Timberlake girls finish second at Idaho 3A tournament for fourth time in five years

NAMPA, Idaho – The Timberlake girls basketball team did a lot of things well during Saturday’s State 3A championship game.

The Tigers were tenacious on defense, forcing 27 turnovers, and relentless on offense, racking up 58 shot attempts.

Unfortunately for Timberlake, only 19 percent of those shots went in. And in the end, the cold shooting was too much to overcome as the Tigers lost to Sugar-Salem, 40-33.

It is the fourth state runner-up finish in five years for the Tigers (21-4).

“I thought we played solid,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. “We did a lot of good things, but you can’t win a state championship against a really good team like Sugar shooting 19 percent.”

While Timberlake couldn’t buy a basket, Sugar-Salem opened the game on fire. Abby Allen and Jessie Harris combined to hit three 3-pointers in the opening minutes as the Diggers built a 13-3 lead.

Sugar-Salem continued the onslaught in the second quarter, building a 23-13 halftime lead. Timberlake made just 5 of 22 field-goal attempts, often bothered by the presence of long-limbed Sugar-Salem defenders.

“Defense has been the key for us all season,” Diggers coach Crystal Dayley said. “Timberlake is a very fast-paced, high-scoring team. I told our kids if we could hold them under 40, we could win this game.”

More bad news befell Timberlake in the third quarter when sophomore standout Keelie Lawler took an inadvertent elbow to the face. Lawler, who averaged 15.5 points in the two state victories, did not return.

“It played a factor,” Miller said. “She’s a good scorer. It hurt not having her in there.”

With Lawler out, fellow sophomore Allison Kirby started to take over. The shifty guard was all over the court, racking up 21 points, six rebounds and five steals. She was at her best in the third, when Timberlake used a 14-4 run to tie the game.

But the Tigers – who never led – ran out of steam late. The offensive struggles resurfaced as Sugar-Salem honed in on Kirby and held the Tigers to just six fourth-quarter points.

“It was still a close game because we worked hard, but we didn’t shoot well enough to win,” Kirby said. “We’ll move on and get better for next year. It motivates me a lot that we got this far.”

Payten Rhodes and Jacqelyn Mallet each scored five points for Timberlake, which returns all five starters next season.

Allen, a junior guard, led Sugar-Salem with 15 points. It is the Diggers’ fourth State 3A title since 2007.

4A: Sandpoint 45, Rigby 39: The Bulldogs wrapped up a successful weekend by winning the third-place game.

Junior standout Madi Schoening poured in 23 points as the Bulldogs stopped the Trojans at Timberline High. Sandpoint ends the season with a state trophy and an overall record of 15-9.

After a loss to Century in Friday night’s semifinal round, Sandpoint came out in attack mode Saturday. The Bulldogs raced out to a 17-11 lead after the first quarter, and then pulled away by outscoring Rigby 22-14 in the second half.

Senior guard Tori Anderson led Rigby (16-9) with 13 points.

1A DII: Lakeside 36, Nezperce 34: The Knights erased a 10-point first-half deficit and clipped the Indians in the consolation final at Nampa High School.

Lillian Rhea scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. She made 10 of 11 free throws.