the energy.”
Eight of the nine Mounties scored with the 6-foot-2 Soares leading the way as usual. The all-league post had 19 points despite sitting out most of the fourth quarter although she did stay in long enough to hit a 3-pointer in the final period. She also had 10 rebounds and 4 steals.
Sophomore Kayln Abitia made two 3-pointers to spark the first-quarter blitz and finished with 8 points, sophomore Aurora George came off the bench to score 7 points ad grab 6 rebounds, and junior Violet Fox had 6 points and 9 rebounds.
It has been Fox’s return to Baker after transferring last year that has helped stabilize the Mounties’ backcourt, which depended on two freshman starters last season, an impossible task in the rugged Northwest Conference.
“It’s been different this year,” said Soares. “Getting Violet back has helped, especially our younger guards. And everyone has improved on defense.”
Mount Baker will be tested again on Friday when the Mounties travel to undefeated Bellingham.
Mount Baker 53, Friday Harbor 23
Friday Harbor 2 9 6 6—23
Mount Baker 20 10 10 13—53
Friday Harbor: Orozco Jimenez 6, Morton 4, Overall, Clark 4, Schultz 3, Koche, Feliz 2, Hernandez Ayala 2, Allen, Carrillo, Gustafson 2.
Mount Baker: Kammenga 4, Reeves 3, Brown, Soares 19, Fox 6, Abitia 8, Harkness 4, Johnson 2, George 7.
Boys: Mounties Take Command Early In 63-38 Rout
It wasn’t quite a replay of the girls game, but the Mount Baker boys came out strong, shutting down Friday Harbor and jumping to a 23-7 lead after one quarter. They never let the margin slip under 10 and stretched it every quarter to win going away.
“We wanted to play defense right from the start and make them play uncomfortable,” said Clark. “We did a good job playing our game.”
The Mounties’ game was to play in-your-face defense and drive-to-the-basket offense. Leading the effort was their floor general, Jordan Bailey, a three-year varsity veteran.
The senior point guard had a game-high 20 points, 11 coming in the deciding first period. More importantly, he was cool, calm, and collected as he ran a Baker offense that lost most of its big scorers from last year.
“It’s definitely weird being the older guy,” said Bailey. “We weren’t sure what to expect (this season). We knew it was going to be a different experience. But the younger group works pretty hard.”
Perhaps the biggest surprise among the youngsters was sophomore Pepe McEvoy-Salgado. The 6-foot-2 forward was aggressive on offense, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals.
“Jordan is the engine,” said Clark. “And Pepe has a non-stop motor and a high basketball IQ. He loves basketball and can’t get enough of it.”
Of course, when it comes to aggressive play, you can take your pick of the Mounties starting with the other two senior starters, Jet Ross and Payten Abitia, who finished with 9 and 6 points, respectively. Abitia also had 8 rebounds and did freshman Trey Galbraith.
The only bad news for Mount Baker was that another senior they expected to start, Carter Hill, will not be able to recover from his football injury in time to play this season. Since he has started the past two seasons, it is a big blow.
Still, Bailey, for one, is excited to see how far the Mounties can go this season.
“I expect us to compete with everybody,” he said. “And we’re shooting for the (Class A district’s) second seed.”
That would mean a possible state berth for the Mounties, something that hasn’t happened since 2018.
Mount Baker 63, Friday Harbor 38
Friday Harbor 7 10 13 8—38
Mount Baker 23 12 17 11—63
Friday Harbor: Hoskins 10, Bogart 3, Thomas, Keine 13, Horn 6, Gresseth, Markham, Aylward 6.
Mount Baker: Ross 9, Smith, Bailey 20, Nicol-Mills 3, Abitia 6, Galbraith 4, McEvoy-Salgado 16, Barksdale, Zamzow, Reardon 5.
