High-scoring guard pair has Union Titans girls basketball off to rousing start

Sophomore Brooklynn Haywood scores 35 points, and senior Ava Smith adds 16 as 10th-ranked Titans fends off Gig Harbor, 73-63, to move to 7-0

GIG HARBOR, Wash. - With their dynamic duo intact, the Union Titans girls basketball team has taken advantage to begin the 2023-24 season.

The Titans squared off against their toughest test so far of the young season Saturday night, making the three-hour trip north to play a strong Gig Harbor squad, off to its own nice start.

Indeed, the Tides and their all-everything senior Taylor Schwab took the Titans deep into the contest before 10th-ranked (4A) Union finally pulled away a bit to earn a 73-63 non-conference road victory - and in the process move to 7-0 this season.

“This was our toughest game of the season so far,” said guard Brooklynn Haywood, one half of the Union duo.

Union will make another trip north in just 72 hours to play at Bethel on Tuesday night. When it does, coach Gary Mills at least has the comfort of knowing Haywood, the sophomore phenom, and senior leader Ava Smith will be in uniform and ready to fire away from all over the court.

“When you have 'Option 1A' or 'Option 1B,' it’s just sometimes tough on a coach to balance when you’re going to go to this player, when you’re going to go to that player,” Mills said. “So you really have to rely on them to both be aggressive but both make the right play.”

Circumstance dictated some of that Saturday at Gig Harbor. Haywood, who led Clark County in scoring last year as a ninth grader, picked up three fouls in the first three minutes of the game, and was forced to sit down for the rest of the first quarter.

Smith didn’t miss a beat, though, scoring all 16 of her points in the first half – eight in each of the first two quarters – to keep things moving forward for the Titans until Haywood returned from the bench. That return came at the start of the second quarter despite the foul trouble.

“She is definitely our main scorer. and I am second,” Smith said. “When she goes out, I know I’ve got to shoot. I’ve got to play.”

Hamstrung defensively, Haywood went right to work on the offensive end to make her contributions. The sophomore poured in 10 of Union’s 22 points in the second quarter to go into the locker room at halftime with 15.

Even with the pair scoring 31 combined points, though, the Titans led it 42-41 at the break. That was thanks to Schwab, who poured in 20 of her game-high 35 points in the first half to keep Gig Harbor close.

Schwab forced Mills to change up his team’s defense as Union went to a box-and-one in an attempt to slow Schwab down.

“I felt like we got lucky there,” Mills said. “We really haven’t practiced a box-and-one all year. I told them, we’re going to try this the first couple of possessions. If it doesn’t work, we’ll get out of it. And we ended up in it the entire second half.”

Schwab still added 15 more in the second half. But she had to work hard to get them.

Meanwhile, Haywood took over. She matched Schwab with 35 points of her own. At one point, the sophomore scored 14 points in a row for Union, covering a span that began with 1:10 remaining in the third quarter and ending with 37 seconds to play in the game and her team leading, 67-59.

“We kind of do it when our team needs it,” Haywood said. “We trust our teammates, but when they need that little extra help to get the tempo back, that’s when we take over.”

Having Smith and Haywood together almost didn’t happen this season. When the basketball season ended last February for Union, Haywood transferred briefly to Camas.

But Haywood wanted to be with the teammates she grew up with.

“We’ve known each other since the second grade,” Smith said. “We play club ball together, too. So I mean, it’s natural. We train together all the time.”

It made the transition back into the Titans fold an easy one, at least for Haywood herself.

“I just missed being in that family atmosphere,” Haywood said. “Being able to play with people I had a lot of fun with and that wanted me here. That’s why I came back.”

Of course, in a way Haywood made things tougher on her coach.

“For me, it’s a lot harder to coach a great player,” Mills said. “Because, you’re stupid if they’re not shooting. But sometimes you’re stupid if they’re taking all your shots. It’s hard to balance that. It’s something I’m still trying to find the right balance. But as she starts understanding the game more, we’ll succeed.”