Camas boys thrive in three loser out games

Win or go home is when the Camas boys thrive.

The Papermakers beat Heritage and Todd Beamer in back-to-back loser out games to get into the bi-district tournament.

“We thrive best in these situations,” said sophomore post Isaiah Sampson.

After losing to Curtis in the first round, Camas defeated Skyview for the first time in three tries to keep its season alive.

“It’s kind of unfortunate that we’re in this situation. I think Skyview deserves to move on, just like we do,” said Camas head coach Skyler Gillispie. “Obviously, we didn’t want our season to end. This was our third loser out game, and it was their first. I think our guys didn’t fall apart when adversity hit. Although we made some mistakes, they stayed together.”

Four Papermakers scored in double figures to help Camas beat Skyview 54-48 Feb. 11, at Columbia River High School. Sampson led a balanced attack with 15 points.

“That’s what I pride myself on,” Sampson said. “Playing hard and doing the dirty work inside.”

Tre Carlisle, Logan Miller and Bryan Nguyen each had 10. Camas needed this kind of effort with leading scorer Alex Glikbarg sidelined by a back injury.

“I just told our boys, ‘We just got to play as a team. We got to work even harder,'” Carlisle said. “Alex was carrying us. We got to do this for him.”

Nguyen nailed two 3-pointers in the game. Nathan Chilian beat the third quarter buzzer with a three.

Camas led by as much as 11 points in the fourth quarter. Skyview rallied to within five, but the Papermaker spirit never wavered.

“I just remember putting my hands up, looking at all my boys, looking at my mom up in the stands. All the people that came and watched, it was great,” Carlisle said.

Miller scored eight points in the final period to keep Camas out front. Gillispie said this is an amazing turnaround after Miller was on the junior varsity team as a junior.

The Papermakers brought their all or nothing attitude to Bellarmine Prep Wednesday. Results were not available as of press deadlines.

“I know they’re not playing hard because of me. They’re playing hard because they want to keep playing,” Gillispie said. “We’ve got eight seniors who just want to battle. They have exceeded my expectations.”