Team effort sends Skyview boys to rout of Battle Ground

The Skyview boys basketball team got back on track Tuesday night, and it took every one of the Storm to do it.

Kyle Gruhler had 17 points and seven rebounds to lead a balanced attack, as the Storm got contributions from everyone on the roster in a 79-53 rout of Battle Ground in the 4A Greater St. Helens League game.

The Storm (11-3) were coming off a 72-61 non-league loss to Prairie last Friday on the heels of winning the consolation championship at the Les Schwab Invitational in Oregon.

“Playing our first league game in almost a month, we just had to come out and attack, play as a team and do what we did in the Les Schwab when we went 3-1,” the junior said. “And that’s share the ball, play with tempo, have energy and play strong.”

After one quarter, the Storm were right in the type of battle they were expecting from Battle Ground, knotted 10-10 after one quarter. True to form, Skyview got two points from five different players in the quarter.

In the second quarter is when things turned decidedly in the Storm’s advantage, when they opened the quarter on an 18-4 run.

“I thought the big play came from Alec Marshall,” Skyview coach Matt Gruhler said. “He hit a big three on one end, and then on the defense, he drew a huge charge against Kaden Perry. We talk about selflessness, and that was a great example of that. If he doesn’t draw that charge, it’s a dunk and one, a SportsCenter highlight and big momentum boost for them.”

Instead, it kept things rolling for the Storm, who capped the quarter by scoring the last 12 points with 10 of them coming from Kyle Gruhler. That gave Skyview a 40-17 edge at the intermission.

“The big thing about the first half is (Battle Ground) was really struggling with the outside shot,” Matt Gruhler said. “I think we had them 1 for 13 from 3-point in the first half. They never shoot like that. I guarantee you they won’t shoot like that next time. But, like good teams do, we took advantage of that.”

Perry, playing in his first game since Dec. 18 as he battled injuries, scored just four points in the first half, compounding the Tigers’ woes.

He would get heated up in the third quarter, scoring 10 points, and Nathan Millspaugh found his shooting touch by hitting a trio of long-distance 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. But it wasn’t nearly enough as Battle Ground could not get within 20 points of the Storm the rest of the way.

Alec Schumacher added 14 points for the Storm and Marshall finished with 11 as the Skyview got scoring from every player on the roster, right down to reserve Colby Barkee’s basket in the closing seconds to put an exclamation point on the night.

Millspaugh led the Tigers with 19 points, and Perry finished with 14.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Skyview, which has to travel to Camas on Friday before a big meeting with unbeaten Union next Tuesday.

“The last I looked, our league had four teams in the top 15 in the RPI, and one of those teams is not going to the postseason,” Matt Gruher said. “So we have to be ready to play because there are no nights off for us.”

SKYVIEW 79, BATTLE GROUND 53

BATTLE GROUND – Jaiden Linville 2, KeAndre Hunter-Holliday 4, Vincent McCormic 4, Colin Barton 2, Nathan Millspaugh 19, Brendan Beall 2, Kaden Perry 14, Lukas Karlson 0, David Reed 6, Cole Bowden 0. Totals 20 (5) 8-8 53.

SKYVIEW – Alex Schumacher 14, Colby Barkee 2, Squeeky Johnson 5, Derek Lewi s 5, Sean Boss 9, Lowell Dunmire 2, Alec Marshall 11, Kyle Gruhler 17, Jace Chatman 6, Cody McKinney 8. Totals 34 (6) 5-10 79.

BGround     10           7              19           17—53

Skyview         10           30           19           20—79