CAMAS — Skyview girls basketball coach Brett Johnson let out a sigh of relief. Finally.
For the first time in the third-year coach’s tenure with the Storm, his team defeated Camas. The Storm ran out to a 24-point lead in the first three quarters before eventually fending off a late Papermaker charge for a 62-54 win on Friday. It’s Skyview’s first win over Camas since the 2015-16 season.
“This is a huge win, honestly,” Skyview senior Kazz Parks said. “To come out with so much energy and hungry to beat this team. I’m super, super happy. It just means so much.”
Using an intimidating 1-2-2 fullcourt press, Skyview looked impenetrable early on. Forcing 13 turnovers in the first half, Skyview led 36-19 at the break.
The Storm parlayed that into a 50-26 lead midway through the third quarter when Skylar Groesbeck sunk a corner 3-pointer with 3:50 left in the period.
“This group, I knew they were talented,” Johnson said. “It was just like a lock, trying to get the right combination to play for us. Tonight, we were able to do that.”
It looked like smooth sailing, but in the competitive 4A Greater St. Helens League, there’s always stormy waters ahead.
Camas countered with a 24-4 run over the next 10 minutes of game time. In a three-minute span in the fourth quarter, Avery Minich and Anna Mooney each hit a pair of 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 54-50 with 2:29 remaining.
“I was a little bit nervous,” Johnson admitted. “But the thing we didn’t have last year is Kazz. And we had Kazz this time.”
With two minutes remaining, Parks swerved through the lane and bounced a falling floater off the glass and in to stop a 15-0 run and put Skyview up 56-50 with two minutes to go.
It was just converting free throws down the stretch from there.
“At the moment, I was like ‘Damn I haven’t scored in a couple minutes,'” said Parks, who finished with a team-high 13 points and five assists. “I knew if I took the ball, I was either going to get fouled and an and-1 or I was going to make it.”
The Storm (8-4, 3-0) now sit atop the 4A GSHL through three games. They face Union on Tuesday. But after Friday’s exhilarating, albeit stressful victory the Storm are prepared for anything.
On Friday, the Storm showed they can pressure guards: Camas was forced into 20 turnovers. They also proved they can dominate the glass: Skyview had 13 offensive rebounds.
Most importantly, perhaps, they proved they can stymie stars: Camas post Faith Bergstrom was held without a field goal attempt for the first 15 minutes of the game. She ended with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Anna Mooney added 15 points for the Papermakers (8-6, 2-1), who were absent standout junior Jenna Carlisle.
Skyview had four players reach double figures including Parks, Groesbeck (12 points), Madeline Hendricks (12) and Addison MacPherson (11). Mikelle Anthony grabbed eight rebounds.
SKYVIEW 62, CAMAS 54
SKYVIEW — Addison MacPherson 11, Mikelle Anthony 6, Madeline Hendricks 12, Ava Harman 0, Avery Wilson 5, Skylar Groesbeck 12, Kazz Parks 13, Jordan Labrador-Hallett 3. Totals 19-47 (7-17) 17-26 62.
CAMAS — Haylie Johnson 6, Emma Rehrer 0, Katelynn Former 5, Emma Sanz 0, Anna Mooney 15, Avery Minich 9, Faith Bergstrom 10, Kyra Seggewiss 4, Ashley Bauer 1, Sammi Guffey 4. Totals 20-54 (7-26) 7-13 54.
Skyview 13 23 15 11—62
Camas 10 9 14 21—54
