The Camas High School (CHS) girls varsity basketball team made history last weekend by winning their first Washington State 4A state championship. The team finished the season with a league record of 6-0 and a season record of 21-6.
“It’s an honor to be a part of such a great team that’s able to accomplish something as big as winning state,” CHS senior Brianna Forbess said. “This is something that we’ll always be able to look back on to remember and be proud of.”
The girls were a favorite to win the championship all year long. Due to their impressive season record and their victories at both league and district championships, the team was ranked No. 1 going into the tournament.
“It felt like we had more determination than the other teams because they didn’t go through the tough loss like we did last year,” CHS junior Sophie Buzzard said.
Last year, the papermakers lost the state championship in the final. They lost by seven points to Eastlake High School. This loss fueled them to work even harder this year to get another shot at the title. Their determination and experience gave them an edge over other teams, and it was a major cause of their success this season.
“Last year we were just happy to be able to make it to the championship game, but it was our first time being in that kind of pressure, so we were definitely more nervous,” Forbess said. “This year we already knew what to expect when the time came, and we had been practicing all year for it, so we just wanted to go out and have a fun last game.”
One of the main reasons for the team’s success this year was because of the larger-than-normal senior class. Five of the team’s eleven players will be graduating this year. Although this will be a difficult adjustment for the program, many of the younger players are confident that they will be able to carry the success into next year.
“With all the seniors graduating it was super sad to play our last game with them but we had the best ending ever,” Buzzard said. “Next year will be fun. We have the three juniors left and lots of younger girls so it will be cool to play with a whole different team and see how it goes.”
