Hot-shooting 3A squad knocks off 4A team in WIBCA all-state basketball game

As soon as the 3-point shot left his hands, Timberline High School’s Hunter Campau knew it was short.

So in the next timeout, Campau did what he always does when he misses everything - he did 25 push-ups behind the bench of Class 3A all stars at the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Association (WIBCA) all-state game.

“It is a team rule (at Timberline),” Campau said. “And we were just having fun with it.”

It was a rare miss for Campau and the team as the 3A all stars sank 21 3-pointers to bury the 4A team, 127-100, on Saturday night at Curtis High School.

Franklin High School senior Maurice Barnett led the way with a game-high 33 points with one of the more interesting statistical lines - five 3-pointers and five dunks. Campau added 20 points and four assists, also making five 3-pointers.

The 3A team shot a blistering 54.2 percent from the floor (52 of 96).

As for Campau, it was an opportunity to play one more high school basketball game before heading off to Central Washington University to play football.

Throughout the season, he had researched some of the highlight videos of other standout players around the state, including Barnett.

All he saw was Barnett’s great leaping ability on dunks.

“Honestly, I was surprised (at his 3-point shooting),” Campau said. “We just kept feeding him the ball.”

At the end of the first half, the 6-foot-4 Barnett went off from deep 3-point range to put this game out of reach.

The first one was right over the top of one of 4A’s top players - Skyview’s Alex Schumacher, who led his team with 23 points.

“When he pulled the first one right in my face, I was like, ‘OK, we will see,’” Schumacher said. “Then he hit a few more, and I knew he was a good shooter.”

Barnett hit a second one, then got a steal and went the other way.

The final of three 3-pointers in a 40-second span was way behind the arc. It went swish, and it gave the 3A team a 62-40 lead with 30 seconds remaining.

“All star games are for offense,” said 4A coach Tim Kelly, who was in his own gymnasium at Curtis High School.

Capital’s Kevin Penner hit a pair of 3-pointers for the 3A squad to score six points. Wilson’s Daniel Santana added all six of his points in the first half.

“Our coach (O’Dea’s Jason Kerr) just said to have fun and play hard,” Campau said.

PEPPER LEADS 2A TEAM TO VICTORY

Selah High School’s Elijah Pepper insists he hasn’t always been a deadly perimeter shooter with unlimited range.

In fact, he said early on in basketball, he had horrible form.

“It was not very good,” Pepper said. “But ever since seventh grade, I usually get 500 shots up at 5 a.m. And I continue to work on it.”

Pepper, a UC Davis signee, tallied a team-high 30 points, leading the 2A team to a 110-98 victory over the 1A squad - which got a game-high 35 points, including eight 3-pointers from Michigan signee Cole Bajema, of Lynden Christian.

Foss High School’s Micah Pollard added 11 points for the 2A all stars, including a pair of dunks and a blocked shot in the first half.

BOX SCORES

3A ALL STARS 127, 4A ALL STARS 100

3A: 62-65: 127

4A: 44-56: 100

3A: Shaw Anderson 9, Kyle Luttinen 16, Daniel Santana 6, RaeQuan Battle 15, Abdul Mohamed 10, Nikola Trifunovic 12, Maurice Barnett 33, Hunter Campau 20, Chris Penner 6, Anthony Whitis.

4A: Kimball Cottam 10, Christian Liddell 6, Ben Oleson 9, Ethan Smith 13, Fletcher Douglas 15, Colten Northrop 7, Zack Paulsen 2, Carter Sonneborn 6, Alex Schumacher 23, Garrett Streufert 6.

2A ALL STARS 110, 1A ALL STARS 98

This story was originally published March 25, 2019 at 9:46 AM.