For the Camas girls basketball team to beat Eastlake 58-46 last Friday in a rematch of the Class 4A state championship game in March, the real preparation began the week before while the Papermakers were across the country.
The team traveled to Washington, D.C., after being invited take part in the Capital Invitational and She Got Game Classic. Camas played three games in as many days against the likes of Maret (D.C.), Whitney of Chicago and Archbishop Carroll, a defending Pennsylvania state champion.
Seeing a high level of play while adjusting to the speed, physicality and officiating gave the Papermakers valuable experience as they returned to the Pacific Northwest eager to play Eastlake, the defending state champion.
“I think we took a lot of good lessons back from D.C.,” Camas senior Reagan Jamison said. “We played some really tough teams, so we came here and it just felt a lot easier for us.”
Not many high school teams have the opportunity to make such a trip and play teams from around the country. But Camas coach Scott Thompson noted the Papermakers earned invites to a number of tournaments and showcases on the strength of their play in the last couple seasons. Once the team decided on D.C., it became a matter of fundraising over the summer to help pay for the trip.
“They earned the opportunity to go out there,” Thompson said. “We didn’t care if we lost. We obviously wanted to win, but this is a journey for us and we want to figure out how to grow the best we can. To go out east and play those teams and have those experiences, it just wasn’t something we could do if we stayed home and tried to find teams locally.”
Outside of basketball, players had study time to stay up on schoolwork, and saved plenty of time for sightseeing.
The team visited the U.S. Capitol, National Mall and Holocaust Memorial Museum. They also caught a Big Ten college women’s basketball game when Maryland played host to Northwestern on Dec. 10.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” senior Riley Sanz said. “Our coach kept saying it’s like a college team experience. Most high school teams don’t travel across the country to go play teams. … The tours were super fun, we learned a bunch and we got a lot better playing teams from all the way over on the east coast.”
Another highlight, according to junior Kendall Mairs, was a trip to a local ice skating rink.
“It was pretty fun seeing some pretty athletic people look un-athletic,” she said with a laugh.
Camas has just four more regular season games at home after Friday’s matchup against Eastlake. They began this week at the Lakeside Holiday Classic in Lake Oswego, Ore., and will also face Clackamas on the road Friday.
WILD 2A GSHL FOR BOYS — The 2A Greater St. Helens League was wild during the football season. And it looks like a similar formula is coming together in boys basketball season.
Ari Richardson hits five of Columbia River’s nine 3-pointers as the Rapids beat Mark Morris 69-58 last Monday.
The win left the Rapids alone atop the 2A GSHL standings at 4-0, while Mark Morris in second at 4-1. After that, four teams (Hockinson, Ridgefield, R.A. Long and Washougal) have two losses each.
SPUDDER GIRLS ARE 8-0 — The Ridgefield girls basketball team is looking like a team to watch this season.
The Spudders opened the season with non-league wins over 3A Prairie and 4A Skyview. And then they’ve rolled through five wins in the 2A GSHL by an average margin of 37 points.
Janessa Chatman and Jalise Chatman have been leading a Spudder lineup that is loaded with contributors.
Ridgefield could be tested on Wednesday when the Spudders play at Hudson’s Bay. The Eagles have won four straight league games.
SMITH SETS RECORD — Ava Smith set a Union program record by making nine 3-pointers in a 73-52 win over Evergreen on Wednesday.
All nine 3-pointers came in the first three quarters. Smith also broke the Camas program record with eight 3-pointers during her freshman year.
The Titans scored exactly 73 points in all three of their wins last week (also against Battle Ground and Gig Harbor) as they improved to 7-0 on the season.
