Battle Ground boys beat Skyview in 4A district tournament
Butler, Ford lead Tigers past Storm with late surge
By Paul Valencia, Columbian
High School Sports Reporter
Published: February 8, 2016, 9:47pm
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The seniors on the Battle Ground boys basketball team did not want to see their high school careers come to an end Monday night.
A couple of them took over during clutch time of an elimination game, ensuring the Tigers would survive to play again.
Kellen Butler scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and Kobe Ford had four points and four assists in the final frame as the Tigers pulled away from Skyview for a 58-48 victory.
Battle Ground, the fifth seed in the Class 4A District 4 boys basketball tournament, will face top-seed Union at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Skyview, the No. 4 seed, saw its season come to an end with Monday’s loss.
“Being this is our senior year, we had to leave it all on the floor,” Ford said. “It could have been our last game.”
Butler said it was a thrill to play in an elimination game, and then perform under pressure.
“The intensity out there was amazing,” he said. “Great environment.”
Battle Ground led by as many as eight points in the second quarter and extended the advantage to 11 in third quarter before the Storm rallied to tie the game early in the fourth at 34-all.
Curtis Stradley scored on his only shot of the game, Renato Mendoza added a bucket, and then Butler buried a 3-pointer for a quick seven Battle Ground points to regain control.
Mendoza finished with 12 points for the Tigers. Daelon Floyd had a double-double off the bench with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Ford assisted on four of the first five baskets of the fourth quarter for the Tigers.
“Like coach says, we just had to weather their storm,” Ford said.
There was more than one to weather.
Later in the quarter, Jason Chaney and K.B. Fesehazion hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get Skyview within three points.
Ford responded with a shot to make it a five-point Battle Ground lead.
Mason Scheidel, who led the Storm with 10 points, hit a 3-pointer. A two-point game. No problem for the Tigers. Kyle Cahoon was true from 3-point land to make it 48-43.
Butler sealed the victory with six consecutive free throws. He finished 9 of 10 from the line.
“They were going on their run. We knew we had to come back and respond,” Butler said. “That’s what we did.”
Battle Ground will face a tough challenge in its next game, but on Monday, there was no reason to worry about Union. On Monday, the Tigers could celebrate.
“Live for another day,” Ford said.
“We didn’t want it to end right here,” Butler added.
