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Prep notebook: Camas senior Keirra Thompson changes jersey number in memory of a mentor

By Columbian staff
Published: December 24, 2024, 1:19pm
2 Photos
Camas senior Keirra Thompson (5) moves around a defender Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, during the Papermakersǃ٠63-49 loss to A.C. Davis at Camas High School.
Camas senior Keirra Thompson (5) moves around a defender Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, during the Papermakersǃ٠63-49 loss to A.C. Davis at Camas High School. (Taylor Balkom/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

Camas senior point guard Keirra Thompson is known for her flashy passes and no-look assists as one of the state’s elite point guards.

Ask her about John Griffin, the team’s late assistant coach who died in August at age 64, and she’ll dish up how his impact and influence on her and her teammates was second to none.

“He was great to our program,” Thompson said Friday after the team’s 63-49 loss to top-ranked and unbeaten Davis of Yakima. “He was the one who taught us our defense. We pride ourselves on our defense and it all started with him. He taught us a lot.”

This season, Thompson decided to change her signature No. 35 uniform number for No. 5 to honor Griffin. The two share an Aug. 5 birthday.

“It was a no-brainer,” Thompson said.

Griffin died Aug. 31 after battling prostate cancer. He spent more than 35 years in education as a teacher, coach and administrators at Clark County schools. In 1995, he led Mountain View girls basketball to a state runner-up finish.

More recently, he served as an assistant coach at Camas under head coach Scott Thompson at Camas. Griffin was on the bench for the team’s final game last March when the Papermakers defeated Gonzaga Prep at the Tacoma Dome for the program’s first state title.

A banner of Griffin also hangs alongside all varsity girls basketball player banners inside Camas’ gymnasium.

Senior Sophie Buzzard, who had a team-best 19 points Friday in the team’s first loss of the season, praised Griffin’s spirit and energy.

“He always brought positive things to this team,” she said, “and taught us what we know ever since we were freshmen and it just carries on through the program.”

Fun at Moda Center

Getting to play basketball on an NBA floor is an opportunity of a lifetime.

So Heritage boys basketball coach Ashton Clark want to make sure his players made the most it when the Timberwolves played Fort Vancouver on Saturday at the Moda Center in Portland.

And Clark didn’t pass on the chance either, joining his players in pre-game warmups in trying to knock down an NBA 3-pointer.

“It’s amazing,” Clark said. “I feel like everybody is a kid again, coaches included.”

It also brought a matchup of two former players now coaching at their alma mater — Clark at Heritage and James Jones at Fort.

“James Jones is a friend of mine,” Clark said. “I grew up playing against him and at Fort as well. We got together last summer, and he’s like ‘We got to play each other, man.’ And then it was ‘let’s do at the Moda Center.’ ”

The Heritage-Fort game was one of five high school games Saturday at the Moda Center as part of the Court of Dreams event hosted by Pure Focus Sports.

After Fort closed within 39-35 early in the fourth quarter, The Timberwolves went on 15-3 run to pull away for a 65-51 win.

The win improved Heritage to 4-6 on the season. Seniors Tyrell Cash and Jose Zacarias led the Timberwolves with 18 and 17 points respectively.

Zacarias has been on the Heritage varsity squad since his freshman season, Clark’s first as Heritage’s head coach. The Timberwolves have nine seniors on the roster.

“This is Year Four for us as a staff,” Clark said. “Having that group (of seniors) start with us and seeing them all the way through is great. It takes a while to build a program. So it’s really cool to have that large group of seniors. It’s been a while since we’ve had this many seniors.

Winners at Hammerhead

Five local wrestlers came home with titles at the Hammerhead Tournament in Bremerton.

And there was one runner-up finish of note.

Noah Koyama of Union, the defending 4A state champion at 138 pounds, lost in the championship match at 150 pounds at Hammerhead.

After scoring two wins by technical fall and two by fall, Koyama lost to Colby Ducatt of Bonney Lake 7-1 in the title match.

Ducatt placed third at 150 pounds in the 3A state tournament last spring. Bonney Lake moved up to the 4A classification this year.

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Nolen Nelson of Castle Rock won the 157-pound division. Simon Jarrell of Camas was the runner-up at 175 pounds, and Kacen Hamilton of Castle Rock was the runner-up at 126 pounds.

In the girls tournament, Prairie senior Faith Tarrant continued her undefeated career with three wins by pin to win the 235-pound division. Tarrant spent 1 minute, 19 seconds total on the mat in her three matches.

Janessa O’Connell of Union beat Kaylee Lehman of W.F. West to win the 135-pound title. Portia Erickson of Union pinned Gabrielle Berger of Granger to win at 120 pounds.

Other winners included Leah Wallway (105) and Kamiah Gaerlan (115) of Kelso.

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