Boys basketball: Battle Ground 68, Encinal (Calif.) 61

Nathan Millspaugh hit four of his seven 3-pointer in a pivotal fourth quarter as the Tigers won their opener at the Surf ‘N Slam Tournament in San Diego.

With injured post Kaden Perry sidelined, the Tigers went to their permimeter play against Encinal, hitting 10 3-pointers.

“Ten 3-pointers is huge for us, especially when we weren’t shooting well from the foul line (8 for 17),” Battle Ground Manny Melo said. “The guards really stepped for us. It was a team win, for sure.”

Battle Ground trailed 46-43 heading into the fourth quarter.

“Nate hit some big shots in the fourth quarter and we really stepped up our defense in the fourth quarter and made some big stops,” Melo said.

Brendan Beall added 10 points for the Tigers (7-3) and KeAndre Hunter-Holliday added 10.

Battle Ground will face Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton, Calif. at 1:45 p.m. Friday.

BATTLE GROUND 68, ENCINAL 61

ENCINAL, Calif. (4-7) — Maurice Freeman 18, Hasani Hockenhull 15, Alijah Kopelman 20, Jalen Hercules 6, Shane Rivera 2. Totals 26 (4) 5-8 61.

BATTLE GROUND (7-3)– Jaiden Linville 0, KeAndre Hunter-Holliday 10, Vincent McCormic 7, Colin Barton 9, Nathan Millspaugh 27, Brendan Beall 11, Lukas Karlsson 0, David Reed 4. Totals 25 (10) 8-17 68.

Encinal 17 18 11 15–61

B. Ground 17 13 13 25–68