Injuries happen during the course of a long season.

Sometimes they can bring a player down. Other times they can be a blessing in disguise.

For Timberlake High senior Jacquelyn Mallet, while she’s missed time on the floor for the Tigers girls basketball team, she hasn’t let that, or anything, bring her down.

MALLET MISSED time midway through the season due to a concussion, returning near the end of the regular season.

“It’s tough, but you’ve got to think of your teammates instead,” Mallet said. “What you can do, how you can contribute while you’re on the bench. While you’re on the bench, you can still contribute. We’ve been saying ‘we over me’, so we’re more focused on the rest of the team as much as injuries suck.”

With a healthy Mallet back in the mix, Timberlake held Teton to four field goals in a 67-16 opening round win at the state 3A tournament on Thursday night. In a semifinal game in 2016, Teton shot 28 of 40 from the field, but had the Tigers pull away late in a 75-64 win on the way to the program’s first state title.

“Last year, it was a completely different game,” said Mallet, a 5-foot-7 guard/wing. “We had one job that we talked about executing that last year we didn’t and did this year. It was more than we expected for sure.”

“She’s great,” Miller said. “She’s just so positive and has so much energy all the time. When she’s not able to play because of injuries or whatever, you’d never know with the exception of her not being in uniform because she does a good job of keeping the energy up and keeping everyone up all the time.”

Mallet recently verbally committed to continue her basketball career at The Master’s University, an NAIA Division I program in Santa Clarita, Calif.

“Honestly, it’s a perfect fit for me,” Mallet said. “They’ve got everything I want in a school and a Christian background. Obviously getting a chance to play basketball is big and getting a chance to get a degree in physical therapy, so it’s really got everything I want in a school.”

Keegan Scott, a former Timberlake High standout, also plays at The Master’s, as did his sister Zoe (Scott) Price.

“They recruited Allison (Kirby) and Keelie (Lawler) as well and just a couple weeks ago Jacquelyn said she was talking to the coach on the phone,” Miller said. “A few weeks ago, she just committed.”

Mallet also is a standout on the volleyball and softball teams for the Tigers. Timberlake finished runner-up in the state volleyball tournament in the fall.

“I made that decision a while ago,” said Mallet of sticking to just one sport in college. “It’s tough to play more than one sport in college. I might have chosen volleyball, but my heart was more into basketball.”

AND WHY not? Along with fellow seniors Kirby and Lawler, Mallet has the opportunity to play in a state title game for the fourth straight time a little later today at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. Another senior, Glori Cheevers, transferred into the program last year.

“They’re great,” Miller said. “Everyone knows about how good of basketball players they are. They’re a tremendous group of basketball players, but they’re tremendous kids as well. They’re great to be around and love being around each other. Team chemistry is really important, and normally is something you’ve got to work on really hard. But the last few years, we haven’t had to work on that at all because of the character of the kids and how well they get along.”

As well as proving that We is greater that Me.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.