Camas cruises past previously undefeated Union in a battle of rivals

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

This was the first moment of the rest of their season.

The Camas Papermakers were about to get an answer to a serious soul-searching question that would dictate the final months of girls basketball campaign.

Was their non-league schedule too tough?

Face it, the Papermakers entered Tuesday’s night’s Class 4A Greater St. Helens League game at rival Union with a 7-6 record overall record. The Titans, meanwhile, had jumped out to an 11-0 mark, gaining confidence and recognition along the way.

Camas’ last game prior to Tuesday was a shell-shocking, 34-point defeat against one of the best teams in the country on Saturday.

The Camas Papermakers, who finished second in the state last season and return just about everybody for this season, have the highest of expectations.

Oh, but that record. Six losses in 13 games? What gives?

“We took it a little personally,” senior Addison Harris said of Tuesday’s matchup against the undefeated Titans. “We took this game personally. We took it upon ourselves to show.”

The Papermakers put on a show. And the Titans are no longer undefeated.

The Titans would hang for a few minutes and even took an 8-5 lead with the home crowd buzzing, hoping this would be the night to take down the defending league champions.

Nope. It was all Camas the rest of the night.

The Papermakers went on a 16-0 run to go up 21-8. It seemed like every time Camas missed a shot, the Papermakers would get an offensive rebound and score. The Camas defense suffocated Union’s big-time scorers for much of the contest.

In the end, it was a Camas victory, 65-43, as the Papermakers improved to 2-0 in league play.

“We always want to start the game strong,” said Sophie Buzzard, who buried a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game for the Papermakers.

A strong first quarter, Buzzard said, can take the fight out of any team. While Union had a few moments the rest of the night, the Titans never got within single digits in the final three quarters of play.

Harris finished with 17 points to pace Camas. Reagan Jamison and Keirra Thompson each had 13 points.

For Union, Brooklynn Haywood had 19 points. Rowyn Riley had 10.

The first month of the season for Camas was about learning to handle adversity.

“It’s about going up against 6-foot-and-above rosters. It’s about getting doubled every time you get the ball,” Buzzard said. “You learn to be stronger with the ball. You learn to see the open players. You learn to make good passes. When you get on the court with the teams from Washington, it’s so much easier, you could say, because we learned to play against such hard pressure.”

Buzzard said the losses did not affect the players beyond the night of each game. They learned, and they moved on, she said.

Still, those lessons were starting to take a toll on the coaching staff.

“This is what coaches do. We over analyze everything we do, every decision we make,” Camas coach Scott Thompson said. 

So after Camas went 0-3 last week at the Portland Holiday Classic, the coaches wondered if they asked too much of their players with this crazy, ultra competitive schedule. Hey, Camas had a tough schedule last year, but nothing compared to this season. Three games in Washington, D.C., against some of the best teams in the country? Then those three games in Portland last week, against even better teams?

“We were trying to figure out if that schedule, those losses … did it hurt your confidence? Did it take you down a bit? Or is it iron sharpens iron, and now this game will be easier because we went and played against elite competition?” Coach Thompson said.

The coach got his answer in a hurry on Tuesday.

After all, Union is a good basketball team. The Titans are off to the best start in program history. No one would be surprised if the Titans make it to the state tournament this season. 

But as of this week, right now, Camas still rules in the 4A GSHL.

“At the end of the day, when we decided to play those really hard teams, we had to think about a lot of things. Confidence. RPI. Seeding committee,” the coach said. 

The Papermakers decided it would be worth it.

“It’s an amazing opportunity. It’s going to be an amazing experience. Lifelong memories are going to come out of this,” Scott Thompson said. “We didn’t want to hold back because I don’t think anybody in our locker room wanted to hold back. We all just wanted to do it. We did it. We had a lot of fun.”

As 2023 turned into 2024, there is a renewed focus on the Northwest now. Camas has league games, and two non-league games against Northwest powers before the playoffs in February.

“Now we feel our second season is about local business,” Scott Thompson said.

“This is why we do it,” Harris said after Tuesday’s win. “So we compete at the level of the top teams.”

The Papermakers played against not only some of the top teams in the country, but the highest ranked players, too. 

“If we can guard them, we can guard anyone in this state,” Harris said. “This is preparing us for the faster, more ruthless games in the state tournament.”

After all, if Camas achieves its ultimate goal, of winning a state title in March, no one will care about six losses in December.