Baker boys hammer Freeport

By RANDY DICKSON

Florida Freedom Newspapers

BAKER - Stephen Shelley had a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead Baker to a 78-62 District 1-2A win over Freeport on Tuesday.

Shelley added seven assists for good measure while Josh Yost led the Gators with 10 assists.

Gator coach Mike Martello couldn't be happier to see his team leading the district heading into the stretch run.

"It feels great," he said. "The last couple of years we've come out with a fairly young group and kind of struggled through the season, or struggled to get to the top of the district standings.

"This year we are right where we want to be and it feels really good."

It didn't take long for the Gators (12-2, 6-0) to take advantage of their superior size on the inside as Jarrod Batson scored eight first-quarter points as Baker jumped to a 20-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Bulldogs (7-4, 3-2) could never close the gap on the Gator double-digit lead as Baker pushed the lead to 40-20 at the half.

Batson and Cameron Davis each had 12 points at the break for the Gators and Shelley had nine points. But Shelley was just getting warmed up as he dominated the third period by scoring 13 points.

A Shelley basket with 1:12 left in the third quarter gave Baker its largest lead of the night at 61-30. The Gators also led by 31 after a Colten Jernigan score with 53 seconds left in the third.

Bakers' lead might have been larger if not for Johnnie McCormick matching Shelley basket-for-basket with 12 of his team-high 18 points.

Cole Weeks and Alex Newkirk led a late Bulldog charge in the fourth quarter as Martello emptied his bench.

Newkirk scored eight of his 17 points in the fourth and Weeks scored all 11 of his points in the fourth as the Bulldogs outscored the Gators 28-15 in the period.

"We played well in the fourth quarter," Bulldog coach David Burke said. "But I think we played our best basketball the week before Christmas.

"Walton was a big game for us and we've kind of had a letdown since then. It's going to take us a few games to get back to where we were before Christmas."

The Bulldogs travel to Altha on Thursday. Baker is at Laurel Hill.

Freeport    9  11 14 28 -62

Baker      20  20 23 15 - 78

Freeport (62)

Ryan McLeod 3, Alex Newkirk 17, Cole Weeks 11, Jesse Schober 3, Johnnie McCormick 18, Chase Martin 4, Michael Graziani 6. Totals 15 8 8-18 62

Baker (78)

Colton Henry 2, Josh Rose 8, Josh Yost 3, Colten Jernigan 6, Chad Donley 4, Cameron Davis 16, Stephen Shelley 22, Chris Jones 3, Jarrod Batson 14. Totals 28 5 7-12 78.

JV: Freeport won 47-37