Boys basketball: Evergreen 52, Battle Ground 50, OT

Evergreen 52, at Battle Ground 50, OT — Austin Gurnsey’s follow shot as time expired gave the Plainsmen a hard-fought victory in the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League opener for both teams.

Tre Clark scored 17 points and Caleb Dressler had 16 for Evergreen. Jamie Ford led Battle Ground with 14 points and Jake Belford added 12. Belford and Kaleb McGary, who scored nine points, each had seven rebounds.

“It was a tough ending, for sure,” said Battle Ground coach Andy Schoonover. “It was definitely a playoff atmosphere game. Both teams played hard. It was kind of a grind-it-out game.”

The Tigers were doomed by a poor third quarter. Battle Ground was 1 of 13 from the floor in the period and outscored 13-3.

The teams traded defensive stops late in regulation, with no late scoring forcing overtime.

Once the extra time ended, though, it was a different matter.

Evergreen inbounded the ball from the sideline with five seconds left. The initial shot on the play missed, but Gurnsey was there for the second chance tip-in for the victory.

EVERGREEN 52, BATTLE GROUND 50, OT

EVERGREEN — Jared Price 0, Jalen Ballard 5, Ajay Jenkins 6, Jahmil Johnson 2, Tre Clark 17, Austin Gurnsey 5, Andrew White 1, Caleb Dressler 16, Thomas Phillips 0. Totals 18 (3) 13-23 52.

BATTLE GROUND — Jamie Ford 14, Damien Ford 0, Serg Ovchinnikov 9, Trevor Ingram 0, Tim Shkarovskiy 2, Kevin Haynes 4, Jake Belford 12, Kaleb McGary 9. Totals 17 (5) 11-14 52.

Evergreen 11 8 13 11 9—52

Battle Ground 13 13 3 14 7—50

JV — Battle Ground, 43-42. C — Battle Ground, 64-60