It is a good thing, perhaps a great thing, but it also can be a bad thing depending on how a team handles the recognition.
The Union Titans are embracing the recognition. They appreciate it, too. They also know it does not matter too much when it comes to the ultimate goal.
The Union boys basketball team is ranked No. 1 by The Associated Press for Class 4A basketball teams. It is believed it is the first time a big-school Clark County boys team has reached the top spot in the poll of statewide media members since the Evergreen Plainsmen of the mid- and late-1990s.
The Titans, 16-1 and on a 15-game winning streak, have not backed down in recent weeks, winning their last six games by an average of 27.1 points.
“It just feels good,” reserve post Nico Bricker said about the ranking. “More than anything, it makes all of us just want to keep the top spot.”
The Titans made a name for themselves outside of Clark County with a 3-0 mark at the Curtis Holiday Tournament in December. But it was an eight-point win over Heritage on Jan. 6 that really got Union’s attention.
Don’t get the Titans wrong: A win in league play is a win. Whether it’s by a point, eight, or 30. But they were not satisfied with how they played that night.
“You could tell we were out of it,” senior Micah Paulson said. “Everyone was trying to get theirs. We were playing selfish.”
“You could tell we weren’t our normal selves,” senior Riley Hawken added. “We wanted to get back to what we were doing before.”
The players called a meeting. No coaches. Just them.
“We were winning, but we had to find a way to win together,” Paulson said. “We had a lull. We were lackluster. So we had to talk about what worked for us at Curtis.”
Nothing ground-shaking was said at the meeting. Quite the contrary.
“It was just like getting back to the basics,” Hawken said.
Since then, the Titans have that huge margin of victory thing going for them, and they really are sharing the responsibilities.
Cameron Cranston, Thomas Lampkin Jr., Hawken and Paulson have been the team’s leading scorer at least once. Those four, plus four others have scored in double figures during this run.
Paulson, who has shown he can be a scoring machine, only took four shots in a win over second-place Camas recently, scoring 11 points while dishing out five assists that night.
It is that kind of production that has led to the No. 1 ranking. It’s that kind of teamwork that has allowed the Titans to enjoy this season so much.
“These guys handled it well,” Union coach Blake Conley said of being No. 1. “There are two ways you can deal with it. Not talk about it at all, or you can say, ‘We’re getting respect, and we can show people we deserve to be ranked so high.’ “
The Titans do not mind talking about it as long as all on the team understand its significance. Or lack of significance. The sporting world is full of No. 1 teams that failed to make it to their destinations.
“It’s given us confidence, but our goal is not being ranked No. 1,” Conley said. “Our goal is to get to Tacoma.”
That would be the Tacoma Dome, home of the state tournament — the final eight teams at least. Union will likely wrap up the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League title, but then must advance as one of the top two teams from the district tournament to get to the state regionals. From there, it’s a win-and-in thing to the dome.
The Titans have to get there first in order to prove any kind of ranking.
“It’s a reality. We can do that,” Paulson said. “Now we have to show that each day and hold that spot.”
Not each game, he said, each day. Meaning the Titans must practice every day as if the season depended on the effort.
“If we can prepare ourselves now, we’re going to set ourselves up for the postseason,” Hawken said.
The top spot in the polls is an accomplishment. The Titans are proud of it, because it means other people, outside of the program, have seen what they have done this season.
Internally, though, the ranking does not change day-to-day operations.
“If we weren’t ranked at all, we’d still be practicing the same way,” Paulson said.
For Union, it means working on the basics in order to prepare for a bigger prize.
