by Reid Murray ’22
February 11, 2022
The #1 USN Boys’ Varsity Basketball team opened its postseason with a nail-biting win at home against the #8 Battle Ground Academy Wildcats in the first round of the district tournament.
The last time the two teams met in Sperling Gymnasium, USN came away with a 66-37 win. However, there was much less breathing room in their playoff meeting, which saw the Tigers narrowly win by a score of 70-65.
USN began the game on the right foot, with three-pointers from Max Elliot ‘23 and Collin France ‘23, which gave the Tigers a 6-2 lead. USN continued to bring a high level of effort and execution for the rest of the first quarter, and was ahead 22-11 at its conclusion.
BGA was not willing to give up easily, and clawed its way back into the game in the second quarter. The Wildcats were losing by double digits for most of the quarter, until a late surge during the last two minutes put them in an advantageous position.
After holding the ball and letting time tick off the clock in the half’s final minute, Sean Williams began to drive toward the hoop with seven seconds remaining. He quickly scored to make it a 37-31 game.
On the ensuing inbound, USN received a traveling call, which gave BGA a chance to score with 0.7 seconds left. Tre Williams made the inbound pass to Christian Brown, who knocked down a turn-around three-pointer to limit BGA’s deficit to just three points before the half.
BGA kept the intensity up in the third quarter, and took a lead of its own, ending the quarter up 54-51.
In the last twenty seconds of the third quarter, USN was losing by its largest deficit of the game: six points. After a three-point shot from Adrian Samuels ‘22 hit the rim and was headed out of bounds, Adam Miller ‘22 chased it down, made a behind-the-back pass to Russ Petty ‘22 to keep it in bounds, and Josh Scretchen ‘22 followed the effort up with a successful three-point attempt.
“I knew I couldn’t let them get the ball,” Miller said. “So I just threw it up, and we got the ball. I trust my teammates.”
Both teams traded leads back and forth in the fourth quarter, and with 3:57 left in regulation, Samuels knocked down a corner three to draw the Tigers within one point. On BGA’s next possession, Samuels made a monster block on Sean Williams’ layup attempt, then made a lob pass down the court, which Scretchen scored to give USN a 63-62 lead.
USN extended its lead with a series of free throws, and eventually won the game 70-65.
Although they did advance to the tournament semifinals, the Tigers’ postgame mood did not indicate a high level of celebration. In fact, there was no music being played in the locker room at all following the thrilling victory. Miller explained the lack of post-game jubilation.
“We can’t be bigger than we actually are, and we gotta stay humble,” he said. “I know it’s just one win, and we got plenty more playoff games to go.”
USN’s next game will be on Friday, February 11 against the #5 Providence Christian Academy Lions at PCA. USN is 2-0 against PCA this season, winning 52-42 on the road, and 64-50 at home.
“[Our focus is on] staying calm, cool, and collected, and playing to the best of our ability, and having the mindset of taking it game by game.”
