Getting to a state title game in four straight years doesn’t happen overnight.

Neither do wins by 51 and 37 points to secure a spot in that title game once again.

IT WASN’T much of a surprise to see the Timberlake High girls basketball team in a state championship again — they’ve now advanced to the final each of the last four years and now six of the last seven.

But those first two games, well, yeah, they were surprising.

Timberlake thumped Teton 67-16 on Thursday, then built a 52-11 halftime lead in a semifinal game last Friday.

Thursday’s output tied a state record for least points allowed in a 3A tournament game.

“We’re always going hard in games and practice fast at all times,” senior guard Allison Kirby said. “Just focusing on the details and doing all the little things right. Whether it be in games, or just being there for each other if we’re going through adversity. We’re just becoming a stronger team every day.”

Which was good, since the Tigers had to hold off Sugar-Salem 60-57 for the program’s second straight 3A title on Saturday afternoon.

“We’re not used to tight games,” senior Jacquelyn Mallet said. “But we’re prepared for tight games. We got it done and executed perfectly late in the game.

Sugar-Salem shot 21 of 48 from the field in the title game.

“They played a great game,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said of Sugar-Salem. “They made shots, they attacked us and they weren’t playing scared.”

On Thursday, Sugar-Salem beat Priest River 85-41, breaking its own scoring record from 1996.

In Friday’s semifinal, Timberlake forced 30 turnovers against Parma. On Saturday, Sugar-Salem had 16, six coming in the first half.

“They took care of the ball in the first half,” Miller said. “But things got a little better for us in the second half.”

Saturday’s game was the first game since a Jan. 4 win against Lapwai — winners of the 1A Division I title — that the game didn’t result in a blowout of larger than 30 points. Timberlake’s lone losses came at Post Falls (61-58) and at Lapwai (59-52).

“We hadn’t been faced with that adversity in a while, especially on the state trip,” Miller said. “But the girls kept fighting and showed some grit. They didn’t want to lose and just found a way to get it done.”

Timberlake’s biggest margin of win came against Priest River in the District 1 tourney opener, winning 89-32.

BOTH KIRBY and Keelie Lawler were four-year starters for Timberlake, which finished runner-up at state to Filer in 2014 and Sugar-Salem in 2015.

“It’s a rare thing for a reason,” said Miller of getting to four straight championship games. “There’s only one way to get good at things, and that’s to practice a lot. And these kids do. That’s as simple as it gets. They’re a hard working group put a lot of time into it. And the results paid off for them.”

Kirby will play basketball at Idaho next year, Lawler at Division II Western State Colorado and Mallet at NAIA The Master’s in California. Another senior, Glori Cheevers, has opted to play softball at Wenatchee Valley Community College.

“It’s been a great run,” Lawler said. “Amazing team, amazing coaches, amazing community. We’re just really blessed to have all these people around us.”

“This is a very, very special group of kids,” Mallet said. “We’ve worked so hard for so long, and everyone is always on the same page. In the offseason especially, we’re working hard every day to get better and get where we are today.”

And while they’ll lose four seniors, all of which have already signed to play sports at the next level, Timberlake will likely have another target on its back when the tournament rolls around next year.

“We’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing in terms of practicing at it and continuing to get better and better,” Miller said. “There’s going to be a lot of things that those seniors did basketball and leadership wise, those holes will need to be filled. We’ll be looking for those juniors who have played in three title games and won two, our sophomores who have won two and our freshmen to take things and keep things going at a high level.”

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.