NAMPA - They had a long, successful run over the past week - with not one, but two trips to southern Idaho.

However, the Timberlake Tigers just ran out of gas Saturday afternoon.

Timberlake was held to 10-of-52 shooting from the field, including 4 of 27 in the second half, in falling to the Filer Wildcats 44-36 in the state 3A high school girls basketball championship game at the Ford Idaho Center.

"That was the biggest thing, was our shooting," ninth-year Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. "We had a great start and were firing on all cylinders. I was really happy with how we played throughout the entire game and I thought we executed well and got the shots we wanted, but shooting 19 percent, it's tough to do and win."

Keelie Lawler scored 21 points for Timberlake (18-8), which finished runner-up for the third time in four years.

"We've just been practicing and working really hard all year," Lawler said. "We think we deserve this moment right now."

Lawler scored three points in the Tigers' semifinal win against Homedale on Friday night, but broke out in the final game of the year.

"I just tried to keep confident in my teammates for staying confident in me," Lawler said. "We all worked together to make this happen. I know it's a loss, but we're fighters."

Timberlake had to travel to McCall last Saturday just to earn the right to play in this tournament.

"They're a determined bunch of kids and they're a great group," Miller said. "I can't say enough good things about them. They're going to buy into everything 100 percent. We played well toward the end of the season with only two losses after the start of the (calendar) year. It would have been nice to win, and we played well enough to win, but just didn't get it done."

For Filer (23-3), it is the Wildcats' first state title in school history, after appearing in last year's title game.

"Timberlake's a tough team," said fourth-year Filer coach Kody Ketterling. "They're going to be a tough team in the future. They've got a lot of good athletes."

After her team trailed through most of the first half, Lawler gave Timberlake the lead for the first time since a 5-0 run to open the game on a 3-pointer with 56 seconds remaining in the half. But Filer's Jenna Jarolimek made a pair of free throws to give the Wildcats a 21-20 halftime lead.

"We slowed it down a little bit in the second half and figured out their offense," Ketterling said. "We wanted to put a little pressure on them and limit the 3-pointers. (Allison Kirby) is a great player, and our goal was not to let her score and go after her."

Kirby had four assists, but was shut out of the scoring column after leading Timberlake in scoring in its previous two games at state.

Senior Jessica Norlander had seven points and eight rebounds in her final game for Timberlake.

"We worked really hard to get to this game," said Norlander, the only Tiger with previous state title game experience, having played in the title game two years ago. "A lot of people didn't think we deserved to be up this high and playing in this game. But we did. We're just really competitive, even in practice trying to get better."

Norlander is one of three seniors on this year's roster for Timberlake, which starts two freshmen, a sophomore and two seniors.

"They've got a great group of kids coming up and they've got a bright future ahead of them," Norlander said. "Coach Miller has coached me since my freshman year, and basically taught me everything I know, so it's going to be tough to go to another school."

Sophomore Payten Rhodes had five points and four rebounds for Timberlake.

"It's been an amazing experience," Rhodes said. "Nobody expected us to be here and we've got plenty of time to get back here."

Timberlake 10 10 9 7 - 36

Filer 10 11 14 9 - 44

TIMBERLAKE - Powell 0, Gardom 0, Rhodes 5, Kirby 0, Seubert 0, Fitzmorris 3, Norlander 7, Lawler 21, Mallet 0. Totals 10-52 12-24 36.

FILER - Lekkerkerk 0, Williams 3, K. Hughes 9, Sharp 2, Jarolimek 10, Reynolds 0, Koyle 13, Ackerman 1, Keeley 0, M. Hughes 6. Totals 15-34 13-23 44.