In all, 10 boys and girls basketball teams from Clark County have qualified for state tournaments

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

The last in, and the first to play.

The Mountain View boys basketball team will take it.

The Thunder are dancin’, after all.

The Seton Catholic boys basketball team also qualified for the state tournament on Saturday evening, albeit a couple hours prior to Mountain View’s win.

And late night Saturday, the Camas girls basketball team won the prestigious Class 4A bi-district tournament, the first time Camas has accomplished that feat. The Papermakers, who have not lost to a Washington team all season, found out Sunday that they had received the No. 2 seed to state from the WIAA seeding committee.

When it was all said and done, at the conclusion of bi-district and district tournaments, there are 10 boys and girls basketball teams from Clark County that have advanced to the state regional rounds.

Mountain View rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat Todd Beamer on Saturday night in the final winner-to-state, loser-done game from the Class 3A boys bi-district tournament. 

Earlier in the evening, Seton Catholic got past La Center in the third-place game of the 1A district tourney.

The other eight teams had already qualified in their tournaments prior to Saturday.

All 10 found out their seeds and sites for the upcoming games.

The Camas girls basketball team is the only team from Clark County guaranteed to make it to the final site. The top eight seeds will play in regional games, but win or lose, they will advance.

All other Clark County teams are seeded ninth or worse and must win their regional games to make it to the final 12. See below for a list of game times, dates, and sites. 

Or, in the case of Mountain View, they have to win two games to make it to the final 12.

Class 3A basketball has 20 teams that qualify for state. So the final eight seeds will be in elimination games Tuesday, with the winners then playing the weekend regional. Mountain View received an 18-seed and will travel to Auburn Mountain View, the 15-seed.

Seriously, though, the Thunder are just thrilled to be going to state for the first time since 2012.

“It was a tough battle, but we felt we deserved it,” said Mountain View’s Isaiah Vargas, who scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half. “This is what we always wanted. We had three goals at the beginning of this year. Be first in league, make it to state, and go deep into state, get to the dome.”

The Thunder, winners of the 3A Greater St. Helens League, have achieved two of those goals and still have a shot at the third goal.

Jack Johnson scored eight of his 12 points in the pivotal third quarter. Mountain View trailed by 11 at the half, but got to within four points heading into the final quarter. 

“We just had to come back and fight back,” Johnson said. “We should not have started the game like that. We just had to fly around, play defense, box out, get rebounds. Yeah, just fight back.”

Todd Beamer was playing on emotion, but not on a lot of fuel. The team traveled to Vancouver with just six players after several players were involved in a fight in Friday night’s game and were disqualified from playing the next game.

The Thunder, though, are battle-tested, too. Mountain View went 2-2 in the bi-district and trailed by double digits in all four games. 

No matter. They got the job done.

Johnson was a big part of that, too. The Mountain View defense held Todd Beamer to eight third-quarter points. Johnson scored eight of his team’s 15 in the quarter.

“I had my time coming,” Johnson said. “I put in the work and helped my team win.”

The play that told the whole story of this bi-district tournament for Mountain View came in the fourth quarter. The Thunder missed three shots but got three offensive rebounds — two from Vargas — and it was Vargas who found Ledarius Washington for a dunk, giving Mountain View a three-point lead.

“The resiliency, and the grit, and the grind,” Mountain View coach JC Alexander said. “It’s what we preach. They bought in.”

And earned their way to the state tournament.

Here is a look at the state regional games, and what is at stake, for all of the Clark County boys and girls basketball teams. Four games will be played at Battle Ground High School, two on Friday and two on Saturday. The WIAA made it easy for Camas fans. The girls and boys play back-to-back Friday night.

Class 4A Girls

No. 7 Kamiakin (20-3) vs. No. 2 Camas (21-3), 6 p.m. Friday at Battle Ground High School.

At stake: Winner advances directly to state quarterfinals in the Tacoma Dome. Loser goes to the Tacoma Dome to play in the round of 12.

Class 4A Boys

No. 15 West Valley of Yakima (13-8) vs. No. 10 Camas (17-7), 8 p.m. Friday at Battle Ground High School.

At stake: Winner advances to round of 12 in the Tacoma Dome. Loser is eliminated.  

No. 16 Sumner (13-14) vs. No. 9 Union (18-6), noon Saturday at Battle Ground High School.

At stake: Winner advances to round of 12 in the Tacoma Dome. Loser is eliminated.

Class 3A Boys

No. 18 Mountain View (15-10) at No. 15 Auburn Mountain View (14-9), 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

At stake: Winner will play No. 10 Bellevue, 2 p.m. Saturday at Bellevue College

Class 2A Boys

No. 15 Ridgefield (13-10) vs. No. 10 Enumclaw (20-3), 4 p.m. Saturday at Auburn High School.

At stake: Winner advances to round of 12 in the Yakima Valley SunDome. Loser is eliminated.

Class 2A Girls

No. 13 Columbia River (17-5) vs. No. 12 Enumclaw (17-6), 2 p.m. Saturday at Auburn High School.

At stake: Winner advances to round of 12 in the Yakima Valley SunDome. Loser is eliminated.

Class 1A Boys

No. 14 Seton Catholic (17-7) vs. No. 11 Seattle Christian (15-6), 6 p.m. Friday at Auburn High School.

At stake: Winner advances to round of 12 in the Yakima Valley SunDome. Loser is eliminated.

No. 13 La Salle (15-9) vs. No. 12 King’s Way Christian (15-8), 10 a.m. Saturday at Battle Ground High School.

At stake: Winner advances to round of 12 in the Yakima Valley SunDome. Loser is eliminated.

Class 1A Girls

No. 13 Seton Catholic (20-3) vs. No. 12 Seattle Academy (15-6), noon Saturday at Bellevue College.

At stake: Winner advances to round of 12 in the Yakima Valley SunDome. Loser is eliminated.

Class 1B Boys

No. 19 Columbia Adventist vs. No. Summit Classical, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Forest Ridge School in Bellevue

At stake: Winner will play No. 11 Mossyrock, 8 p.m. Saturday at W.F. West High School in Chehalis. Loser is eliminated.