STATE 4A GIRLS SEMIFINALS: Shorthanded Timberlake comes up short vs. Bear Lake

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

NAMPA — Timberlake gave Bear Lake its best shot on Friday.

The Tigers just didn’t get enough of them to fall late.

Leading by one point midway through the fourth quarter, third-seeded Timberlake was outscored 8-1 in the final 3:36 and lost to the second-seeded Bear Lake Bears of Montpelier 48-42 in a state 4A girls basketball semifinal game at Skyview High. 

Junior Macy Murphey scored 17 points for Timberlake (15-7), which faces Marsh Valley (21-7) in the third-place game today at 11 a.m. PST at Skyview High. It is the third straight year the Tigers will be in the third-place game. Bear Lake (22-4) will face Sugar-Salem (25-0) in the championship game today at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

“They’re athletic and they’ve got some shooters,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said of Marsh Valley. “They like to change up defenses a little bit, so we’ll have to be ready to go.”

Timberlake, playing without star senior guard Malia Miller due to injury the night before, was bidding for its first trip to the title game since 2023.

Timberlake led 10-2 after the first quarter, but Bear Lake rallied to take a 22-21 lead at halftime as the Tigers turned the ball over 13 times in the first half.

“I thought rebounding and turnovers lost us the game,” Matt Miller said. “And the turnovers we had were the ones that cost us buckets and we weren’t able to set up our defense. I thought the girls executed the defense well. A lot of their points were second-chance points, especially in the second half.”

Timberlake regained the lead with 3:30 remaining in the third at 25-24 and extended the lead to 31-27 on a 3-pointer by Murphey with 42 seconds remaining in the third.

“I thought at the beginning we started strong,” Murphey said. “We just started turning the ball over and they sped us up. We knew they were much taller and they got some offensive boards that crushed us.”

Junior Halle Wells had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Bear Lake (22-4), which outrebounded Timberlake 44-32.

“I was really happy with our effort and the girls’ commitment to play hard for each other,” Miller said. “We had to execute on the defensive end on something we haven’t done all year (run three players at Wells inside when she got the ball) and we put it in this morning and I thought that could be a train wreck, but they executed it well. They played really, really hard. We just didn’t rebound and take care of the ball well enough to beat a team like that.”

Bear Lake took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Kortlyn Skinner with 2:23 remaining.

“We talk about picking a target and laying that sucker up,” Bear Lake coach Ken Wells said. “Sometimes, it doesn’t work, so we keep working at it and keep working at the fundamental stuff that got us here.”

Murphey and senior Payton Young had three steals each for Timberlake, which was without Malia Miller, who re-injured her left knee in Thursday’s game against Weiser.

“I think some of our younger girls really stepped up,” Young said. “I’m proud of them for stepping up the way they did. It’s tough to adjust in one night after losing one of your best players.”

“They play great defense,” Ken Wells said. “They do so many little things. They moved and got their hands on a lot of balls. It was a heck of a battle. Timberlake has some fighters. They came in and played great defense, and it’s hard without your leader. But they did a great job.”

Timberlake    10    11    10    11    —    42

Bear Lake    2    20    7    19    —    48

TIMBERLAKE — Murphey 17, Young 5, Archer 4, Brotherton 2, Milligan 6, Jones 3, Holecek 5. Totals 13-42 8-19 42.

BEAR LAKE — Skinner 7, Walker 3, Boehme 3, Alleman 4, Humphreys 4, Pelto 0, Hunter 4, Crockett 6, Wells 17. Totals 20-58 4-8 48.

    JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Timberlake sophomore forward Shea Jones pulls up for a 3-pointer during the fourth quarter of Friday's state 4A girls basketball semifinal game against Bear Lake at Skyview High in Nampa.