Camas girls basketball team takes down Sumner in semifinals and will once again play for a state championship

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

TACOMA — The Camas Papermakers are one win away from finishing some unfinished business.

One win away from becoming state champions.

“This is literally the moment we’ve been working for, training for, the entire season,” Camas junior Keirra Thompson said after her team’s victory in the Class 4A girls basketball state tournament semifinals Friday night in the Tacoma Dome. 

“We just put in 100 percent effort in every single practice in hopes of getting to this game. We wanted it more than anyone else. We’ve been looking forward to this for literally a full year,” Thompson said.

Addison Harris had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Thompson had 17 points and eight assists, and the Papermakers pulled away from Sumner for a 60-48 victory.

Camas will take on Gonzaga Prep — a team the Papermakers beat by 22 points last week at regionals — at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Tacoma Dome. 

It is the second consecutive appearance in the finals for the Papermakers. This year, they want a different result. 

The Papermakers have been wearing shooting shirts all season with the definition of the word “unfinished.”

“Last year’s championship game left a chip on our shoulder, a chip that we needed,” Harris said.”It made us a completely different team. We’re coming back this year, wanting it more than any other team. We’ve been here before, we’ve been in situations like this. That’s the big advantage we have over teams. We have the experience. We have been working for this all year long.”

Indeed, the Papermakers had to work for Friday’s win.

On Thursday in the quarterfinals, Camas cruised to a 39-point victory.

Friday, the Papermakers found themselves trailing at halftime.

“We’re in the state tournament. We’re in the semifinals. We expected this to be really hard,” Camas coach Scott Thompson said. “We have a ton of respect for Sumner and their program. Not just this year, every year.”

Sumner went on a 9-2 run to end the first half, with Olivia Collins’ 3-pointer giving the Spartans a one-point lead. 

“I don’t think we were scared at all,” Keirra Thompson said. 

“You’d think it would be tense or jittery,” Harris added. “We never lost faith in ourselves. That’s what I love about our team.”

Harris credited senior Parker Mairs for her encouragement at halftime. Harris said most of the players were quiet, focused. Mairs, though, pumped everybody up with her words.

“She’s won a state championship in soccer. She’s been in this position,” Harris said.

Plus, the coaches made some changes.

“At halftime … we had to say, ‘What do we need to do to be successful?’ We decided to pick up the tempo a little, we started to press a little bit,” Coach Thompson said. “We knew (the Spartans) were going to be on tired legs because they were in an overtime game yesterday. Our girls really responded.”

The pressure defense worked. So did the hustle and the physical play of the Papermakers. The coach said he did not know the numbers, but he just sensed that Camas dominated the rebounds in the second half. 

He was right. At halftime, Camas had 19 rebounds to Sumner’s 17. The game finished with Camas holding a 41-29 advantage.

That takes a will to win.

Offensively, the Papermakers, already a great passing team, got even better.

Keirra Thompson had six of her eight assists in the second half. Harris was a target of many of her passes.

“That was part of our problem in the first half. We weren’t looking at Addie. We didn’t get her the ball when she was open,” Keirra Thompson said. “Halftime, we kind of adjusted. We just got her the ball a lot, and she finished.”

Harris ended up 10 for 16 from the floor. 

Keirra Thompson went 6 for 6 from the free throw line, all down the stretch. By then, the game was not officially over, but the Papermakers knew they had won.

“It’s an amazing feeling. It’s about letting it all sink in,” Keirra Thompson said of being on the line, staring at the clock in the closing seconds, and Camas with a big lead. “The whole game is a battle, but to take in that moment, it was a really cool feeling. We’re going back to the state championship game.”

Harris scored the first six points of the third quarter for Camas. Kendall Mairs had a three-point play. And Sanz had a 3-pointer as Camas regained the lead. Keirra Thompson’s bucket just before the third-quarter horn gave the Papermakers a six-point advantage. 

She then swished a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter. And Harris scored off a feed from Thompson to make it an 11-point game. Sumner never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.

“We’ve been waiting for this moment for a whole year,” Coach Thompson said. “It’s great to be back. No time to bask in the glory of victory. Time to get to work, and it’s time to give our best effort (Saturday).”