Cowan had a hand in controlling Darius Johnson-Wilson, the Vikings’ powerful post. The 6-foot-6 Johnson-Wilson finished with 16 points, but worked hard for those.
At the same time, the Titans made it tough on the Vikings guards who were a big part of Curtis’ 59-51 win against Union in the district tournament last week.
“The last time we played them, our pressure wasn’t what we typically do,” Union coach Maco Hamilton said.
In the first meeting, Hamilton said his players were too aware of retreating to defend against the Curtis big men. This time, Union’s full-court press forced the Vikings into turnovers, or into running their structured half-court offense with the shot clock running down.
That was particularly important late in the game, when Curtis missed its last seven shots.
Union closed the game on a 13-2 run, pulling away from a 45-45 tie in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter.
A couple of layups by Cowan off feeds from Brian Cairns and Chatman sandwiched an end-to-end layup by Nelson to take the lead from two points with less than three minutes to play to eight points with less than a minute left.
“We really focused this week on how to get more team offense flowing, getting better ball movement, being stronger with the ball,” Nelson said.
Nelson scored 12 of Union’s 15 points in the second quarter, helping the Titans to a two-point halftime lead. Chatman had 10 of his points in the third quarter, when Union led by as many as seven points.
Nelson finished with 23 points, and Chatman 21.
“(Nelson) was attacking all night and got the line a bunch,” Hamilton said. “He and Jordan (Chatman) were the best two players on the court tonight, which they should be.”
In addition to his points, Chatman had seven rebounds and was active in the press all game.
“We just made a couple of adjustments, played a lot harder and believed in ourselves,” Chatman said, comparing this win with last week’s loss to these Vikings.
And the result was a great second-chance experience for the Titans one that earns them the chance to play one more week — and on the biggest stage.
UNION 58, CURTIS 47
UNION (18-7) — Dionte Ceaser 0, Kyle Mercer 0, Tyler Copp 2, Dominique Ceaser 0, Seaver Whalen 3, Tanner Nelson 23, Jordan Chatman 21, Trent Cowan 7, Kaben Humphrey-Butler 0, Gabe Rego 0, Micah Merfeld 0, Brian Cairns 2. Totals 18 (2) 20-25 58.
CURTIS (20-6) — Jaurence Chisolm 9, Nate Cottrill 0, Vinnie Gallo 7, Cameron Howell 7, Darius Johnson-Wilson 16, Dominique Jordan 2, Dominique Robinson 3, Rodrick Smith 3. Totals 17 (3) 10-15 47.
Union 10 15 18 14–57
Curtis 6 17 15 10–48
