Sumner holds its own, but top-seeded Camas pulls away in 4A semifinal
The Spartans had a plan. And for a half, Sumner executed the plan almost to perfection.
Even as Camas rained down 3-pointers early on, the Spartans refused to come out far enough to open up the middle for the Papermakers 6-foot-2 inside force Addison Harris. And when the Papermakers shooters cooled off from the perimeter, Sumner climbed back into the first state 4A girls semifinal at the Tacoma Dome.
The Spartans, though, couldn’t keep Harris contained all afternoon and Camas got back in front in the third quarter, extending its advantage in the fourth for a 60-48 victory. The Papermakers advanced to its second straight championship game that will be played at 5 p.m. on Saturday night.
A year ago, Camas lost a 48-41 decision to Eastlake in the title contest.
“We’ve been waiting for this moment for a whole year,” Camas coach Scott Thompson said. “It’s great to be back, but ultimately there’s no time to bask in the glory of victory. It’s time to work. And it’s time to give our best effort tomorrow.”
The Papermakers trailed Sumner at the half on Friday thanks to three 3-pointers from the Spartans in the final 1 minute, 44 seconds of the second quarter. Olivia Collins hit two of them, her second with just five seconds remaining before the break to stake Sumner to a 26-25 lead.
“There’s no doubt we had a game plan for them, and I think we executed it really well for a half,” Sumner coach Katie Hyppa said. “Obviously, in the second half we got beat on the boards and ultimately that’s what beat us.”
Camas outrebounded the Spartans in the second half, 22-12. Most of those came courtesy of Harris, who grabbed seven of her game-high 10 boards after the break. Harris also added 12 of her team-high 21 points in the second half.
“They kind of got us back on our heels in the first half,” Harris said. “We were able to come back from that, just wanting it more.”
Harris scored the first six Camas points of the third quarter and the Papermakers turned that one-point deficit into a 33-29 lead on a Reagan Jamison runner with 4:49 to go in the quarter. The Camas lead grew to as many as eight, at 41-33, with 1:34 to go in the third when Sumner missed five of its eight free throws during the period.
Leading by six, 43-37, entering the fourth, the Papermakers built the advantage to 60-45 with just 10 seconds left before Olivia Collins made a long 3-pointer, her fifth of the game, for the final score. Collins led all scorers for the Spartans with 24 points to go with eight rebounds of her own.
This story was originally published March 1, 2024 at 6:34 PM.