Camas girls become the rally makers

For the fourth time during this seven-game winning streak, the Camas High School girls basketball team rallied to victory in the second half.

Battle Ground built a 14-point advantage going into the fourth quarter against the Papermakers Jan. 6. Brenna Khaw delivered 14 points in the final eight minutes to help Camas outscore the Tigers 25-7 to win the game 60-56. Khaw finished the night with 20 points and eight assists.

“It was really amazing,” she said. “The whole crowd thought the game was over. Our coaches told us, ‘Nobody believes in you. You have to believe in yourselves.’ We upped the tempo on defense and that led to threes, twos and easy baskets.”

Teague Schroeder netted 13 points for Camas and Nikki Corbett added 10. Corbett continues to battle back from surgery to repair torn cartilage in her right femur.

“You know she’s hurting out there,” said head coach Chuck Knight. “When you see a kid giving everything she has when she’s not 100 percent, it inspires her teammates.”

Fellow senior Rachel Gray has also been sidelined by a sore ankle. Junior Mia Hunt caught a flu. In the meantime, Camas has found multiple ways to prevail against Evergreen, Union, Kelso, St. Helens, Woodland, Benson Tech and Battle Ground.

“We’ve come from behind in four of those games.,” Knight said. “That says a lot about this team. They never believe they are out of a game.”

Camas (8-3, 3-0) heads to Heritage tonight and Skyview Friday. Tonight’s game starts at 5:30 p.m. Friday’s begins at 6 p.m.

With each victory, the Papermakers are gaining more confidence. Skyview will be a true test.

“They have been a powerhouse for so long. We have the ingredients to become that. It should be a good game,” Khaw said. “In the past, we would get so nervous and scared that we would beat ourselves before the game even started. We can’t allow that to happen this time around. We have to come out confident, focused and ready to play.”