Boy’s basketball: Battle Ground gets a dose of Evergreen’s strength

Apparently, Robert Franks has been sick in recent days.

It didn’t show on the court Tuesday night.

He and teammate Jordan Henderson made Battle Ground ill all night, and the Plainsmen roughed up the Tigers 73-51 in a Class 4A Greater St. Helens League boys basketball game.

Evergreen (9-5, 4-2 GSHL) is in second place at the midway point of the league schedule. Battle Ground (7-7, 3-3) was hoping to remain in second place.

Instead, the Tigers had no answer to Evergreen’s defensive intensity, and they could not find a way to stop the towers of the Plainsmen.

Henderson had 10 of his 22 points in the third quarter, when Evergreen pushed a 12-point lead to 18.

Franks, who did not start because he is recovering from an illness, was in foul trouble soon after he entered the game yet still managed to score 23 points.

Henderson was 8 for 10 from the floor. Franks was 10 of 15. They each made three 3-pointers. The Plainsmen were 29 of 52 from the floor, 56 percent.

“I always knew I could shoot the ball,” Henderson said, adding that he was feeling good in warm-ups. A 6-foot, 8-inch post, he was 3 for 4 from 3-point range.

The Plainsmen knew their top player, Franks, was going to miss some time Tuesday, so there was an urgency at the start of this one. Henderson scored 10 of his team’s first 19 points, and the Plainsmen were on their way.

“I knew since he was feeling a little down, I had to step up on both sides of the court,” said Henderson, who also had a team-high eight rebounds. “That was the key, and it worked.”

Henderson and Evergreen coach Brian Witherspoon said this was a nice recovery from the team after losing to first-place Union last week.

“That last game meant everything to me,” Henderson said. “Since we lost that one, we knew we had to get this one.”

“I felt like this was a good win for us after the Union loss,” Witherspoon said. “The guys really went out and practiced well and then played well.”

Evergreen’s defense was key, too. The Tigers were 1 for 14 in the second quarter as Evergreen seemed to contest every shot.

“We’ve definitely incorporated defense a lot the last couple weeks,” Henderson said. “That was definitely part of our game plan.”

“We just seemed to be really energized,” Witherspoon said. “We knew we were going to have to really bring it.”

Tyrus Hosley added 11 points for Evergreen. He also made three 3-pointers. Greg Washington had five assists to lead the Plainsmen.

Devin Johnson led Battle Ground with 12 points — all in the second half. Nate Moring had 10 points and five assists for the Tigers.

The closest Battle Ground got in the second half was nine points after Kellen Butler’s 3-point to open the scoring in the third quarter. Evergreen went on a 10-2 run and cruised from there.

EVERGREEN 73, BATTLE GROUND 51

BATTLE GROUND — Nate Moring 10, Kellen Butler 5, Devin Johnson 12, Andrej Besara 2, Keaton Hoots 8, Kobe Ford 8, Cole Scheibel 2, Leland O’Hanlon 2, Joe Carroll 0, Landon Hall 2, Zachary Palacios 0, Daelon Ford 0. Totals 22-55 (3-11) 4-4 51.

EVERGREEN — Koby Eaton 6, Greg Washington 5, Tyrus Hosley 11, Costel David 1, Jordan Henderson 22, Robert Franks 23, Dustin Nettles 0, Michael Bozovich 1, Mitchell Carnahan 0, John Hansberry 4, Tyler London 0. Totals 29-52 (9-18) 6-11 73.

B. Ground 10 4 16 21—51

Evergreen 12 14 22 25—73