The Camas basketball program has gotten a perk from its success in the regular season and the bi-district tournaments.
Both the Camas boys and girls teams won’t have to travel far for the opening round of the Class 4A state tournament. Plus, the Papermakers patrons won’t have to choose which game to attend.
The Camas girls and boys will play opening-round games back-to-back on Friday at Battle Ground High School.
Fresh off the program’s first bi-district championship, the No. 2 seed Camas girls will face No. 7 Kamiakin at 6 p.m.
The No. 10 Camas boys, who won the 4A Greater St. Helens League and placed fourth at the bi-district tournament, will then face No. 15 West Valley-Yakima at 8 p.m.
The WIAA announced state tournament seeding and opening-round pairings on Sunday. Seeding was determined by a WIAA committee. Higher seeds in opening-round games are generally assigned sites close to home.
Battle Ground has hosted state opening-round games each year since 2016 with the exception of the COVID-altered 2021 season.
Union boys and King’s Way boys are also headed to Battle Ground, albeit on Saturday.
Winners of 11 straight, the No. 9 Titans take on No. 16 Sumner at noon in a 4A opening-round game.
Prior to that, No. 12 King’s Way will face No. 13 La Salle at 10 a.m. The district-champion Knights have reached the 1A state tournament seven consecutive years.
Other local state qualifiers will have to travel. No. 14-seed Seton Catholic boys will head to Auburn High for a 1A opening-round game at 6 p.m. Friday against No. 11 Seattle Christian.
Seton Catholic girls, the No. 13 seed, are also headed north to take on No. 12 Seattle Academy at noon on Saturday at Bellevue College.
Class 2A GSHL qualifiers Columbia River girls and Ridgefield boys will both play at Auburn on Saturday. The No. 13 seed Rapids will face No. 12 Enumclaw girls at 2 p.m. while the No. 15 Spudders will face No. 10 Enumclaw at 4 p.m.
Mountain View, the No. 18 seed in the 3A boys tournament, will have to win a play-in game Tuesday at No. 15 Auburn Mountainview to reach the opening round. With a win Tuesday, the Thunder would face No. 10 Bellevue on Saturday at Bellevue College.
Only Camas girls have the advantage that comes with being a top-eight seed. The Papermakers can gain automatic passage to the state quarterfinals with a win Friday. A loss still means a trip to Tacoma for a Round of 12 game March 1.
All other local teams would be eliminated with an opening-round loss. Those who win in Class 4A and 3A head to the Tacoma for loser-out Round of 12 games on March 1.
Class 2A and 1A winners head to Yakima for loser-out Round of 12 games, also on March 1.
