ROARING RIVALRY

The Camas girls basketball team finished the deal with Union Friday, but the boys ended up digesting another bitter pill.

Senior Night started off right for the Papermakers when Rachel Rice, the only senior on the Camas girls team, delivered the first basket of the game.

Rice also served Brenna Khaw and Nikki Corbett passes on a silver platter to help the Papermakers put the finishing touches on a 37-30 victory against the Titans.

Although the Camas girls beat Union 52-35 on Jan. 14, this win solidified second place for the Papermakers in the 4A Greater St. Helens League.

“It felt even better this time, even though it was a closer game,” Rice said. “We didn’t come out as hard as we should have in the second half, but we calmed down, played good defense and we pulled it out.”

The Titans outscored the Papermakers 13-4 in the third quarter, before suffering a scoring drought that lasted about six minutes. Camas humbled Union on defense and turned the tables on offense. Corbett caught a pass from Khaw, slammed into a defender and still made the basket. Rice fed Khaw on the move to the hoop for two more points. After Corbett finished off another crisp pass by Rice, the victory was in the bag.

“It was a game of streaks,” said head coach Chuck Knight. “Hats off to Union for hitting good shots, and hats off to our girls for responding the way they did.”

The Papermakers rolled along with a balanced attack. Corbett led with 13 points, Khaw added nine, Rice scored six, Rachel Gray netted five and Meghan Finley finished with four.

Kicked in the gut

Micah Paulson scored 23 of his 24 points in the second half to help the Titan boys basketball team pull off a 57-51 victory against the Papermakers. Camas led for three quarters, before Union turned the tables with a 20-11 fourth quarter.

The Titans buried a 3-pointer to go up by nine points with three minutes left in the game. Brandon Nguyen made a foul shot and Camas got the ball right back on a charge.

The Papermakers lost possession, but Jake Hansel stole the ball and put it in the basket before the Titans could react. Camas rebounded a Union miss, and then Nguyen dialed it in from long range to make it a 3-point game. At that moment, the Camas warehouse was bursting at the seams.

Nick Lopes scored his 15th point of the game at the foul line. He also set a perfect screen for Trevor Jasinsky, which led to two more Camas points. But Union scored six points at the foul line during the final minute to pull away. Lopes and Nguyen both finished with 15 points for the Papermakers, and Jasinsky added 11.