STATE 3A GIRLS BASKETBALL: Timberlake finds itself, eventually
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 3 years, 7 months AGO
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Timberlake junior Morgan Dickinson puts up a shot against Filer in the first round of the state 3A girls basketball tournament Thursday afternoon at Skyview High in Nampa.
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Timberlake junior Jenna Chase hit two 3-pointers off the bench and scored 11 points for the Tigers in their first-round win over Filer in the state 3A girls basketball tournament Thursday at Skyview High in Nampa.
By JASON ELLIOTT
Sports writer
NAMPA – You could say Timberlake more than made up for lost time in a few ways in the second half of Thursday’s state 3A tournament opening round game.
But simply, that wasn’t the Tigers in the first 16 minutes, especially for a seven-minute lull in the second quarter.
“We tried not to panic when things didn’t go our way,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. “And they didn’t for a long time. I thought the girls did a good job of staying tough mentally, because they weren’t going our way.”
But defensively, that was the Tigers folks have been used to seeing as a four-time state champion.
Timberlake, the No. 2 seed, forced 15 turnovers in the first half, 24 for the game en route to a 61-42 win over the seventh-seeded Filer Wildcats at Skyview High.
“It really kept us in it,” Miller said of his team's defense. “When you score three points in a quarter, you have to stay in the game some way. And the girls did it with defense and turnovers to limit their looks.”
Freshman Malia Miller, who picked up her second foul midway through the first quarter, finished with a game-high 17 points for Tigers, who scored 42 points in the second half.
Senior guard Ciara Soumas is the lone member of this team who played at state in 2021, when the Tigers won the title. Timberlake did not qualify for state last year.
“I think offensively we finally got comfortable,” Miller said. “I think our youth and nerves showed in the first two, or three and a half quarters. I think they got comfortable and it looked like us on offense for the first time in the game.”
Timberlake (21-2) will face Teton (18-9) in the semifinals today at 4 p.m. PST at Skyview High. Filer (15-10) faces Parma (19-5) in a loser-out game.
As for when Miller drew that second foul …
“I was a little nervous because of the energy she brings to the team,” Soumas said. “She gets everyone going and does a good job of running things. She got back in the game and we stayed mentally there.”
Junior Jenna Chase scored 11 points off the bench for Timberlake, hitting two 3-pointers.
“When the shots were falling, we just had more energy all around going into the game,” Chase said. “I don’t know that we were too nervous, but at least I was. But once the shots started going in, we started to get a little more confident.”
Timberlake, which led 16-4 after the first quarter, didn't score again until a 3-pointer by Lucy Simpson with one minute remaining in the half to give the Tigers a 19-13 lead at halftime.
“I just told the girls to focus up because I knew we could do better,” Soumas said. “We’d had some lulls and knew we could do better.”
“Really we just talked about how we were playing better than the score indicated,” Matt Miller said. “We just missed so many easy shots. I don’t know how many lay-ins we missed, but it was a lot. We said we know we didn’t play great in the first half, but we were better than the score indicated. If we would have made some 2-footers, we would have been ahead by 20. But we had to grind one out.”
Soumas had 11 points and six assists for Timberlake, which shot 24 of 62.
“We ended up looking like us in the fourth quarter,” Matt Miller said. “We just ended up making some shots and the ball was moving a little bit. We had a little bit more energy on defense, but it’s also easier to have energy when they’re making shots. We had a little more energy to it. We looked like us.”
Senior Josalyn Bailey scored 10 points for Filer, which shot 16 of 40.
“I think we came out really nervous,” said Filer coach Clayton Nebeker, in his second season. “The nerves were going really hard. We called a couple of timeouts and I thought we settled down pretty well in the first half. Second half, we started well, and Timberlake shot the ball very, very well. I thought we played good enough defense. Timberlake has incredible shooters. I knew and saw film, and knew it was a possibility to shoot well, but that well? Not in the first game of state, at noon, on a Thursday.”
Filer 4 9 13 16 – 42
Timberlake 16 3 17 25 – 61
FILER – Earl 7, Books 3, Bailey 10, Cook 2, Hunsaker 3, Mason 0, Jaques 2, Bishop 9, Fischer 4, Lott 0, Jones 2. Totals 16-40 6-8 42.
TIMBERLAKE – C. Soumas 11, Dickinson 0, Young 5, Nelson 2, MacArthur 3, Simpson 3, S. Soumas 0, Needs 9, Miller 17, Chase 11. Totals 24-62 4-9 61.
