Washougal siblings Stephen and Haven Camden, and Wyatt and Jessica Eakins, are four of the 13 Panthers who are going to the Tacoma Dome this weekend to wrestle for a state medal.
After snatching four first place medals at Propstra Pool Thursday, Seth Albert helped the Camas High School boys swimmers hoist up the 4A district championship trophy. "It's a little heavy," Albert said, still catching his breath and rinsing the sting out of his arms after a perfect day in the water. The senior won both the 200- and the 100-meter freestyle races before helping the Papermakers win the 200 and the 400 freestyle relay events. "I came into the pool today saying 'I'm going to get a first place medal.' I didn't expect to get four," Albert said. "I'm competitive. I love being first in everything. I don't like to get second."
The Washougal Panthers hosted their first district playoff game Saturday, but Brad Wallace and the River Ridge Hawks spoiled the party. Wallace delivered 25 of his 30 points in the second half to lead the Hawks to a 54-51 victory in front of a packed house at Washougal High School. He also nailed the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left on the clock. All the Panthers had time for was a desperation shot that deflected off the glass as the final buzzer sounded. "That kid just hit an incredible shot with a hand in his face," said head coach Malcolm Estes. "We played hard. The breaks just didn't fall our way in the end."
The Washougal Panthers hosted their first district playoff game Saturday, but Brad Wallace and the River Ridge Hawks spoiled the party. Wallace delivered 25 of his 30 points in the second half to lead the Hawks to a 54-51 victory in front of a packed house in the Washougal High School jungle gym. Wallace's game-winning 3-point basket with 1.1 second on the clock was his fifth in the half. Washougal seniors Michael McElory and Aaron Deister each netted 15 points, and Jaden Jantzer added 10. McElory swished a buzzer beater from well behind the 3-point line to bring the Panthers within one point going into the fourth quarter. Jantzer and McElory both hit huge threes in the fourth quarter, but Washougal couldn't hold to either one of those leads.
Seth Albert, Alec Geenty, Trent Harimoto, Jeffery Lee, Nick Panebianco, Ian Walker and Jake Yraceburu have been district swimming champions all four years at Camas High School. The Papermakers racked up 459 points to capture 4A district title Thursday, at Propstra Pool in Vancouver. Skyview finished in second place with 323 points. Kasey Calwell, Yraceburu, Lucas Ulmer and John Utas got the meet started off with a bang by winning the 200-meter medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 40.57 seconds. From then on, Camas won eight of the remaining 10 events.
Washougal resident and historian Roger Daniels will be inducted into the Clark College Athletics Hall of Fame Saturday. The ceremony takes place from 5 to 6:30 p.m., at the Gaiser Hall Student Center, 1933 Fort Vancouver Way. The other inductees are Dracy Church (track and basketball), Ted Farnsworth (meritorious service), Jim Johnson (basketball), Erin Tharp (basketball), Darryl White (basketball), the 1947 men’s basketball team, the 1956 baseball team, the 1956 men’s basketball team and the 1956 track and field team.
Four champions, nine regional qualifiers and six other medallists helped the Washougal boys wrestling team win the 2A sub-regional tournament Saturday, at Washougal High School. "I won my bracket, but there are a lot of other champions out there," said co-captain Stephen Camden. "It all starts in practice. We go out there and push each other hard every day to represent Washougal the best that we can. I'm always going to remember winning this trophy." Bursitis in his knee sidelined Camden for a month, but the senior looked like he hadn't lost a step on Saturday. Camden pinned Jacob Mather of R.A. Long in the quarterfinals and Gunnar Long of Ridgefield in the semifinals. He then beat Ridgefield's Clayton Farr 19-13 for the 160-pound championship medal.
Five Papermakers entered the Camas warehouse Saturday, and climbed the ladder to the final round of the Southwest Washington 4A district wrestling tournament. One of them came down the chute as champion. Tye Lommasson defeated Jordan Moore of Evergreen 12-3 in the 126-pound championship match. The Camas High School junior also beat teammate Gavin Grable and Battle Ground's Colten Blake in their earlier rounds. Grable turned around from his loss to Lommasson and grabbed third place. Both Papermakers generated 36 points to the team score. "The view from the top is amazing," Lommasson said. "I'll remember all the hard work I put in and the teammates I wrestled with. We made some good memories."
After a deflating loss at Mark Morris, the Washougal High School boys basketball team turned the corner and defeated Hockinson for the first time in school history. "This win shows the maturation of this team," said head coach Malcolm Estes. "The next play is all that matters. These boys do such a great job of fighting on. They're better at it than me." Hockinson hit a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the game, but Jaden Jantzer tied it up with a three of his own for the Panthers. The teams traded baskets on the next few plays. Aaron Deister delivered two points off a steal and Michael McElroy drove around the defenders to score four points, but the Washougal students stayed in their seats and bit down on their tongues.
Backed by the best record since Charlie Boyce became head coach six years ago, the 11-9 Washougal girls basketball team is going to River Ridge Friday to play in the first round of the district tournament. "We're going to go out there and play hard, scrap, run as fast as we can and hope things turn our way," Boyce said. "We couldn't have gotten this far without our seniors. This is such a great opportunity for them and the ones we have coming back." This is a dream come true for seniors Savanna McDowell and Megan Townsend. This rest of the Panthers are underclassmen. "It just feels awesome to have a winning season," Townsend said. "Our entire team deserves it."
