After their winter season, the Camas High School (CHS) girls basketball team lost the final state game 53 to 58 against Auburn Trojans. The boys lost their game 67 to 74 against the Richland Bombers. 

While the results were not what either team wanted, the players felt that attending the state championship with their friends made the experience worthwhile.

“We got to spend [close to] a week with our best friends and [spend time] in a hotel together and that [experience] was definitely fun,” CHS senior Nyima Namru said. “ [Also], making memories that will last a lifetime and building relationships [with each other] made it all worthwhile.” 

Another aspect that made those games emotional for some of the players was that it was the last game of their high school careers. 

“We got to spend a lot of good time with our team just as our last thing together,” CHS senior Keirra Thompson said. “Sophie [Buzzard] and I, being the seniors on the team, it was our  last game at Camas, so I think just spending time with our team really was fun.”

What weighed down on Namru personally was playing a sport for a while and then having to stop playing it with the people he had gotten to know well.

“It was pretty emotional—when you play a sport for so long and [then] you are just all done it is kind of sad,” Namru said. “The people make it memorable, so it is sad that we do not get to practice together anymore and there are no more team dinners or [other team bonding activities].” 

While the season came to a bittersweet end, the team made sure to support each other and remain ready for each game throughout their time at the Tacoma Dome. 

“We [knew] we needed to get into the gym and talk about the next game as well as do a shoot-around [to prepare ourselves],” CHS counselor and head basketball coach Brian Witherspoon said. “After the shoot-around, the guys were locked in[they knew] we [were] ready and we still [had] a chance to play on the last day.” 

After doing the shoot-around, the boys went into the game and won by 20 points against Auburn. 

The coaches also made sure to uplift and encourage the boys, letting them know how proud they were of them and that they saw that they tried their hardest throughout the entire season. 

“We wanted to let them know that it was their hard work and commitment [that led them] to having a great season,” Witherspoon said. 

Now that the basketball season has come to an end, the players are reminiscing about the good times they had with their teammates and cherishing the memories they made on and off the court.