3A DISTRICT 1 GIRLS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: Shooting woes throw wrench into Timberlake plan

Allison Kirby works her way around Priest River’s Angel Clark Wednesday during the 5A region 1 tournament.

Timberlake's Jessica Norlander, left, and Jill Weimer fight for the ball Wedenday as Timberlake took on Priest River during the 5A region 1 tournament.

by MARK NELKE
Sports Editor | February 13, 2014 8:00 PM

Timberlake's Jessica Norlander, left, and Jill Weimer fight for the ball Wedenday as Timberlake took on Priest River during the 5A region 1 tournament.

COEUR d'ALENE - The Timberlake Tigers did about everything they wanted to to win Wednesday night's 3A District 1 girls basketball championship game, except for one thing:

They didn't make enough shots.

The Priest River Spartans erupted for 23 points in the fourth quarter to overtake Timberlake 43-37 at North Idaho College's Rolly Williams Court to advance to next week's state tournament at Middleton High.

"The biggest thing was, we didn't make any shots tonight," said Timberlake coach Matt Miller, whose Tigers shot just 20.1 percent (12 of 58) from the field. "And once we missed a few of those (laying), we started forcing shots, and didn't get as many quality looks."

Priest River (15-7) will open state next Thursday at 2 p.m. PST vs. the winner of tonight's game between Fruitland and Parma, which will decide second place in District 3.

Timberlake (14-8) will play host to Kellogg (13-8) tonight at 7:30 in a loser-out game, with the winner advancing to a state play-in game Saturday in McCall.

Kellogg ousted Bonners Ferry (3-16) 47-33 earlier Wednesday.

Priest River 43, Timberlake 37: For most of the game, Timberlake did what Miller wanted - control Priest River bigs Jill Weimer and Katlyn Summers. Timberlake forced Priest River into 14 first-half turnovers, 25 for the game, and the Spartans had problems getting the ball inside against Timberlake's zone defense.

And Timberlake senior post Jessica Norlander was dominant inside, with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

But, somehow, Priest River figured it out in the fourth quarter.

"Well, it wasn't for preparation, that's for sure," Priest River coach Gary Stewart said. "Timberlake is a man-to-man team, and when they came out in that zone, we were shocked. It took us three quarters to figure out what to do. I've got to hand it to the girls; there was a lot of improvisation by the girls tonight."

Timberlake led 27-20 after three quarters. When Priest River's Karly Douglas stole the ball and scored to put the Spartans up 29-28 with 5:40 left, it was their first lead since 5-4. Timberlake came back to go up 32-29, but the Spartans took the lead for good with a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Melissa Krampert with 2:32 left.

Weimer scored six of her eight points in the fourth quarter. Krampert had five of her seven, Angel Clark four of her 12. Weimer finished with 14 rebounds, Sumner 10.

Keelie Lawler added eight points for Timberlake.

"They got a couple of put-backs (in the fourth quarter)," Miller said. "They got four or six points off of second-chance points. That really changed the momentum."

Timberlake 10 8 9 10 - 37

Priest River 5 9 6 23 - 43

TIMBERLAKE - Powell 0, Gardom 3, Rhodes 0, Kirby 4, Seubert 5, Fitzmorris 0, Norlander 17, Lawler 8.

PRIEST RIVER - Douglas 4, Trantum 0, Luckey 5, Weimer 8, Clark 12, A. Summers 0, Krampert 7, Williams 0, K. Summers 7.

Kellogg 47, Bonners Ferry 33: Kellogg turned a 15-12 lead after the first quarter into a 29-18 halftime advantage in a win over Bonners Ferry in the 3A District 1 loser-out game at Christianson Gym.

"I thought in the first quarter we shot the ball, which got us going," Kellogg coach Eli Bourgard said. "Our defense forced a lot of turnovers, which helped us, too. I thought we shared the ball and our scoring was pretty balanced."

Kellogg post Kenadie Arthur scored 10 points and Mckenna Stewart added nine points for the Wildcats (12-9).

Emma Kelly and Desi Minor each scored 10 points for Bonners Ferry (3-16).

Bonners Ferry 12 6 12 5 - 33

Kellogg 15 14 12 6 - 47

BONNERS FERRY - Morgan 2, MacDonald 7, Kelly 10, Zarate 0, Spangler 0, Byars 0, Davis 2, Foster 0, Minor 10, Piatz 2.

KELLOGG - Garner 5, Wendt 5, Roberts 2, Toews 0, Stewart 9, Gibbons 8, Sheppard 2, Carter 4, Arthur 10, Sims 0, Chambers 0, McDonald 2.

ALL-INTERMOUNTAIN LEAGUE

PRIEST RIVER - Katlyn Summers, jr. (MVP); Karly Douglas, sr.; Jill Weimer, sr. TIMBERLAKE - Allison Kirby, fr.; Keelie Lawler, fr.; Jessica Norlander, sr. KELLOGG - Kelsey Carter, sr.; Jessi Gibbons, sr.; McKenna Stewart, sr. BONNERS FERRY - McKenzie MacDonald, sr.