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Camas boys come out with the press and pound Skyview early in 82-68 victory over Storm

Full-court press led to early 24-5 lead for the Papermakers

By Tim Martinez, Columbian Assistant Sports Editor
Published: January 14, 2025, 11:16pm
11 Photos
Ethan Harris (35) of Camas dunks the ball against Skyview in a 4A Greater St. Helens League boys basketball game at Camas High School on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.
Ethan Harris (35) of Camas dunks the ball against Skyview in a 4A Greater St. Helens League boys basketball game at Camas High School on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (Tim Martinez/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

CAMAS — The Camas boys basketball coach Brian Witherspoon likes to say five fingers make a fist.

In other words, five players together is stronger than five individuals.

With that fist, the Papermakers hit Skyview with a full-court press that paved the way to an 82-68 victory over the Storm in a 4A Greater St. Helens League game on Tuesday.

“The goal was just to come in with energy, punch them in the mouth and shock them with something they haven’t seen before,” senior Cade Washington said. “And that’s what we did with the press.”

Opening the game with a full-court press, the Papermakers flustered the Storm early, surging out to a 24-5 lead.

“They guys wanted to do it,” Witherspoon said of the press. “We try to give them a voice. Whatever they feel good about, we give them an opportunity to do it. They were pumped about it, so we were pumped about it.”

With the 6-foot-8 Harris in the middle of the press, it allowed the junior to use his length to disrupt passes on the press.

Once the Papermakers forced a turnover, Harris was right in the middle of the transition. He had 13 points during the Papermakers’ 24-5 opening.

Despite scoring a game-high 32 points, Harris said it was not all about him.

“Something that our coach says is ‘five fingers make a fist,’ ” Harris said. “That’s really what we went into this game with. There’s no one person doing everything. It’s always like making that extra pass, making the good to the great pass.”

Skyview fought back in the second quarter, twice getting within seven points of Camas. But Harris scored the Papermakers’ last 10 points of the half, including a late 3-pointer to send Camas into halftime up 44-34.

Camas maintained that advantage in the second half. After the Storm opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, Camas quickly built the lead back to 13 points, and the Storm never got any closer than nine points the rest of the way.

“We just kept the energy high,” Harris said. “Even when they hit a 3, we never let the energy die out. Like we always kept it positive, kept it going. We knew we were going to do great.”

Washington had 16 second-half points to finish with 21 points. Ryan Hanson led Skyview with 25 points.

After going 2-2 against tough competition at the Les Schwab Invitational last month, the Papermakers have posted four straight double-digit victories, including the last two that helped them open 4A GSHL play at 2-0.

“Les Schwab was a really cool experience,” Washington said. “We played against a lot of good teams, and it taught us that we got to stay together as a team. There are going to be runs (in games), and I feel like tonight even though Skyview made their run, our experience from the Les Schwab helped us to bounce back, keep fighting and keep playing.”

CAMAS 82, SKYVIEW 68

SKYVIEW — Landon Webb 14, Braxten Richardson 0, Gavin Packer 2, Ryan Hanson 25, Malakai Weimer 10, Andy O’Brine 8, Zander White 3, Spencer Hascall 0, Tycen Haij 6, Jordan Howard 0, Zeno Calastas 0. Totals 23 (11) 11-14 68.

CAMAS — Blake Wilson 0, Carson Meyer 0, Carter Morgan 3, Cade Washington 21, Nyima Namru 7, Jace VanVoorhis 11, Channing Nesland 8, Sami Mustafa 0, Max Rayan 0, Ethan Sobolik 0, Ethan Harris 32, Landon Frost 0, Kellen Dufner  0. Totals 34 (10) 4-7 82.

Skyview            10          24          16          18—68

Camas               26          18          19          19—82

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