Thomas steps down as Camas girls basketball coach

It’s basketball season again. Well, kind of. Time for summer ball for high school teams, and Kent Thomas knows he is missing out on a few things.

“I miss the gym. I miss open gym. I miss practice. I miss the kids,” said Thomas, the former Camas girls basketball coach who resigned last month. “That part’s hard. But on the other hand, the scheduling and the coordination, I don’t miss that.”

Thomas, who led the Papermakers to a stunning victory over Prairie to win the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League’s district tournament championship this winter, stepped down because of time conflicts with his new job.

“The last three years or so that I’ve been able to coach, I’ve had a job that allowed me and afforded me the time to do it,” Thomas said.

But Thomas changed jobs recently.

“I really love my new job,” he said, noting he is in marketing.

But the new job came at the cost of his coaching job.

“I couldn’t afford to do both anymore,” he said.

He also said the Papermakers deserve a coach who could be there for them.

“The program, I believe, is in much better shape than it was three or four years ago,” Thomas said. “I feel good for where it is, and it’s time for somebody else.”

He laughed when he was asked about his most memorable moment as the coach, even trying to find other moments other than the obvious one.

“The very first game that I coached as a varsity coach, we got killed by 40 points by Skyview,” he said. “I could probably tell you every possession of that first half. But it would be pretty tough to not answer with our district title.”

It was Feb. 19, 2010. Camas 59, Prairie 47.

The victory ended Prairie’s 10-year streak of beating Clark County opponents. And for a week, Camas was the talk of girls basketball in Southwest Washington.

The Papermakers missed out on their opportunity to go to state, though.

Thomas said next season’s Papermakers should make it to Tacoma.

“It’s hard to walk away from a team that will be in the state tournament next year,” Thomas said. “The team that’s coming back is going to be a helluva team. It’s not a question of if they go to state next year, it’s what seed will they get.”

Terry Cavender, Camas’ athletic director, said he will take his time in finding a replacement “so we can attract a good candidate pool and hire the right person for the job.”

Thomas said he will attend as many games as he can next year, and he will be rooting for the Papermakers.