Camas girls finished fourth, Union boys placed fifth, and Hudson’s Bay girls took sixth in their tournaments
The Union Titans picked up another piece of hardware for their boys basketball trophy case.
And for the first time, the Camas Papermakers and Hudson’s Bay Eagles know what that feels like in girls basketball.
Camas won the fourth-place game early Saturday morning at the Class 4A girls basketball state tournament in the Tacoma Dome.
At the same time in Yakima, Hudson’s Bay fell to Archbishop Murphy in the fourth-place game at the Class 2A girls tournament. Still, by making it to the final day of the basketball season, the Eagles were awarded the sixth-place trophy.
For Camas and Hudson’s Bay, those are both historic pieces of memorabilia. Those programs had never brought home a trophy from a state tournament.
The Union boys, meanwhile, ended up with a fifth-place trophy after falling in the third-place game Saturday afternoon in the Class 4A tournament.
Union coach Blake Conley said earlier in the week just being in Tacoma was special, considering all everyone has been through the past two years. No tournament last year, and by the end of this past December and into January, games were being canceled or rescheduled during the peak of Omicron. There was worry among coaches that there might not be a state tournament this year.
But the 4A and 3A tournaments did go on in Tacoma, and the 2A and 1A tournaments were played in Yakima, and the B schools got their big event in Spokane.
And on Saturday, on the last game of the season, the final three Clark County basketball teams enjoyed one final game together.
Class 4A girls
Camas added to its state tournament record of made 3-pointers on Saturday, holding off a furious Richland rally to win the fourth-place game 49-45.
Reagan Jamison completed her incredible postseason run with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and two blocked shots and should be a shoo-in for the all-tournament team. Ava Smith had 12 points and two assists. And Kendall Mairs crushed it on the boards, grabbing 15 rebounds to go with her nine points for the Papermakers.
Camas led by 19 in the third quarter and still had a 14-point lead in the fourth. Richland did go on a 13-0 run to make it close, but the Papermakers hit their free throws to seal the deal.
This is the eighth state tournament trip for the Camas girls, dating back to 1978, and the fifth consecutive appearance. It is the first time the Papermakers have placed.
They secured a trophy with a victory on Friday. Parker Mairs noted then: “We’re the best at Camas to ever do it. The greatest.”
The Papermakers are also the best at making a lot of 3-pointers. Camas made six on Saturday, bringing the team’s total to 37 for the four games in Tacoma. Woodinville made 26 in 2006. Camas also made 12 in Friday’s game, the new mark for most in one tournament game.
Class 4A boys
The Union Titans fell behind early and missed out on taking home the third-place trophy Saturday at the dome, falling to Olympia 57-48.
Instead, Union finished in fifth place in all of Class 4A Washington.
Bryson Metz, the co-player of the year for the 4A Greater St. Helens League, completed his stellar career with 17 points for the Titans. Yanni Fassillis added 12.
Olympia used a 15-3 run to take command. The Bears led by 10 at the half, then held Union to seven points in the third quarter.
While not the finish the Titans were hoping for going into the week, it is another trophy for the program. Union has now placed eight times in 10 appearances dating back to 2009.
The Titans lost to Curtis in the championship semifinals late Friday night. While no one wanted to have to play in the third-place game, players and coaches talked about it being a blessing to get one more game on Saturday.
“The last four years have been amazing,” senior Jamison Limbrick said Friday night. “The coaching staff. The players. Watching myself develop. Watching everyone else develop. It’s been great.”
Class 2A girls
The Hudson’s Bay Eagles had such an amazing rally just to get to a trophy game, coming back in the final two minutes Friday to extend the season into Saturday.
They might have run out of gas in the trophy game, but the Eagles are bringing home a trophy. Archbishop Murphy overtook the Eagles in the second half Saturday for a 66-59 victory to take fourth place. Hudson’s Bay ended up with the sixth-place trophy.
This is Bay’s first hardware in girls basketball in its fifth appearance dating back to 1975.
Mahaila Harrison continued her postseason scoring surge leading the Eagles with 26 points. A junior, she also had team-highs of 10 rebounds and two steals.
Aniyah Hampton had 12 points, including two 3-pointers, in her final game with Bay. Paytin Ballard, also a senior, had 10 points.
Archbishop Murphy shot 54 percent from the floor in the second half, erasing a small deficit.
