STATE 4A GIRLS BASKETBALL: Timberlake bounces back, takes third
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 13 hours, 37 minutes AGO
JASON ELLIOTT/Press Timberlake junior guard Macy Murphey attempts to dribble up the court in the first quarter of Saturday's state 4A girls basketball third-place game at Skyview High in Nampa.
JASON ELLIOTT/Press Timberlake junior forward Sophie Holecek gets the ball across midcourt during the first quarter of Saturday's state 2A girls basketball third-place game at Skyview High in Nampa.
By JASON ELLIOTT
Sports writer
NAMPA — Shorthanded, sure.
Empty handed, far from it.
Junior Macy Murphey scored 16 points and sophomore Shea Jones and junior Sophie Holecek added 13 points each for the third-seeded Timberlake Tigers in a 56-50 win over the fourth-seeded Marsh Valley Eagles in the state 4A girls third-place game at Skyview High on Saturday.
Timberlake, which lost senior guard Malia Miller to a knee injury in Thursday’s win over Weiser, finished 16-7.
“It was a weird game,” said Timberlake coach Matt Miller, in his 21st season. “We started pretty well on the defensive end and struggled offensively, then our defense started to struggle a little bit. In the second half, they just found a way to get it done. The girls had to fight really hard today and we didn’t play a lot of bodies, even less with Malia being out, but their effort was outstanding.”
Timberlake has finished third in its last three appearances at state after advancing to the championship game in 2023.
“I was really proud of the toughness and grit of this team,” Matt Miller said. “It’s really what this game came down to. I’m really proud of them.”
Senior Payton Young, the lone senior on the team after Miller was injured and losing fellow senior Sophi Soumas early in the season to a torn ACL, finished with seven points, six assists and five steals for Timberlake.
“With the circumstances and hand we were dealt, we did as good as we could,” Matt Miller said. “We bounced back from an emotional loss, and to play the way we did today felt really good.”
Junior Zayli Merzlock scored 24 points for Marsh Valley (21-8), which was at state for the first time in five years.
Marsh Valley 13 10 15 12 — 50
Timberlake 16 11 14 15 — 56
MARSH VALLEY — Bastian 2, Foster 2, Campbell 0, McNabb 0, Belnap 9, Campbell 4, Lunt 2, Roche 2, Evans 0, Merzlock 24, Crouch 2, Bartschi 0, Koester 3. Totals 18-49 11-22 50.
TIMBERLAKE — Murphey 16, Young 7, Archer 4, Brotherton 0, Milligan 3, Jones 13, Holecek 13. Totals 19-50 13-23 56.
JASON ELLIOTT/Press Timberlake junior forward Sophie Holecek gets the ball across midcourt during the first quarter of Saturday's state 2A girls basketball third-place game at Skyview High in Nampa.