Opinion: Sophomore season may be even better for former Camas standout Addison Harris

Ken Vance writes that former Camas standout Addison Harris had a breakout 27-point game for Montana State, signaling a strong sophomore season ahead. — Former Camas High School standout Addison Harris had a career-high 27 points to lead Montana State over Carroll College Tuesday. Photo courtesy Bobcat Creative Services

Area basketball fans have an opportunity to see former Camas High School standout Addison Harris, now at Montana State, play at the University of Portland on Friday

Ken Vance, editor
Clark County Today

Addison Harris had quite a freshman season with the Montana State women’s basketball team and the early indications are her sophomore season is going to be even better.

Harris, a former Camas High School standout who led the Papermakers to the 2024 Washington Class 4A state championship, scored a game-high 27 points Tuesday night to lead the Bobcats to a 93-41 victory over Carroll College in the season opener for the defending Big Sky champions. Harris made 12 of her 16 shots from the field in the game, including three of four from behind the 3-point line. She amassed her career-high point total in just 21 minutes of action due to the lopsided nature of the game.

“Addison had a phenomenal game,” said Montana State Head Coach Tricia Binford in a story posted on the Bobcats’ team website. “This is a kid that we’ve been seeing do great things since last spring. And she accomplished everything tonight in just 21 minutes.”

The scoring outburst followed 16-point and 18-point efforts by Harris in the Bobcats’ two exhibition victories prior to the season-opening rout over Carroll. The three games represent a small sample size, but Harris’ play gives a strong indication that her role with the perennial power team of the Big Sky Conference is going to grow in her second season in Bozeman.

As a freshman, the 6-foot-1 Harris played a key reserve role with the Bobcats. Coming off the bench in 32 of Montana State’s 34 games, Harris averaged 5.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in 18.6 minutes per game as the Bobcats won the regular season conference title as well as the Big Sky Tournament championship to advance to the NCAA Women’s March Madness tournament where they lost to Ohio State in the first round. Montana State finished with a 30-4 record last season.

The Bobcats are still considered to be the favorites to win the Big Sky Conference this season, but they lost a number of key players due to graduation and the transfer portal. As a result of that attrition, Montana State doesn’t have a single senior on this year’s roster. Harris and fellow sophomore Taylee Chirrick will be counted on to carry a much larger burden of leadership and production this season.

In September, I shared with you my observations about Addison’s brother Ethan, currently a senior at Camas High School, after he announced his intention to accept a scholarship and NIL deal to play at Iowa next season. I wrote about the improvement that Ethan had made during a nine-month stretch between his sophomore and junior years of high school.

I don’t like to compare siblings, but watching Addison’s breakout performance Tuesday night, I couldn’t help but think of my observations about her brother. Addison seemed to achieve greatness a little quicker than Ethan did in high school, but I think she showed in her 27-point effort that she still has a lot of room for improvement at the college level.

Interested area high school basketball fans, particularly those from Camas, have an opportunity to see Harris and her Montana State team play Friday night at the University of Portland. The 6 p.m. tipoff features two teams that won more than 30 games last season. The Pilots were 31-5 overall a year ago, including 15-2 at home.

Ironically, Addison’s parents Jason and Carla (Idsinga) both played basketball collegiately at the University of Portland. During Carla’s tenure with the program, the Pilots made four appearances in the NCAA Women’s Tournament.

Friday’s game will be streamed on ESPN+ – a subscription is necessary to view.