Skyview defeats Camas in 4A GSHL girls basketball opener

As league-opening, January basketball games typically go, Skyview’s reaction to a win Tuesday was noticeably more animated.

After the Storm dribbled out the final seconds of a 70-60 win over Camas in their 4A Greater St. Helens League girls basketball opener, players converged near the bench and jumped up and down in jubilation.

It was the program’s first win over Camas since 2020, a streak that has spanned Skyview players’ entire high school careers and then some.

“Just as a senior, I feel like it’s huge,” said Brynnlee Williams, who scored eight points with six assists and seven rebounds. “We haven’t really even come close to (beating) them in the past three years I’ve been here. So, really proud of everyone that stepped up. We were especially proud of our start, our 15-2 run. … Bringing the energy, bringing the focus, really proud of the entire (team).”

Skyview’s first-quarter start, which Williams alluded to, served as a statement that this latest game would have a different feel than recent matchups between the two teams.

All five Skyview starters — Williams, Cameron Watson, Elan Estes, Kennedy Bockert and Marisol Anderson — scored in the opening minutes as the Storm built a 15-2 lead and seemed poised to run away with a win.

Camas was quick to shut down that prospect on its home floor, going on a 19-0 run to start the second quarter and holding Skyview without a basket for more than six minutes. Baylie Farra’s go-ahead 3-pointer gave Camas a brief lead before the Storm scored the final nine points of the half for a 34-28 lead.

The cold stretch proved to be nothing more than a footnote. The Storm maintained their lead for all of the second half behind Bockert’s 26 points, Watson’s 14 points and a defense that did its part in trying to limit the damage of leading scorers Lauren Hood (22 points) and Farra (14 points).

“I think our response in the second half was huge,” Watson said. “We kept our composure, we stayed calm, we stayed true to our game. … We trust each other. We play well together, we know each other, so we know each other’s game. We weren’t scared, we just went in there, played our game and played calm.”

A season like this for Skyview (13-2, 1-0) has been in the works for multiple years with a core group that’s played a lot of games together under third-year coach Jacob Kaler.

A new piece of the puzzle this season is Bockert, a two-time All-Region player at Woodland who transferred to Skyview entering her junior year.

“It’s been really easy because everyone’s so nice,” Bockert said, “and I already played with some of them on a club team in the summer. It’s been good.”

Bockert served as the closer with eight points in the fourth, which included making 6-of-6 free throws, in addition to posting 11 rebounds and four blocks for the game. Teammates and coaches have high praise for the 6-foot post who gives the Storm an element they haven’t had in recent years.

“I feel like we’ve never truly had a strong, strong post that I’ve played with,” Watson said. “So having her, it just adds so much to our game. We can shoot outside, we can finish inside and we got her to rebound from literally wherever on the court. I just think it adds so much to our team and she does so much for us.”

The Storm have a different look this season with their play and new personnel. A landmark win over Camas (6-8, 0-2) is further proof of that progression.

The losing skid goes back even further for some, like Kaler, a Camas High alumnus who, in addition to three years at Skyview, hadn’t earned a win over the Papermakers during a five-year stint as Heritage’s girls basketball coach.

“It felt incredible,” Kaler said. “A lot of respect for Camas, the history and kind of what they’re all about, from the fifth and sixth grade up. Just a lot of respect and admiration for Camas as a whole. For us at Skyview, that’s a huge accomplishment.

“I told the girls, a lot of attitude, effort, work ethic and buy-in … anything is possible. And I think they kind of believe that now.”