Sumner dominates second half, knocks out defending champ Camas in 4A state quarterfinal
The defending 4A state champions Camas Papermakers took a haymaker from the Sumner Spartans in the second half of Thursday’s state quarterfinal game at the Tacoma Dome.
Camas led by one at half, only to see the Spartans go on a 26-4 run that spanned the entire third quarter and first two minutes of the fourth to turn a close game into a 61-47 Sumner victory.
“I think we just got off to a rough start,” sophomore guard Kawehi Borden said. “I think we knew from the beginning that we had it. So, at halftime we just collected ourselves and came back, had each other’s backs and had better energy.”
Borden, one of the best players in the state in her class, scored 22 points to lead the Spartans. She shot 8-for-10 from the field and made all five of her free-throw attempts.
“When we needed her, she stepped up big,” Sumner head coach Katie Hyppa said. “She’s done that a lot of times for us this year.”
Junior guard Madison Hughes scored just eight points, but six of them came off two clutch 3s she hit during the third quarter as the Spartans grew their lead. Just as important as anything Sumner did on the offensive end, was what it did on defense. Hughes had her hands all over that too, guarding Camas star senior point guard Keirra Thompson.
“In the first half, they were completely sagged off of her,” Hyppa said. “I think mentally, that kind of got to her. You could tell she was second guessing herself. I told her, ‘You’ve got to be confident. You’ve got to shoot the ball and if you don’t want to shoot the ball, you’ve got to attack the hoop. We need you to win this game.’ She hit two clutch 3s and that got her into a momentum defensively where she was guarding Thompson and came up huge for us.”
Hyppa had nothing but praise for Thompson, who helped the Papermakers win the state championship a year ago. They beat Sumner in the semifinals on the way to winning that championship.
“It’s no secret, she’s one of the best, if not the best point guard in the state,” Hyppa said. “She’s a very, very talented kid. We’ve faced her plenty of times over these last four years. I’m grateful she’s a senior, because she’s a heck of a player. That was one thing, coming into the game we knew we wanted to limit her touches.”
Sumner also doubled up Camas on the boards, grabbing 32 rebounds to just 16 for the Papermakers.
The eighth-seeded Spartans will face No. 4 Woodinville at 7:15 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals. It will be a rematch of the 2022 state championship game, which the Falcons won in a thriller, 65-63.
“That was as good of a championship game as you could’ve asked for, aside from the outcome for us,” Hyppa said. “They’re a great basketball team. They’re well-coached. Scott (Bullock) has been there a very long time and does a great job. So, we know tomorrow we have to play great basketball, but we’re very capable of it. We’ve got a special group and I’m excited to see how we come out tomorrow.”
The Papermakers will play No. 6 Auburn at 12:15 p.m. in a loser-out game, which could be the final game for head coach Scott Thompson if they were to be eliminated.