February 26, 2012
On the sidelines: Camas takes the ride of a lifetime
Franklin defeats the Camas High School girls basketball team in the Sweet 16 game 53-43 Saturday, at Bellevue Community College.
Franklin defeats the Camas High School girls basketball team in the Sweet 16 game 53-43 Saturday, at Bellevue Community College.
Washougal boys basketball team loses to North Thurston for the second time Tuesday night, but the Panthers still brought home a fourth-place trophy from the district tournament.
Students were out of school Monday, but not the Camas High School girls basketball team. Two days after qualifying for the Sweet 16 for the first time in 34 years, the Papermakers got back to work. While the school’s hallways and classrooms were empty, they were bouncing basketballs in the gym during the early hours of the morning before heading back up to Clover Park High School in Lakewood to play their fourth game in six days. "It feels good," said senior co-captian Sydney Allen. "We haven't been this far since '78."
Are you a believer in the Washougal High School boys basketball team? The Panthers did everything in their power Saturday to change people's minds. They rallied from 13 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat W.F. West of Chehalis 58-57, at Mark Morris High School in Longview. "That was the best basketball game I've ever played in," said junior forward Aaron Deister. "We don't give up. That's for sure." Tonight's third-place game in Chehalis features a return bout between Washougal (14-9) and North Thurston from the first round. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m. The Panthers lost by only three points the last time, before beating Black Hills Wednesday and W.F. West Saturday for a shot at redemption.
Mat Classic XXIV turned Tyler Weiss upside down Saturday, but the Camas High School senior got right side up and grabbed a third-place medal. Weiss rolled past Harley Kolp of Kamiakin 8-2 and Boyce Johnson of Sedro Woolley in the first two rounds of the 3A 132-pound state championship bracket Friday. In the semifinals Saturday morning, Weiss held a 2-0 advantage over Jessie Lopez of Everett with 20 seconds left on the clock. Camas assistant coach Alan Bohac said Weiss was grinding Lopez into the mat and wearing him down, but the referee turned the tables by penalizing Weiss for stalling and awarding Lopez with two points. All the sudden, the match was tied and continued into overtime.
The Washougal boys basketball team's 13-point come from behind victory capped off an exciting weekend of hoops, gymnastics, swimming and wrestling.
Prairie is the class of the 3A Greater St. Helens girls basketball league, but Camas remains a close rival. The Falcons defeated the Papermakers 59-42 Friday, at Fort Vancouver High School, to win their 14th district championship in the past 15 seasons. Camas was the only team to stop the streak in 2010. Since then, Prairie has won the last six contests between these two teams. It was no different Friday. The Falcons gained a 12-5 advantage out of the gate, before the Papermakers got back within two points before the end of the first quarter. Brenna Khaw nailed a huge 3-pointer and Jenka Stiasna brought down a big rebound, drew a foul and made both shots from the free-throw line. Camas would not get any closer. Prairie put together an 18-4 scoring drive in the second quarter before Kendra Preuninger hit a 3-pointer for Camas before halftime. The Falcons opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run. By the fourth quarter, they led by 20.
Eighteen finalists propelled the Papermaker boys swimmers to their third straight district championship trophy Saturday, at Kelso High School. Camas generated 406 points to squash the competition in the seven-team meet. Mountain View was second with 248 points. "I'll remember everything about this meet,' said senior Lucas Ulmer. "We had so many kids in the consolations and the finals. The amount of kids that made it this far really surprised me."
Five Camas Papermakers and two Washougal Panthers will have the opportunity to wrestle for a state medal Friday and Saturday, at Mat Classic XXIV inside the Tacoma Dome. Tyler Weiss settled for second place at 132 pounds in the 3A regional tournament last weekend at Bonney Lake High School. Weiss looked good in victories over David Boone of Auburn Mountainview and David Griffith of Capital, but Dillon Harris of Yelm got the best of him in the finals by the score of 2-0. "It was a great match for Tyler against the number-one ranked wrestler in the state," said Camas head coach Glenn Hartman. "He only gave up one take down and hung with that guy the whole time. He was really disappointed, but I think he learned a lot from that loss."
Little Camas has eight high school athletes who are ready for the big time. On National Signing Day Wednesday, Emily Ainsworth, Austin Barr, Kamari Brown, Michael Koceja, John Payne, Mikaela Searight and Jonathan Warner scribbled their signatures to commit to colleges all over the country. After the Camas football team reached the state semifinals at the Tacoma Dome for the first time in school history, Warner decided to follow in his father Curt Warner's footsteps to Penn State University. Curt Warner is a member of the Penn State Hall of Fame who had a successful NFL career as a running back for the Seattle Seahawks. "I want to take all that I learned here in Camas with me and help start a new legacy at Penn State," said the younger Warner. "I put a lot of hard work into this year. I'm not just going to stop working now. I still got a lot of goals to reach for."
