It’s Camas and Camas as league champions of boys and girls basketball

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

Don’t have to travel the county to find the champions in boys and girls basketball from the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League.

Conveniently, the champs reside in one location.

It’s the Camas Championships.

No one is surprised with the girls title. After all, the Papermakers have been ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the state for most of the season.

No one associated with the boys team is surprised at their success. But it certainly wasn’t a lock, not like the girls.

So it just makes it a little more special these days at Camas that the girls and boys each earned the top seed to their respective bi-district tournaments. 

For the Camas boys, it is their first outright league title since 2011.

The Camas girls finished fourth in state last year, and they expect an even better finish this season.

Here are a couple Camas Championship Stories:

Camas Boys Basketball

There was a tough loss last year that ignited this year’s run.

And there were a couple of injuries during this season that could have taken the team off course if not for other players stepping up their games.

Simply put, this year’s Papermakers weren’t going to settle for a tie for a league title.

“The day last season ended, honestly,” sophomore Beckett Currie said as the day he knew the Papermakers were going to be special this season.

“We’re all super close in how we communicate. We’re all real honest about our goals and our opinions on what we’re capable of as a team,” Currie said. “We had that bus ride home, and the text in the group chat the next day: ‘Season starts now with whoever is returning. It’s our league next year.’ That’s the mindset we took into the offseason, everybody working out together.”

The Papermakers won four of their first five games this season, looking every bit as strong as Currie had predicted.

Senior Theo McMillan believed, too, but he wanted to see how his team would respond to adversity before he knew for sure that this was going to be Camas’ year. When a couple starters went down with injuries, younger players filled in admirably, and the Papermakers didn’t miss a beat.

“Shout out to the young guys who stepped up and carried us through that time,” McMillan said. “That was awesome.”

McMillan, by the way, has seen a lot of “awesome” at Camas. A three-year varsity player, McMillan became the winningest Papermaker in boys basketball history. He has now been on the floor for 45 victories with the program.

Currie, a sophomore, hopes to break that record one day. 

Then someone younger than Currie can break that mark eventually. That’s the sign of a strong program.

A year ago, Camas and Union tied for the league crown. This season, Union did beat Camas last week, giving Union a chance to tie again. Camas had to win on Tuesday at Battle Ground to secure the title outright. The Papermakers came through in the clutch.

“Everyone was fired up,” McMillan said. “The good thing about that Battle Ground game is everyone contributed. It was an all-around team performance for that win.”

The mission of the day was accomplished on Tuesday. Not the mission for the season, though.

“It feels great, but I’d be lying if I said that was the end goal. If the season ended and we didn’t make the dome, that league championship wouldn’t even be brought up again,” Currie said.

The final 12 teams make it to the Tacoma Dome for the final week of the state tournament.

“We enjoy those achievements. We enjoy success,” Currie explained. “But we’re not here to win league titles. We’re here to win state. We’re going to be happy for two days after (a league title), but then it’s back to business.”

The boys team starts the bi-district tournament on Saturday. A win in that game assures the Papermakers a trip to the state regional round, the final 16.

But again, these Papermakers feel the need to get the final 12.

“Every time we drive past the Tacoma Dome, as a team, everyone looks and says, ‘We’re going there,’” McMillan said.

Next: Camas hosts Bellarmine at 6 p.m. Saturday in the opening round of the bi-district tournament. The winner of this game qualifies for state regionals. The loser will fall into the consolation bracket, still with a shot to make it to state.

Camas Girls Basketball

Let’s face it, this team knew it was going to win this year’s league title a long, long time ago. Long before the season started. 

Doesn’t mean they were satisfied. Nope. They went to work, to ensure they would be better than in 2022. They took on the best of the best, scheduling games against Oregon top teams, and in one game, the top-ranked team in the country.

In 4A GSHL play, Camas won its six games by an average margin of victory of 33 points.

That did not mean their games lacked any drama. Last week, Camas beat rival Union by 15 points, but rallied from a 10-point, first-quarter deficit to do that.

Then earlier this week, on Senior Night, the Papermakers experienced a special moment.

Or rather, a series of special moments.

There was Kendall Bachelder, getting just her second career start. A reserve, Bachelder is one of those program athletes, a player who works hard and pushes her teammates even though she might not get a whole lot of time in the spotlight herself.

Well, she had the whole spotlight on Tuesday.

Bachelder, whose previous high was 11 points, scored 30 points in the regular-season finale. She also made three buzzer beaters to end the first three quarters.

“I feel like I’m really lucky to be on this team. It’s a really big community,” Bachelder said. “It was really special. My team had a commitment to really get me the ball that night. They really cared.”

It was a magical night for all the Papermakers.

“Amazing,” said Scott Thompson. “I can’t tell you how fun it is to coach this team.”

Bachelder’s big night was a big topic of discussion at home, too.

“My parents were so happy. My grandparents came to that game, too. They were so proud of me,” Bachelder said.

Next: Camas hosts Bellarmine at 7 p.m. Friday in the bi-district tournament. The winner of this game is assured of a trip to the state regionals. The loser will fall into the consolation bracket, still with a shot of making it to state.