The Camas boys basketball team seems to thrive in do-or-die games.
Facing their second loser-out game of the week, the Papermakers came up with another big win by knocking off defending 4A state champion Curtis 63-60 on Saturday at Mt. Tahoma High School in Tacoma to clinch a state berth.
Camas (16-10), sixth at state last year, finished off Curtis’ two-year reign as state champion.
This Camas win came on the heels of a 58-45 loss to Skyview on Friday. The Papermakers had to put that game away and travel north Saturday morning for the 2 p.m. game in Tacoma knowing it could be their last game of the season.
Camas had Curtis (19-8) playing from behind most of the game. The Vikings’ biggest lead was at 7-4 in the first quarter as both teams struggled to get their shots to fall.
The Papermakers took the lead on a Beckett Currie 3-pointer to make the score 9-7. They wouldn’t trail from that point on.
An 11-0 run in the second quarter with Currie scoring seven of those 11 put Camas on top 31-15.
Two more 3s from Currie had the Papermakers going into the locker room with a 39-28 advantage.
The high water mark for Camas in the second half was a 16-point lead at 48-32 midway in the third quarter after a Currie 3.
Curtis used pressure defense for most of the season half and hung around to the end as suddenly Camas had a hard time getting shots to fall while the Vikings kept chipping away.
Ethan Harris sank an uncontested 3-pointer from the corner and Camas led 63-52 inside of three minutes to play.
The Vikings closed on an 8-0 run, but missed two contested 3-pointers on their final possession as the seconds ticked down to zero.
Currie led all scorers with 22 points. Jace VanVoorhis had 18 points and Matthew Sitler 10 for the Papermakers.
Pairings for the regional round of state will be announced on Sunday.
CAMAS 63, CURTIS 60
CURTIS — Keaundre Morris 20, Devin Whitten 14, Noah Kaylor 0, William Torrone 4, Xavier Ahrens 18, Brandon Logan 2, Robby Lavata’i 2. Totals 23 (10) 4-6 60.
CAMAS — Beckett Currie 22, Cade Washington 4, Matthew Sitler 10, Nyima Namru 4, Jace VanVoorhis 18, Channing Nesland 4, Ethan Harris 4. Totals 28 (5) 4-4 63.
Curtis 13 15 13 17—60
Camas 18 21 13 13—63
