Mr. 2,000: Baker eclipses 2,000 career points as NRHEG takes fifth at Class AA state tournament

St. Paul - In his final high school game as a Panther, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva’s Oakley Baker was 37 points shy of eclipsing the 2,000-point mark for his career.
Guess it was a good thing that the senior saved his best game for his last.
Scoring a game-high 40 points, Baker not only reached a career milestone, but cemented the 2016-2017 boys basketball squad into school history as the Panthers downed Lake City 77-66 in the consolation championship game Friday afternoon at the Gangelhoff Center.
“We lost that first game, but we came out, played as hard as we could these last two to end it on a high note,” commented Baker. “Two wins in a row, it’s nice to end your career with a couple wins than a loss.”
Panthers head coach Pat Churchill, who was named Section 2-AA Coach Of The Year, simply added, “I’ve been very fortunate to be around these guys. They worked their butts off and accomplished something that they wanted. I was just along for the ride.”
Baker had the hottest hand on the court. It didn’t matter where he shot from, or the possible double-team that awaited, he was just on his game. Although, it took me a minute or two in the first half to find his stroke as he missed his first three shots.
After hitting a turn-around three from the corner to give the Panthers a slim 11-8 lead, the senior appeared to find his stroke for good. The Panthers’ offense would explode for a 20-4 run, extending the lead to a commanding 31-14 lead. Of those 20 points, Baker contributed 11, to include a pair of deep treys from beyond the arc.
“My dad has always said that somedays they won’t go in, somedays they will, you just have to continue to play with confidence,” Baker added. “They were a great shooting team, so I feel like that helped me step up my game a bit.”
The future Johnnie finished his career with 2,002 points and was named to the Class AA All-Tournament team. 
After a Tigers’ timeout, Lake City was poised to mount a comeback. In a first half that was more like a three-point contest, the Tigers hit four-straight from beyond the arc to finish the half while Baker managed to drain one in the final three minutes of the half. Lake City and NRHEG combined for 26 total attempts from three-point land in the first half, connecting on 11.
“They can shoot. Those boys from Lake City can shoot the basketball,” commented Churchill. “And it’s not just one; they have three or four guys that can shoot it.”
NRHEG took a 37-26 lead into the half, but managed just four points in the first three minutes of the half as the Tigers continued to try and claw back. Lake City made a 10-3 run to cut the lead to 44-36 off the hot hand of Mitch Marien. After scoring 11 points in the first half, Marien added 8 in the second to finish with 18.
The Panthers generated off a 9-0 run to quickly extend the lead to 53-36 after Tyler Raimann made a key block to spur the run. Raimann continued his dominance down low, recording 10 rebounds, three blocks and 15 points. NRHEG would create another quick run late to extend the lead to 63-48, again sparked by a Raimann block.
However, Lake City was destined to go down shooting.
After connecting on just four attempts from beyond the arc in the first half, the Tigers caught fire in the second half connecting on eight attempts. Nathan Heise, Marc Kjos and Reid Gastner joined Marien in double figures, scoring 11, 18, and 13 points respectively. The four Tigers combined for five-straight attempts with under two minutes to cut the game to 71-66.
 At the line to shoot two free throws, Baker recorded his 2,000th point with 44 seconds left in the game as NRHEG was able to add the final 10 points of the game from the line.
The Panthers end their banner season at a 30-3 record.