Martinez: Seton girls, Camas boys make most of long road through state basketball

The Cougars (19-6) opened the season 2-6. But the losses came against Rainier and Adna — the top two seeded teams in Class 2B — 1A state playoff team Annie Wright, two tough Oregon teams (Jesuit and Valley Catholic) as well as 4A state team Camas.

But since the calendar flipped to 2025, the Cougars are undefeated. Saturday’s win was Seton’s 17th straight.

Junior Riley Seymer said the Cougars are a different team now in March than when they were back in December.

“I think we’ve definitely all grown,” Seymer said. “We were just talking about that in the locker room. From Game 1 to now, it’s just insane. Like all the work we’ve done has paid off.”

The Cougars fed off the experience gained together on the basketball court, but also by playing in other sports at Seton.

This week will mark Seymer’s second trip to the Yakima SunDome. She played there as a member of Seton’s volleyball team in the state tournament last fall.

CJ Moore, Hailey Hammerstrom, Tiffany Sheldon and Emma Whitehouse were all members of the Seton girls soccer team that reached the state semifinals last fall.

All made significant contributions to the Cougars’ win on Saturday.

“I felt like those experiences just changed these girls’ mindset,” Kent said. “They knew that it is a grind, but they also knew that they belonged.”

Seton Catholic will play the winner of No. 13 Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls and No. 5 Annie Wright at 12:15 p.m. Thursday at the SunDome.

The Camas boys basketball team knew they likely lost out on a chance on earning a top-4 seed when they stumbled against Auburn in the 4A bi-district tournament title game on Feb. 22.

But as the No. 5 seed, the Papermakers drew a tough draw in No. 4 Richland.

The Bombers were 4A state runners-up last season and opened this season 22-0 before falling to Gonzaga Prep in the District 8 title game.

Despite making a three-hour trip to Richland to play on the Bombers’ home floor before a packed crowd, the Papermakers fended off the Bombers for a 59-57 win on Saturday.

Coach Brian Witherspoon said his players embraced their situation.

“We came in as the underdog,” Witherspoon said. “We were the guys on the bottom, instead being on top. I like having that mentality for the guys. There’s not as much pressure. But no matter how you’re seeded, you still have to go out and play your best basketball.”

Witherspoon said the long ride to Richland didn’t take anything out of the Papermakers. If anything, it got them more fired up to play.

“When we got here, I asked the guys how they felt,” Witherspoon said. “And they were ready to go. I felt pretty positive from there.”

The Papermakers (22-4) will need fresh legs again on Thursday in the state quarterfinals. Camas will face the winner of No. 3 Glacier Peak or No. 14 Arlington at 9 a.m. at the Tacoma Dome.

But they hope Saturday’s win will give them some momentum heading to Tacoma.

“It’s a one win right now, but we want to be playing at the dome on the last day,” senior Jace VanVoorhis said. “So it’s just one more stepping stone.”