4A district semis: Auburn claws out win against Puyallup, Camas beats Olympia

Auburn senior guard Carter Hansen came through in the clutch as the Trojan boys basketball team pulled out a 63-57 victory over Puyallup in a Tuesday Class 4A District 3/4 tournament semifinal.

With the shot clock winding down to four seconds, Hansen drew a foul while leaping up in the air to fire off a wild shot from 3-point range.

Hansen hit all three of his free throws, turning what had been only a 53-51 lead for Auburn to a 56-51 advantage with 2:03 to play in the game.

“Once I heard it was four seconds I thought I had to get a shot off and got fouled,” said Hansen after the win in his home gymnasium.

“We started to yell go, go, go,” said Hansen’s father Ryan Hansen, the Trojans’ head coach.

Auburn returns to its own floor to play for its fourth straight bi-district title at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The Trojans will find themselves pitted against a tall and talented Camas team that includes 6-foot-8 junior forward Ethan Harris, who scored 27 points with the help of six 3-point baskets in the Papermakers’ 63-46 semifinal win over Olympia in Tuesday’s first game of a doubleheader at Auburn.

“Camas is really good,” Ryan Hansen said. “Ethan Harris is a talented ballplayer.”

Carter Hansen led the Trojans with 22 points Tuesday in a game where they had their hands full against Puyallup senior guard Drew Jones.

Jones led all scorers with 25 points for coach Kevin Olson’s Vikings while also taking home a Sportsmanship Award along with Auburn’s Elijah Jones.

“Drew Jones hit some amazing shots,” Ryan Hansen said.

Jones was backed up by the 20 points of Will Nasinec with no one else reaching double figures for Puyallup

Daniel Johnson and Miles Henry hit 13 each in a more balanced Auburn attack as Isaiah England tossed in 10.

The Trojans improved to 22-1 overall with the win as Puyallup, which finished the tournament in a third place tie with Olympia, fell to 20-6.

“It was a grinder,” Ryan Hansen said of the game. “Nothing is pretty this time of year. That’s where we wanted to hang out hat is on defense and rebounding.”

NO. 1 CAMAS 63, NO. 4 OLYMPIA 46

Ethan Harris hit 27 points to pace the Camas Papermakers in a 63-46 District 3/4 Class 4A boys basketball tournament semifinal victory over Olympia Tuesday.

The 6-foot-8 junior forward buried six 3-point baskets in the victory in the Auburn High School gymnasium.

“He’s a big time player,” said Camas head coach Brian Witherspoon of Harris.

The Papermakers will return to Auburn to play the host Trojans at 6 p.m. Saturday.

“We’re looking forward to coming back up,” Witherspoon said.

The Papermakers of Southwest Washington had the win set up in part by Tuesday’s trip north, according to their coach.

“The guys stayed locked in on the ride here,” Witherspoon said. “There was no silliness. We knew it would be a tough place to get a W.”

Camas improved to 20-4 on the year as the Bears fell to the same mark. Olympia finishes the tournament in a tie for third place with Puyallup.

Both the Bears and Vikings already qualified for state regional play next week along with Camas and Auburn.

Witherspoon and the Papermakers found Olympia to be a feisty foe.

“We knew it would be a very physical battle,” Witherspoon said. “Olympia is a tough team “

Nyima Namru scored 15 points for Camas behind Harris as Cade Washington added 13 and Jace VanVoorhis eight.

Kingston Stanciu led the Bears with 16 points and Julian Zapata was next with eight.

This story was originally published February 18, 2025 at 11:06 PM.