Suko hits tying 3-pointer in regulation, first overtime as Tigers knock off two-time defending 3A champion Sugar-Salem in state opener

MIDDLETON — Admittedly, Timberlake High senior Taylor Suko didn’t have a good first half on Thursday.

Most of the second 16 minutes didn’t quite go her way either.

But that end of regulation, and again at the overtime buzzer, that was more to her style.

“Coach always just believes in me and tells me when I’m having a rough game to keep shooting,” Suko said. “The game was really, really rough for me and knew I just had to keep my teammates up.”

Suko hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 53 seconds left, then did it again at the overtime buzzer for Timberlake, which finally pulled away enough in the final 1:48 of the second overtime to knock off the two-time defending champion Sugar-Salem Diggers 45-40 in the opening round of the state 3A basketball tournament at Middleton High.

“I can speak for everyone when I say we were super, super nervous,” Suko said. “But we had a job to get done and it was going to take teamwork to get that done tonight.”

“Those were excellent because she had a really rough first half,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. “She wasn’t playing a good game by her standards, and she could have pouted about it and sulked about it, and probably would not have been in the game. But she put the team first, kept grinding and shot with some confidence regardless of what the score was.”

Suko’s first 3-pointer, late in regulation, tied the game at 28-all.

In a defensive battle, Timberlake trailed 14-12 at halftime, only scoring two points in the second quarter and going 6:48 without a point. Sugar-Salem only took a 12-10 lead with 3:22 remaining in the half.

“We went a really long time without scoring,” said Miller, in his 15th year as coach. “We had a lot of turnovers (17 total) and turned the ball over a lot. Both teams were playing really good defense, and give them a lot of credit, they’re really good, but we looked out of character on the offensive end.”

Mardee Fillmore scored 23 points for Sugar-Salem (21-2). The Diggers’ last loss at state was to Timberlake in the 2017 title game.

“We came out super slow in the first quarter,” Sugar-Salem coach Crystal Carpenter-Dayley said. “If you take that out, it’s a totally different ballgame. Timberlake was phenomenal defensively. They’re very good defensively and run a style of defense we haven’t seen all season. We tried to prepare for it, but we don’t run it like they run it in practice. We’re both high-scoring teams, and nobody got anything easy tonight. Everything was earned.”

Sugar-Salem was the top-ranked 3A team in the final prep girls basketball media poll on Feb. 12. Timberlake was third.

Timberlake (18-4) faces Parma (20-2), ranked No. 2 in the final poll, tonight in the semifinals starting at 7 PST. Sugar-Salem faces Kimberly (10-11) in a loser-out game.

Blayre Jeffs, a 6-foot-5 junior post, had eight rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots for Timberlake.

“The last five or six games, she’s had her best games, and you can add this one onto it,” Miller said. “She gave us a really good presence inside because Sugar’s really tall and Blayre really gave us some more height and strength inside.”

Timberlake guard Taryn Soumas, who set the state record for 3-pointers in the tournament with 13 last year, finished with three on Thursday — all in the first half. She led the Tigers with 15 points.

“They’re togetherness is really special,” Miller said. “They’ve got really good internal leadership on their part, and it’s been a huge difference maker. They’ve been able to gather each other when things aren’t going well, and I get to stay out of it, and they take care of it internally. That’s been the biggest difference. Our bench was excited and talking to them on defense, and in terms of communication, it felt like we had 12 kids on the court because the entire bench was talking to the kids on the court.”

Jeffs had eight of her 12 in the second half and overtime.

“It was a lot of adrenaline, but Brooke (Jessen, a junior post who scored eight points) just kept me going,” Jeffs said. “Keeping my hands up and trying not to foul. We’re really supporting each other as a whole, and it was nice for them to have my back. My heart has never been happier.”

Sugar-Salem 6 8 7 7 9 3 — 40

Timberlake 10 2 9 7 9 8 — 45

SUGAR-SALEM — Price 2, Harris 5, Baldwin 0, Luke 5, Bennion 1, Miller 0, Nead 0, Pannell 2, Mar. Fillmore 14, Gillette 0, Mac. Fillmore 11. Totals 14-48 11-18 40.

TIMBERLAKE — Sande 0, T. Soumas 15, Suko 6, Hammond 0, Kronenberg 0, Carhart 4, Jessen 8, Jeffs 12. Totals 15-41 10-17 45.