TACOMA — As laser-focused as the Camas Papermakers are in their pursuit of a Class 4A state championship, one thing that’s never wavered is a light-heartedness in how they play basketball.
Case in point was Thursday’s Class 4A girls quarterfinal at the Tacoma Dome — a 64-23 victory over Tahoma in a battle of top-8 seeds.
The offense was clicking. So was the defense. And even a behind-the-back pass by Reagan Jamison to Riley Sanz for a breakaway layup during the second quarter.
“I feel like we had fun today,” Jamison said. “Everybody was doing their thing. We had a lot of fun and played smooth basketball.”
And when you’re experience at the Dome as the Papermakers are, experience can be a difference maker.
It showed Thursday. The 4A tournament record for margin of victory is 45 points set in 2018 by Central Valley.
“I think that experience set the tone really well,” said Sanz, who finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. “We knew we wanted to play hard, we were mature and then especially in the second half, we knew they (Tahoma) were going to come out and punch hard because they were down, and I think our maturity really showed right there. We didn’t do anything sloppy and didn’t have any bad turnovers. We really played our game and that really set the tone.”
Camas (20-6) faces Sumner, which topped Bothell in overtime Thursday, in Friday’s 3:45 p.m. semifinal. It’s a rematch of a bi-district semifinals, a team Camas defeated on its way to winning the bi-district title.
Camas did flirt with the tournament record for margin of victory for a 4A tournament game.
With its halftime lead at 36-10, Camas began the third quarter on a 10-0 scoring run that began with a corner 3 by Sanz. It quickly turned into a running-clock route by the 3-minute, 44-second mark of the third quarter when Camas’ lead stretched to 53-13 when Keirra Thompson knocked down two free throws.
A running-clock game in a state tournament doesn’t happen often, which meant extra rest for starters and more playing time for Camas’ bench. In fact, all players saw at least five minutes of action, something that head coach Scott Thompson said a game with an entire roster seeing playing time in a state tournament game is a first.
“They’re the unsung heros on the team,” he said, “and being able to reward them by getting them on the court was absolutely great.”
Camas had 18 assists on 24 field goals and shot 52 percent from the field.
Addison Harris had a game-high 18 points as one of four Camas players in double figures. Keirra Thompson added 13 and five assists, and Sophie Buzzard and Sanz had 10 points apiece. Jamison finished with six assists.
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CAMAS 64, TAHOMA 23
TAHOMA — Brooke Deyak 1, Rylee Jacox 3, Bailey Nettiston 0, Maryn King 0, Gracyn Meyer 2, Kate Wooten 2, Lily Cavanaugh 4, Hannah Huff 1, Kylie Robertson 2, Addy Hansen 0, Jacee Harrison 2, Adaliynn Busch 6. Totals 9 (1) 0-0 23
CAMAS — Reagan Jamison 8, Riley Sanz 10, Sophie Buzzard 10, Parker Mairs 0, Lila McCarthy 0, Eliana Gibson 0, Baylie Farra 3, Brianna Forbess 2, Lauren Hood 0, Addison Harris 18, Keirra Thompson 13. Totals 24 (7) 9-11 64
