A thrilling Opening Day and Celebration of Champions is in the books, but there’s still time to relive it via all the great coverage of the Storm this weekend.

In the Seattle Times, Jayda Evans focused on the Storm winning the first half without Lauren Jackson scoring a single field goal.

“Now, more so with Katie, there’s not pressure on me to make baskets or shoot the ball because we’ve got so many other players that can do it,” said Jackson, who finished with 15 points to move into third place on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list with 5,772 points, surpassing Smith’s 5,768 points.

One reason why? The performance of forward Camille Little, who came up with 18 points and nine rebounds in addition to an array of hustle plays, as highlighted by columnist Steve Kelley.

“Since she’s been here she’s truly been the unsung hero,” point guard Sue Bird said of Little. “She still kind of flies under the radar. As much as Lauren brings, as much as I bring, Swin (Cash), Katie (Smith), players who have been on All-Star teams and all that jazz bring, Camille is the backbone.

“She fits in wherever she’s needed and not a lot of players have the versatility to do that. Today, when we really couldn’t get much going, Camille got down on the post and just worked. She was the reason we got that lead.”

Another columnist on hand, Dave Boling of The News Tribune, also worked the Little angle.

Little emphatically rejected any suggestion that she’s a new star for this team, using the word “no” four times.

“I think we have enough players that any night it can be anybody,” she said. “If some people have a rough night, then that’s our job, as role players, to step up when it’s our team. Every team has players who can score and do great things. If I can step in and do that kind of stuff, and it opens the floor for my teammates, that’s great.”

In the Everett Herald, Aaron Lommers wrote that the Storm put 2010 in the rear-view mirror and started out 2011 well.

The black curtain that covered the WNBA Championship banner was removed and Queen’s “We are the Champions’” reverberated through KeyArena — one last tribute to the Seattle Storm’s amazing championship run of 2010.

A little more than 10 minutes later, it was time to get back to work. And the Storm didn’t disappoint. They started 2011 the same way they finished 2010.

For SB Nation Seattle, Nate Parham writes that we’ll see better from both the Storm and the Mercury.

“I still think that we have a lot of stuff to learn and we will,” said Storm forward Lauren Jackson, who finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.

But as two of the top contenders in the Western Conference, you can bet that the Storm will gladly take a 1-0 series lead.

On ESPN.com, Mechelle Voepel has early observations. While the Liberty’s win in Atlanta gets top billing, Voepel was also impressed with the Storm.

Well, we can say Seattle appears to be very good. Except we could have stated that with confidence before the season even started. Barring a key injury, there’s nothing to suggest the Storm won’t be in the thick of the postseason a few months from now.

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