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Sports

February 21, 2012
Jaden Jantzer (33) glides to the hoop for two of his 12 points off the bench for the Panthers in the district playoffs Saturday, at Mark Morris High School. He also hit two big 3-pointers in the game.

Don’t stop believing in Washougal

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.

February 21, 2012
Washougal sophomore Erin Locke sets Lakewood's Allison Lawton up for a rough landing Friday, during the 2A state wrestling tournament at the Tacoma Dome. Locke brought home an eighth-place medal.

A topsy-turvy finish for wrestlers at state

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.

February 19, 2012

On the sidelines: The perfect story

The Washougal boys basketball team's 13-point come from behind victory capped off an exciting weekend of hoops, gymnastics, swimming and wrestling.

February 14, 2012
Jenka Stiasna puts the ball in the basket for Camas in the district championship game against Prairie Friday, at Fort Vancouver High School. The Falcons defeated the Papermakers 59-42.

Prairie girls beat Camas in district championship game again

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.

February 14, 2012
Camas swimmers Nick Kabel, Kasey Calwell and Trent Harimoto (left to right) celebrate with John Utas after they set a new Kelso swimming pool record time of 1 minute, 32.02 seconds in the 200-meter freestyle relay.

Papermakers outscore Mountain View 409-248 for the crown

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."

February 14, 2012

Wrestlers face bumpy road en route to the Tacoma Dome

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."

February 7, 2012
Camas High School seniors Austin Barr, Michael Koceja, Emily Ainsworth, Jonathan Warner, Olivia Lovell, John Payne and Kamari Brown (left to right) smile for the camera on National College Signing Day.

Dreams do come true for eight CHS seniors Wednesday

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."

February 7, 2012

First high school bike race at Washougal

The Washington High School Cycling League offers a mountain biking program for Camas and Washougal high school students to ride locally and compete against riders from all over the state. In the league's inaugural season in 2011, the Clark County Mudslingers captured second place out of 14 total teams in the state. The 10 riders from Camas, Washougal and Vancouver formed the largest team in the league. This spring, there will be three teams from Southwest Washington blazing the trails. The first one is a Camas High School specific club led by Camas Bike and Sport owner Ed Fischer and his staff. The other two are composite teams based out of Vancouver and Woodland. The league will have its first race at the Washougal Motocross Park on Sunday, April 15. Fischer said he hopes this race generates enough interest to create a team in Washougal. In the meantime, anybody from the high school is welcome to join the Vancouver composite team.

February 1, 2012
Left to right: Camas High School seniors Austin Barr, Michael Koceja, Emily Ainsworth, Jonathan Warner, Olivia Lovell, John Payne and Kamari Brown smile for the camera on National College Signing Day.

On the sidelines: National College Signing Day

The best part about being on the sidelines is watching the teams and the athletes you cover accomplish some pretty amazing things. You get to ask them questions, tap into their emitions and share their stories.