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Camas girls first to secure berth to state with win

Papermakers rally from 14 down in second half to win

The Columbian
Published: February 10, 2017, 11:20pm

Earlier this season, the Camas girls basketball team found itself down to some good teams in non-league.

The Papermakers would rally to make it close, but never could secure the win.

But that changed Friday night in the 4A bi-district tournament.

Down by as many as 14 points in the third quarter, Camas rallied to beat Rogers-Puyallup 60-55 at Stadium High School in Tacoma and secure a berth in the regional round of the state tournament.

“For three quarters, we really weren’t playing well,” Camas coach Scott Preuninger said. “We were down eight halftime, down eight heading into the fourth. And that’s what I told the girls. And then they just came together and got it done.”

Haley Hanson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to kickstart Camas in the fourth quarter. Courtney Clemmer’s three-point play with three minutes left gave Camas a 56-55 lead.

Emma Jones hit two free throws, and Madison Freemon hit two more as Rogers went the final three minutes without scoring.

“Haley has seven (points) in the fourth quarter, Jones had four, Freemon four, Clemmer seven,” Preuninger said. “Meghan Finley didn’t score, but she ran point for us, making good decisions. It was really a good team effort, and I couldn’t be happier for the girls.”

Camas (15-6) will play Auburn Riverside (19-5) on Wednesday in the bi-district semifinal in Puayllup. All four semifinalist are assured of a berth to the state tournament.

Because the state’s Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) will seed teams into state and postseason games don’t factor into the RPI, winning next week won’t help Camas’ position into state.

As of Friday night, Camas was ranked No. 9 in RPI, meaning one team ranked ahead of the Papermakers would have to fail to qualify for state for Camas to be assured a trip to the Tacoma Dome.

“Yeah, it’s kind of weird with RPI,” Preuninger said. “We just have to keep our fingers crossed.

“But even those games next week won’t help us much (in seeding), they’ll be good games to get us ready for state. We’ll play hard, get some kids some experience and go from there.”

A tough non-league schedule left Camas 3-6 at the end of December. Since then, the Papermakers have now won 12 in a row.

“We played teams like Moses Lake and Bellarmine Prep, and we got down early,” Preuninger said. “Then we get within four or five, but could never get over the hump.

“This is the first time that we’ve been able to rally after being down. So that non-league schedule is payoff off for us.”

Clemmer led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds. Hanson finished with 14 points.

CAMAS 60, ROGERS-PUYALLUP 55

ROGERS-PUYALLUP — R. Barrett 15, Hamel 8, Barnett , Coltom 16, Whaley , Campbell , Stallcop , Glasoe , Egan , Westering 12, Wicker 4, Catey . Totals 13 (6) 11-11 55.

CAMAS — Jordyn Wilds , Meghan Finley 7, Jillian Webb 5, Teague Schroeder 3, Haley Hanson 14, Maggie Wells 0, Emma Jones 8, Madison Freemon 4, Stephanie Knight 0, Courtney Clemmer 19, Hannah Booth, Marianna Payne , Kai Warren. Totals 14 (6) 14-15 60.

Rogers 17 15 14 9–55

Camas 9 15 14 22–60

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