Papermakers go cold in second half vs. Woodinville

Injuries and absences were a key theme of the Camas boys basketball team’s season, but the Papermakers never allowed them to become excuses.

Such was the case in Friday’s Class 4A State Opening Round game against Woodinville, when No. 12 seed Camas took to its home court with senior Ethan Harris on crutches after aggravating an ankle injury during last week’s 4A bi-district tournament.

The absence of the 6-foot-8 Iowa signee against the length of No. 13 Woodinville was too much for Camas to overcome in a 62-53, season-ending defeat.

But the Papermakers came out swinging and led for the majority of the first half, before their shooting cooled off and their deficiencies on the boards caught up with them.

“I thought the guys did a really good job in practice this week of rallying around the opportunity they had, instead of lamenting on what could have been,” Camas coach Scott Thompson said. “We played really hard tonight … we played together tonight and I think they knew how they needed to get this done. Some days the ball goes in, some days it doesn’t, but at the end of the day, I’m really proud of them.”

Camas leaned on its shooting and pace early with five first-half 3-pointers made from the likes of Max Rehrer, Tanner Werry, Braxten Richardson and Ethan Sobolik.

The Papermakers (18-7) led for the final four minutes of the half until Woodinville’s Drake Spooner hit a 3 to beat the buzzer and give the Falcons a 32-31 halftime advantage.

“We knew it was a big loss, losing the guy who led us to where we got to. It kind of just changed how we thought of everything,” Rehrer said of Harris. “… We lost a lot of big guns losing Ethan. I mean, he’s our big guy. We just had to change the way we played — move it fast, get shots up — and just play with a lot of heart.”

Camas found the right formula for a half, but its hot shooting faded during the third quarter when Woodinville outscored the Papermakers 13-6, and led by as many as 10 points with three minutes left in the fourth quarter after Luke Unruh scored on a layup.

The Falcons (19-7) also generated plenty of second-chance opportunities with 18 offensive rebounds. Four Falcons reached double figures led by 14 points each from Unruh and Elijah Price.

“I think it was hard,” Rehrer said. “Shots weren’t falling. Things didn’t go our way that game. It’s unfortunate, but I think we went out there, put all we had out there, we played as a team and we ended this as a family.”

Rehrer led the Papermakers with 15 points. Werry and Mason Hamilton each added 10 points.

Aside from Harris, who reached the state tournament with Camas in all four years, nearly all of the Papermakers’ roster played in their first state game Friday.

Falling one win short of the Tacoma Dome stung, but for a group of three juniors and five sophomores set to return, it’s a feeling that will fuel them going into next season.

“Now we all just get to put a picture of the Tacoma Dome and tack it to our wall right next to our beds, because we’ve got to get back there next year,” Thompson said. “I’m really proud of how they did this year and it was a really fun team to coach and be around because of the effort they gave every day. But at the end of the day, we did fall short of what we wanted to do. All these guys that are coming back next year, there’s no secrets to this game — you’ve got to put in the work — and it’s time to start working for next year.”