Camas looks to bounce back in the consolation round on Friday
TACOMA — Oh, so close.
That’s how the Camas Papermakers have to feel about Thursday’s result in the Tacoma Dome.
So close to victory.
So close to making program history.
So close to the semifinals.
Instead, the Papermakers lost their scoring touch in overtime and fell into the consolation bracket.
Sumner scored all of the overtime points, pulling away from Camas for a 66-57 victory in a Class 4A state girls basketball quarterfinal.
The Papermakers will have to wait at least another year for their first final four appearance. And that’s exactly where they expect to be in 2023 and beyond.
“At the end of the day, we have freshmen and sophomores on the court and they have seniors on the court. I think that was a big difference-maker,” Camas coach Scott Thompson said. “It gives our girls the chance to see that team pull that game out and say, ‘Look at our potential.’ We’ve seen that team over the years and we’ve seen how much they’ve grown. To think we can be growing, and eventually we can be those mature juniors and seniors … we’ve got a pretty special future.”
Reagan Jamison, who had 19 points in Camas’ win in the round-of-12 elimination game Wednesday, followed up with 25 points against Sumner.
“I felt we left it all on the court,” Jamison said. “Even though we didn’t win, this is a statement. We’re so young, and we competed with them until the end. So that’s huge for us.”
Jadey Parrott made a free throw with 6.1 seconds left in regulation to tie the game for Sumner. She would also give the Spartans the lead for good with two free throws with 1:21 left in overtime. That broke a scoring drought for both teams, and the Spartans would add seven more points in the final minute or so to advance to the semifinals.
The Papermakers were hindered by the absence of Jamison down the stretch. She fouled out late in regulation. She got her 25 points on 8-for-11 shooting. She also had nine rebounds and a blocked shot.
The Papermakers ended up 0 for 10 in the period.
“Honestly, I thought we got really good looks in overtime,” Thompson said. “There were a few when I thought, ‘That has to go in, right?’ We couldn’t get the lid off the hoop in overtime.”
Thompson said the end of regulation and overtime felt like a blur to him, as well.
“It felt like we had a lot of good opportunities,” he said.
Riley Sanz came off the bench and scored nine points for Camas. Ava Smith added seven points to go with a game-high four assists, and Kierra Thompson scored six points.
Alyson Deaver led Sumner with 20 points. Kaylee Cooper had 17 points and made five 3-pointers.
Camas jumped out to an 11-4 lead, but Sumner made it a one-point game by the end of the first quarter. From there, the largest lead for any team was just five points.
“They’re an amazing team, an amazing team,” said Sumner’s Catelyn Deaver, who had nine points and 10 rebounds, referring to the Papermakers. ”I think we match up with them perfectly. We’re almost exactly the same. … I was, for sure, nervous.”
Camas led 55-51 with 3:58 to play but managed just two free throws the rest of the way and then were shut out in the 4-minute overtime session.
Next up for Camas is a consolation game against Lake Stevens at 10:30 a.m. Friday. The winner will play for fourth place and earn a trophy from the state tournament.
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