Pink out in Camas

The Papermaker girls put on their pink jerseys and beat Mountain View 49-35 on the basketball court Friday, at Camas High School.

But there were no losers on this night, only winners. Both Camas and Mountain View worked together to raise a few thousand dollars for the Kay Yow Foundation for Breast Cancer Research during the fourth annual Hoops 4 Pink Night.

“They represented well both on and off the court tonight. You could really feel the community’s love,” said Camas head coach Chuck Knight. “We had strong representation from our third-grade teams all the way through our high school teams all working together for a good cause. It was a real nice family type of event.”

In the end, senior captains Sydney Allen and Tatum Schroeder had mixed emotions.

“We have both been a part of this for four years, and this was our last one,” Schroeder said. “It was our turn to lead it this year, and we had so much fun.”

“It was so great to see so many people come out tonight and support us,” Allen said. “The crowd pumped every one up. It made you want to play that much harder for them.”

Before the opening tip-off, the announcer asked if there were any breast cancer survivors in the audience. The few who remained standing received a rose from a Camas or Mountain View player.

One person in particular was on the Papermakers’ minds, Christina Bonazelli. She is the mother of Camas junior varsity player Rachel Bonazelli, and a survivor of breast cancer. All of the Camas girls varsity players wrote Christina’s name in pink ink on their arms for the game.

“We played for her tonight, and for all our survivors,” Schroeder said.

During the game, Allen and company delivered a defensive clinic on Mountain View’s leading scorer Carly Holboke. Coming into the contest, Holboke scored 39 points Jan. 3 against Fort Vancouver and 46 points Jan. 7 against Hudson’s Bay. On Friday, she was held to just 11 points.

“I knew I could play her close and take her shot away,” Allen said. “And if she got by me, I knew someone was always there to help. We played as five players together. Somebody was always helping, and it was a continuous cycle.”

Allen finished with 10 points and 7 steals. Jenka Stiasna added 10 points and 8 rebounds. She scored eight of Camas’ points out of the gate in the third quarter.

Lauren Neff delivered 8 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Schroeder ignited the offensive attack with 7 assists.

“I just read the defense, saw the opportunity and got the ball to them,” she said. “We’re a team. I don’t focus on individual points.”

Kendra Preuninger provided 8 points. Sierra Brown added 6 points and 7 rebounds. Brenna Khaw came off the bench and swished a big 3-pointer.

“Brenna is really learning this year,” Knight said. “She’s always listening in practice, and giving a 110 percent during games. You can’t say that about a lot of freshmen.”

The win over Mountain View gives Camas (10-4, 5-1) a firm grasp on second place in league. The second go around through league starts today at Kelso. Tip off is at 7 p.m.

“We want to take things one game at a time, and keep getting better every day. We want to be playing our best basketball of the year at the end of the season,” Knight said. “These are great kids. I hope they continue to push themselves like they have all year so far.”