The Camas Papermakers are where they need to be at the midway point of the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League girls basketball schedule: Second place, just a game behind first-place Skyivew.
Friday night, they remained in that solid spot by taking down a team that is getting closer and closer to the top.
Camas, with a balanced attack, led for most of the game in a 50-38 victory over Mountain View.
The Thunder, though, showed its early season success has not been a fluke. Hailey Hartney went 7 of 12 from the floor, made three 3-pointers and was true on all five free throws for 22 Mountain View points. The Thunder were within striking distance of Camas up until the final five minutes.
Camas (11-2, 5-1 GSHL) is the deeper team, getting contributions up and donw the lineup. Emma Jones scored 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Teague Schroeder and Courtney Clemmer came off the bench to combine for 20 points.
“Our philosophy is to go out and share the ball and work together,” said James, who also had six rebounds. “We don’t have plays set up for one person.”
Madison Freemon had 11 rebounds for the Papermakers. She scored all six of her points in the first half. Schroeder and Clemmer each had six by the break, as well — that philosophy doing just fine for Camas as the Papermakers went 8 for 15 from the floor in an 18-point second quarter to take an eight-point lead.
Jones said she has been paying attention to the boxscores in the 4A GSHL. She knew the Thunder (10-4, 5-1) were dangerous.
“Mountain View’s been in a ton of close game, and they pull out wins at the end,” Jones said. “We knew we had to go out there and take it to them from the start. They’re a really good team. That was a really good win for us. We needed that.
“They can beat us if we don’t come out to play. Everyone had that mind-set.”
Jones beat the halftime buzzer for two, and later in the third quarter scored six in a row, extending Camas’ lead from seven points to 13 at 37-24.
Hartney responded for Mountain View with back-to-back buckets, but Camas shared the scoring wealth some more with a 3-pointer from Meghan Finley and, later, a 3-pointer from Schroeder just before the third-quarter horn.
Mountain View turned the ball over on its first three possessions of the fourth quarter and never got going against the Camas defense down the stretch.
Still, the Thunder appreciate their 4-2 record midway through league, including the program’s first win over Union.
As far as the Papermakers, they are looking forward to making a run at a league title.
“Everyone has worked super hard to get to where we are,” Jones said. “That Skyview game was a hard loss for us. We’re ready to come back the next time we play Skyview and give it our all. Five-and-one is nothing to be ashamed of.”
CAMAS 50, MOUNTAIN VIEW 38
MOUNTAIN VIEW — Christina Lundy 0, Caleigh Carlson 0, Eva Winsheimer 2, Jenna Gulliford 2, Emilly Moore 6, Gabby Harper 2, Sydney Sullivan 0, Mollie Doyle 4, Hailey Hartney 22, Ashley Doyle 0. Totals 12 (5) 9-11 38.
CAMAS — Meghan Finley 5, Jordyn Wilds 0, Haley Hanson 4, Emma Jones 12, Madison Freemon 6, Stephanie Knight 3, Teague Schroeder 11, Courtney Clemmer 9. Totals 21 (4) 4-12 50.
Mtn. View 8 13 10 7–38
Camas 11 18 14 7–50
