Chris Morgan remembers what it was like, playing varsity basketball as a sophomore, for a brand new program.
“It was a struggle,” said Morgan, now a senior for the Union boys basketball team. “We went 5-15, but we lost a ton of games by five points or less. We knew we had the pieces to be a really good team. Obviously, we were young. We knew we were going to keep developing.”
And they knew that if they kept working together, the Titans would reach their destination.
“This is where we wanted to be,” Morgan said.
The Union Titans are going to the Tacoma Dome for the Class 3A state boys basketball tournament. Make that, the Union Titans are going to the Tacoma Dome again.
You see, all those pieces, all that development came together perhaps a year early. The Titans made it to the dome last year in just the program’s second season, finishing seventh.
This season, they were no longer the upstarts. They were the favorites. They won their first Class 3A Greater St. Helens League title, got beat by Hudson’s Bay in the district championship game, then rebounded with a solid runner-up performance in the bi-district tournament, earning another trip to state.
With four seniors in the main rotation — Morgan, Garett Speyer, Mitch Saylor, and Taylor Nelson — the Class of 2010 has set the bar pretty high for future Titans.
“That’s what we wanted,” Union coach Maco Hamilton said. “We want the young kids to see what it’s about. If you’re playing for Union basketball, you’ve got to expect great things. That’s what I envisioned when I got this job. We want to be the best program in the area.”
Consistently making it to the final 16 in the state will accomplish that goal. So far, the Titans have done it twice in three seasons.
This year’s run was different, though. The Titans did not have to win a loser-out game in district, like they did last year. This year, they took care of business in the regular season, then were stunned by Bay in the district finals.
While some athletes say a loss like that can be a good thing for a team, the Titans did not need any extra motivation to get back to work.
“Every team that we played, it was like the Super Bowl for them,” Speyer said, referring to opponents in Clark County. “Everyone wants to beat Union.”
The Titans did not get to cut down the nets at district like they did last year, but there was another objective.
“Those of us who went to the dome last year know the feeling,” Speyer said. “We wanted to do it again.”
“We had our eyes on a bigger prize,” Morgan said. “No one was bummed out over that loss. The next day, everyone was ready to go.”
They had to win one of their first two games at bi-district to make it happen. They ended up winning both of those games, making it to the finals of that tourney for the second year in a row. Friday night, the Titans lost to undefeated and top-ranked Enumclaw by four points.
“We played with the No. 1 team in the state,” Speyer said. “We know anyone below them we can play with or possibly beat.”
Speyer’s goal is to play at 7 p.m. Saturday night — in the championship game.
Morgan, the team’s leading scorer, has a different idea of a perfect week.
“One of the biggest things is focusing on the journey rather than the destination,” Morgan said. “This being my last year of high school basketball, I just want to cherish every minute of it. It’s such an honor to go to state two years in a row, and I love every guy on this team.
“I just want to focus on playing our game and having a good time.”
It’s been three eventful years for the Titans. They were part of that first team, then made that magical run last year, and this year, they proved it was no fluke.
“I knew I’d have an opportunity to play early and develop myself as a player,” Morgan said, looking back to his sophomore year. “We’ve been lucky to have some really great coaches who can make us into good players and into a really good team.”
The seniors also know, no matter what happens this week, this is it for them.
“I’m going to be upset when basketball is over,” Speyer said. “Hopefully, we’ll be playing there until Saturday. We’re going to leave everything on the court and hope everything goes right.”
