MIDDLETON - They've been peaking as a basketball team for the last week.

A win today by the Timberlake Tigers will put them on top of the state 3A girls mountain.

Freshman Allison Kirby scored 14 points, 10 from the foul line, to lead the Tigers past the Homedale Trojans 44-34 in the semifinals of the state tournament on Friday night at Middleton High.

For Timberlake, it will be the third trip to the championship game in four years. The Tigers are seeking their first state title.

"We've got great kids," ninth-year Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. "They've really been buying into what we teach and just improving all year long. The first year (2011), we were kind of expected to go because we had Cassie (Thompson), but the year after (2012) and this time were a little more unexpected. But we started to play good basketball at the right time. The kids bought in and have been chipping away at it all season."

"We've talked about it at each practice and have just been trying to get there in every game and peak at the right time," Miller added.

Timberlake (16-8) will face Filer (22-3) in the title game today at 2:50 p.m. PST at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. Filer, last year's state runner-up, beat District 1 tournament champion Priest River 44-32 in Friday's other semifinal.

Timberlake senior Jessica Norlander scored seven of the team's first 13 points as the Tigers led 12-8 after the first quarter.

They never trailed again, forcing Homedale into 21 turnovers.

"We played a good game defensively," Miller said. "We knew they were pretty good in transition, so we couldn't full-court pressure them like we do other teams. But we knew we were going to rely on our half-court pressure heavily and it worked out."

Timberlake finished 11 of 48 from the field, but made 21 of 36 from the foul line in the win.

"If we shoot poorly, and still play good defense, we've got a shot," Miller said. "Offensively, we didn't have a lot of rhythm tonight, but we played good enough defense and made free throws to give ourselves a chance."

Homedale got the deficit to 27-18 after the third quarter, but sophomore Payten Rhodes hit a 3-pointer at the start of the fourth to give Timberlake the momentum back for good.

"It was a big boost because they'd switched to a 1-3-1 zone and we got a little stagnant," Miller said. "We'd kind of lost confidence, but that gave us a big boost."

Rhodes scored seven of her nine points in the final quarter.

"It's been an incredible run," Rhodes said. "This is a great group of girls and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Coach Miller is a great coach and helps us with our nerves a lot."

"Our defense wasn't great in the first half, but we came out and did what we needed to do to get it done," Kirby said. "It's still fun and I'm enjoying every minute of this."

Tory Lane scored 10 points for Homedale (18-6).

"Timberlake's an aggressive man-to-man team and play right in your face," Homedale coach Joe Betencourt said. "But they've got a lot of good athletes and good basketball players in general. They're tough and dug deep to get the win. They're a good team."

Homedale 8 7 3 16 - 34

Timberlake 12 9 6 17 - 44

HOMEDALE - Corta 1, Purdom 0, Long 0, Nash 8, Lane 10, Mertz 0, Shenk 4, Rupp 8, Machuca 3. Totals 15-47 3-11 34.

TIMBERLAKE - Powell 0, Gardom 1, Rhodes 9, Kirby 14, Seubert 3, Fitzmorris 1, Norlander 13, Lawler 3, Mallet 0. Totals 11-48 21-36 44.