Hot-shooting Camas downs Lake Stevens girls in regional game

SHORELINE — The Lake Stevens girls basketball team committed a slew of first-half turnovers, yet only trailed by one point at the break.

Then came an avalanche of Camas 3-pointers.

The No. 14 seed Papermakers drained six 3s during a massive third-quarter run and pulled away to hand the No. 11 seed Vikings a season-ending 56-42 loss in a Class 4A loser-out state regional game Saturday at Shorewood High School.

“They haven’t shot it like that (previously this season), so that stinks,” Lake Stevens coach Randy Edens said. “… That’s pretty frustrating and tough to take for these guys, no doubt. But give Camas credit. They were very, very good on the day you needed to be very, very good.”

Camas sank 11 3-pointers, scoring 33 of its 56 points from beyond the arc. Haylie Johnson hit four 3s and finished with a team-high 13 points. Jalena Carlisle added 10 points and freshman Anna Mooney scored nine for the Papermakers.

The victory advanced Camas (16-11) to the Hardwood Classic for the third time in four years. The Papermakers will face No. 6 seed Glacier Peak in a first-round, loser-out game Wednesday morning in the Tacoma Dome.

Camas brought high-pressure defense throughout the contest and forced the Vikings (19-6) into 10 first-quarter turnovers during a sloppy start.

But despite all the miscues, Lake Stevens trailed just 23-22 at halftime.

“They were uber-aggressive early, played like they had nothing to lose (and) just kind of had that no-fear mentality, which was just really, really impressive,” Edens said. “And even then, we absorbed it pretty well, … considering where we could’ve been.”

Lake Stevens scored the first basket of the third quarter to take a one-point lead, but it was all Camas after that.

Six different Papermakers sank 3-pointers in the third quarter as Camas rattled off a 23-2 run to seize control of the game.

Katelynn Forner rattled in a 3-pointer late in the third quarter to stretch the Papermakers’ lead to 19 points. Johnson swished Camas’ 11th triple of the contest to make it 54-31 late in the fourth.

Boise State University-bound guard Raigan Reed led the Vikings with 11 points in her final high school game. Cori Wilcox added eight for Lake Stevens.

The Vikings were coming off three consecutive wins over KingCo 4A teams in the 4A Wes-King Bi-District Tournament, including back-to-back elimination-game victories over Mount Si and Inglemoor to earn the program’s second state regional berth in three years.

“Three or four weeks ago, I didn’t think we had the ability to beat those kind of teams,” Edens said. “And we found ways to come together and figure it out and play our best basketball at the right time to get to this stage. We just didn’t play particularly well today.”

Lake Stevens’ Chloe Pattison looks for a shot while being guarded by Camas’ Jalena Carlisle during the game on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 in Shoreline, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

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Lake Stevens’ Raigan Reed begins to cry after fouling out of the game against Camas on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 in Shoreline, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

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Lake Stevens’ Baylor Thomas tries to get around Camas’ Kyra Seggewiss during the game on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 in Shoreline, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

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Lake Stevens’ Raigan Reed looks for an open teammate during the game against Camas on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 in Shoreline, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

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Lake Stevens’ Monet Rundle gets her shot blocked by Camas’ Faith Bergstrom during the game on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 in Shoreline, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

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Lake Stevens’ Baylor Thomas makes a jump shot during the game against Camas on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 in Shoreline, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

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Lake Stevens players begin to cry after losing to Camas on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 in Shoreline, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

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