Hanna oversees breakthrough at Timberlake

Boys teams at Timberlake High have enjoyed quite a bit of success since the school opened in 1998.

Annual state playoff appearances by the Tigers football team. State titles by the track team. State tournament appearances by the baseball team.

But the Timberlake boys basketball team has largely struggled over that time - until recently.

Timberlake had just three winning seasons in its first 13 years before Tony Hanna was hired as coach in 2011. The Tigers went 15-8 last year, losing in the game for District 3's second berth to state.

This year, Timberlake is 18-3 and headed to state for the first time in school history.

"The potential was there," Hanna said. "The players have had the potential; they've wanted to win for a long time. Timberlake has a history of winning. every other sport, we've won, so I felt a little bit of pressure coming in to turn this program around. But it was a real blessing when I showed up because I really thought it was going to take five years to turn this thing around. And when I showed up and saw the potential that the players had, I was really surprised, and pleased at the same time."

Timberlake opens the state 3A tournament vs. Fruitland (17-5) on Thursday at 2 p.m. PST at Meridian High.

Hanna had success as a head coach before - but that was nearly a decade ago. He coached at tiny Tekoa-Oakesdale in 2002-03 and 2003-04, going 30-20 and guiding the team to a third-place finish at the state B tournament in '04.

He was also an assistant pro at The Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course during that time. He left coaching and got into the real estate business for several years, before getting the itch to return to coaching.

He got his masters degree online, and spent the 2010-11 season as a volunteer assistant with the Lakeland boys team.

"Trent (Derrick, the Lakeland coach) had good things to say about him," said Tim Cronnelly, Timberlake athletic director. "I talked to both ADs (at Tekoa and at Oakesdale), and they both said you have a chance to get a really good hire here."

Timberlake challenged for a state berth in 2003 and '04. But what followed were seven straight losing seasons and a combined record of 34-115 - the low point being an 0-21 season in 2007-08.

"Honestly, I just think they needed a little guidance," Hanna said. "They don't have BAD attitudes, but sometimes you get that history of losing and people chip on each other, and there's a little bit of tension between players. So last year was a real battle to cut through that tension. And this year, I'm really seeing us come together as a team. The nice part is, we've got great post players, and we've got great guards, so that makes us really hard to guard. You can't key on one player on our team."

Cronnelly said Hanna beat out some pretty good coaches to get the Timberlake job.

"Some of the people he was selected over are currently varsity coaches in District 1," Cronnelly said.

I was blessed to be hired at Timberlake," Hanna said, "knowing that I was a bit of a risky hire without a long history and the fact that my last head coaching job was seven years prior."

Watching the current group of players come up through the system, Cronnelly said there were high hopes once they reached varsity.

"Our players were getting better, they were putting more time into basketball," he said. "And these kids wanted to be the group of kids that turned it around."

Senior point guard Johnny Hayden, who has started since midway through his freshman year, averages 15.6 points and 3.5 assists per game. The Tigers are also led by junior wing Keegan Scott (11.0 points,) senior post Trevor Masterson (10.4 points, 6.3 rebounds) and senior post Jon Thompson (8.9 points, 5.7 rebounds).

"Tony's a good team builder," Cronnelly said. "A big part of it is making your kids into one group. He communicates well with all the kids in the program. He has high expectations, and does a good job of getting everyone on the same page."

Hanna played high school basketball in West Linn, Ore., and played basketball and baseball at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore. As a senior at Linfield, he coached the school's junior varsity basketball team.

In Hayden's first two seasons on varsity, before Hanna was hired, Timberlake went 9-12 and 3-18.

"He's a great coach; he made a ton of difference," Hayden said of Hanna. "Not only does he work well with the team, he works well one-on-one. He just makes everybody better."

In last week's district title game against Priest River, Hayden picked up his third foul early in the third quarter. Sometimes coaches will pull a player at the point, but Hanna stuck with Hayden.

Good thing, too, as Hayden scored 16 of his points in the quarter to break open the game, and Timberlake went on to win 60-46.

"I had confidence he'd keep me in," Hayden said. "I looked at him and asked to stay in. He thought about (taking me out), but he trusted me."

Cronnelly says Hanna deserves his share of the credit for Timberlake's turnaround, though he said Hanna would probably prefer the credit go to the players.

"You never know (if Timberlake would have been good anyway, no matter the coach), but things have worked out really well," Cronnelly said.