THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: State girls basketball: Not quite the end we had in mind

Coaches can plan all week for a key matchup in a state basketball tournament. 

They can watch films around the clock, study matchups and all kinds of tendencies, whatever it takes, right? 

One false move, and it all goes down the drain.

WE WILL never really know just how far the Timberlake girls basketball team could have gone in the state 4A tournament last week. 

The Tigers were cruising past Weiser in an opening round game at Skyview High in Nampa, only to see starting senior point guard Malia Miller go down with a torn ACL in the third quarter — the same injury (on the same knee) that kept her from playing her sophomore season. 

Timberlake fought like crazy to get it done, however, and never gave up. 

The Tigers fought back for third, the third straight time they’d brought back that trophy. 

Timberlake fell to Bear Lake 48-42 in the semifinals Friday night. The following afternoon, at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, Bear Lake stunned top-seeded Sugar-Salem 65-57 in the title game to end the Diggers’ 51-game win streak. 

Say what you will about that semifinal game. 

Fully healthy, it’s the kids from Spirit Lake playing in the title game against Sugar-Salem. 

And a possible police escort back through town to the high school that’s become so familiar to those folks in Spirit Lake. 

FOR AS impressive as Coeur d’Alene’s 15-game win streak entering the state 6A tournament might have been, the Vikings nearly ran into another large hurdle in the opening round, holding off fifth-seeded Borah in a game where the Lions of Boise began fouling with 3:23 remaining. 

Coeur d’Alene played top-seeded Eagle close in the first quarter in the semis, trailing 13-10 after the first eight minutes. 

Then, Eagle — and junior Maya Nelson — caught fire, and the Mustangs got past the Vikings 76-47. 

It happens. 

During the third quarter, Coeur d’Alene junior guard Brookeslee Colvin injured her right ankle. She returned in the fourth quarter, however. 

On Saturday, with a boot on her foot, Colvin was out of action as the Vikings fell to the second-seeded Rigby Trojans 63-34 in the third-place game. Colvin, who earlier this year became Coeur d'Alene's all-time leading scorer, averaged 30.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.4 steals and 4.8 assists per game for the Vikings, who finished 22-4.  

Sophomore Lexie Wheeler scored 23 of the Vikings’ 47 points against Rigby. 

“With this team, it’s not all on you,” Wheeler said. “Picking up your teammates. I think we’re really good about picking up others and more team oriented and focusing on each other.” 

Wheeler is a two-year starter for Coeur d’Alene. 

“Honestly, we hope we match up with Rigby again next year at state and are able to show them what we’ve got,” Wheeler said. “We were giving it everything we had in the fourth quarter, even down 30. It’s tough when you know the outcome, but you’re still diving on the floor and giving it everything you have.” 

That mindset didn’t change, even when the task got tougher without Colvin on Saturday. 

“There was still a prize to get,” Wheeler said. “It’s a tough outcome, but we just gave it everything.” 

With that in mind, don’t expect the Vikings to return from state empty handed next time. 

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on ‘X’, formerly Twitter @JECdAPress.