CAMAS — It had to be close. It was close.
Like their two regular-season games — each decided by two points — Wednesday’s district playoff boys basketball game between Evergreen and Camas came down to the wire.
But what ultimately separated the Plainsmen from the Papermakers in a 69-65 Evergreen win was the extra chances gained on the offensive boards and from timely turnovers.
The win qualifies Evergreen (15-7) for a spot in the bi-district playoffs. First, the Plainsmen will take on Greater St. Helens League champion Union for the District 4 championship. That game will be played at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Battle Ground.
Camas, which finished second in the 4A GSHL, was eliminated. The Papermakers finished 12-9.
Evergreen scored 16 points after offensive rebounds, seven of those in the fourth quarter, and never trailed in the second half in a game with a largest margin of six points.
Between the offensive rebounds and Camas turnovers, the Plainsmen attempted 17 more field goals than did the Papermakers.
“At practice our coach gets on us about (rebounding),” Evergreen’s Tyrus Hosley said. “We might just be doing shooting drills, but if the ball touches the ground — even just once sometimes — we’re running or we have some kind of physical discipline coming. So that’s really been engraved in our heads to really crash the boards.”
Especially early in the game, the Plainsmen did not need to crash the boards when Hosley was shooting. The senior contributed a game-high 32 points. Two of his five made 3-pointers came at significant times.
Hosley scored 15 of Evergreen’s 21 points in the first quarter.
“I came out with the mindset that I wanted to win. I just took what the defense gave me,” Hosley said. “There were a couple times where they just laid off me and I hit a couple key shots and got to the rim a couple times.”
Still, it was Hosley who made Evergreen’s final two field goals, each pushing his team’s lead to five points with just over two minutes left. The Plainsmen, who were 8 for 16 from the foul line in the game, made 4 of 6 free throws in the final minute to secure the win.
Ethan Unger scored 20 points to pace Camas. Tanner Fogle added 15 points and Alex Glikbarg scored 11.
Gillispie said he was proud of the resiliency his team showed after struggling early in the season, and in the game on Wednesday. He said that resiliency is a result of the leadership from seniors Unger, Matt Murphy, Brock Fielding and Cam Vega.
EVERGREEN 69, CAMAS 65
EVERGREEN — Payton Monda 6, John Hansberry 5, Tyrus Hosley 32, Elon Freeman 4, Greg Washington 13, Dustin Nettles 9, Jacob Patrick 0, Chris Huerta 0. Totals 26 (9) 8-16 69.
CAMAS — Jake Hansel 9, Tanner Fogle 15, Ethan Unger 20, Alex Glikbarg 11, Brock Fielding 0, Matt Murphy 3, Bryan Nguyen 7. Totals 23 (7) 12-14 65.
Evergreen 21 18 11 19—69
Camas 20 14 13 18—65
