The Titans’ defense set the tone in the first quarter and visiting Union opened 4A Greater St. Helens League play with a victory.
Battle Ground hit a 3-pointer to open the game, but the Tigers didn’t score again in the first quarter. Union led by 12 at the end of the first period and extended the margin to 21 by halftime as Tyler Combs scored 10 second-quarter points.
Battle Ground coach Wes Armstrong credited Union’s defense for some of his team’s early struggles — the Titans forced 11 Tiger turnovers in the first half. But Armstrong said his team didn’t execute well on offense.
“We really played about as poor a half on the offensive end as we could,” Armstrong said.
Battle Ground showed life in the third quarter, outscoring Union 21-12 and briefly climbing to within single digits. Armstrong noted that the Tigers turned over the ball only three times in the second half.
“Our guys battled. We played a really good second half of basketball,” Armstrong said. He added, though, that one good half isn’t enough agaionst an opponent as strong as Union.
Combs finished with a game-high 18 points for the Titans. Denis Kirichenko scored 12 points and Nico Bricker 10.
For Battle Ground, Cole Grossman scored 15 points and Kobe Ford had 10.
UNION 66, BATTLE GROUND 53
UNION (4-1, 1-0) — Keithen Shepard 8, Brennan Paulson 5, Zach Reznick 4, Tyler Combs 18, Carson Brucher 0, Nico Bricker 10, Austin Lewis 0, Christian Agarpo 0, Kai Gamble 0, Cameron Cranston 9, Denis Kirichenko 12. Totals 21 (9) 15-18 66.
BATTLE GROUND (1-3, 0-1) — Kellen Butler 0, Landon Hall 3, Eddie Perez 0, Cole Grossman 15, Curtis Stradley 2, Kobe Ford 14, Shane Hatch 0, Renato Mendoza 3, Roberto Brizuela 0, Kyle Cahoon 6, Daelon Floyd 10, Josue Mendez 0. Totals 20 (6) 7-10 53.
Union 15 21 12 18–66
BGround 3 12 21 17–53
JV — Union 67-66. C — Battle Ground 54-48.
