TACOMA — The bright lights of the Tacoma Dome didn’t faze Camas’ girls basketball team.
Neither did a 9 a.m. tip off Wednesday to begin the Class 4A Hardwood Classic because defense travels at all hours of the day.
“You can play defense anytime, anywhere, any place,” coach Scott Thompson said.
That’s been the Papermakers’ bread and butter all season, and a hot-shooting first quarter fizzled the final three in a 46-40 loss to Glacier Peak in Wednesday’s round-of-12 game.
Camas’ season ends at 16-12, but the path to how it got here started and ended with defense.
“Our defense has been really good all through this year,” junior post Faith Bergstrom said. “We’ve focused on our defense and made sure our defense is what defines us.
That, and playing with their backs against the wall.
As the 4A Greater St. Helens’ third-place team, Wednesday was Camas’ fifth loser-out postseason game. In five of those games, Camas held opponents to its lowest point total of the season.
The 46 points by Glacier Peak, a preseason No. 1-ranked team by a number of outlets, is the second-lowest scored this season, second behind Union’s 49-45 win over Glacier Peak in December.
At the start, his team’s hot shooting — a 19-6 first-quarter lead — even surprised Thompson, Camas’ second-year coach. The Papermakers went 4 of 6 on 3s to start that first quarter and earned their first double-digit lead at 22-12.
But in the final three quarters, Camas scored 21 total points and went nearly six minutes scoreless in the third quarter.
“We might’ve started rushing a bit,” Bergstrom said, “and forced ourselves to keep our momentum once we started losing it, instead of doing what had been working.”
Bergstrom finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks Wednesday, but that Papermaker defense is what kept Camas in it in the final quarter.
Glacier Peak led 40-33 to start the fourth, but had just one field goal — Aaliyah Collins’ steal and layin in the final seconds — and four points off free throws.
Meanwhile, Camas inched closer.
A corner 3 by Jalena Carlisle (eight points) and a jumper by freshman Anna Mooney (four) cut the deficit to 42-40 with 2 minutes, 55 seconds to play.
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GLACIER PEAK 46, CAMAS 40
CAMAS — Katelynn Forner 0, Anna Mooney 4, Avery MInich 7, Faith Bergstrom 16, Jalena Carlisle 8, Haylie Johnson 3, Emma Rehrer 0, Kyra Seggewiss 0, Ashley Bauer 2. Totals 21 (5) 3-4 40.
GLACIER PEAK — Aaliyah Collins 13, Shaylin Sande 10, Malia Smith 0, Madison Rubino 8, Maya Erling 3, Grace Godines 3, Kailyn Allison 2, Elyse Waldal 7. Totals 18 (2) 12-20 46
Camas 19 8 6 7 – 40
Glacier Peak 6 23 11 6 – 46
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