The Union boys basketball team led for all of about a half a second in the second half Tuesday night.
It was the half second that mattered most.
Caleb Whalen’s floater from inside the free throw line found the bottom of the net, setting off a wild celebration at Union High School.
The Titans, who trailed by 12 early in the final quarter and by six with 57 seconds left, rallied for a 61-60 victory over Battle Ground in Class 4A Greater St. Helens League action.
Whalen’s shot came after the Tigers missed two free throws with eight seconds remaining. Kyle Holmes got the rebound for the Titans, passed the ball to Jordan Chatman, who then found Whalen for the winning points.
“He was looking for the shot, but he was getting triple-teamed,” said Whalen, who finished with 13 points. “He got it to me, and all I heard was ‘Shoot it!’ I just looked up and put up the shot.”
The Titans (6-3, 2-1 GSHL) would not have been in position to win without the performance from Kyle Holmes.
A senior, Holmes scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the final quarter.
He got points off of sets plays early and also earned some tough points by crashing the boards with four offensive rebounds in the closing minutes.
“I was just trying to get the team going,” Holmes said. “We had been in a lull. I just wanted to give all I could to the team.”
Battle Ground (7-2, 2-1) seemed to be in control of game, taking a 13-point lead at halftime. Jason Moore was hot early with 11 first-half points, and Seth Belknap had a solid all-around performance with 13 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 1:14 left in the game.
Union, behind Holmes, chipped away at the lead in the final eight minutes.
Still, the Tigers went up six with 57 seconds remaining on Will Bratcher’s two free throws.
From there, though, it was all Union.
Holmes scored with 34 seconds left, then Tanner Nelson stole the inbound pass, leading to Skyler Frasier’s follow-up basket with 25 seconds left.
Bratcher, who finished with 12 points, would hit one free throw, but Holmes got another offensive rebound and putback on the other end to make it 60-59 with 14 seconds remaining.
The Titans fouled with eight seconds left, then took advantage of the two missed freebies.
At one point, the Tigers held a 16-3 advantage in offensive rebounds. Then Holmes had his big quarter.
“(The coaches) were harping on us about rebounding,” Holmes said. “In the first half, all their buckets were in the paint. Maco was really frustrated about that.”
Union coach Maco Hamilton was frustrated by a lot of things Tuesday.
“We have a lot of stuff we’ve got to get better at,” Hamilton said. “We have a long ways to go. We have a lot of growth to do in order to make this win mean something later on.”
What it means now is three teams in the 4A GSHL have one loss.
One team left Union’s gym Tuesday night thinking it missed an opportunity to open league play with three wins. Another team left feeling good not to be in a two-game hole.
