Playing beyond their years: Underclassmen help Timberlake take care of Snake River in first round of state 3A girls basketball tournament

MIDDLETON - Never mind that most of this year's Timberlake Tigers lack experience at the state tournament.

They're making up for that plenty this weekend.

But for Matt Miller, who has led the Tigers to the state tournament in three of the last four years, although Thursday marked the official start date of the state 3A tournament, his squad has been playing at that level since last week anyway.

Sophomore Payten Rhodes and freshmen Keelie Lawler and Allison Kirby combined to score the final seven points of the game from the free-throw line as the Tigers held on for a 46-39 win against the defending state champion Snake River Panthers of Blackfoot.

"I thought last week was incredible for us," Miller said. "We played four games in six days, then had a six-hour trip to McCall (for last Saturday's play-in game against Kimberly, won by Timberlake 58-32) and I was totally impressed with how our kids played. That Saturday game was big for us because a lot of them didn't have that state experience, but we had to make that trip and play in a neutral gym against somebody we hadn't seen. I think it was the best thing for us and tonight, it wasn't as new for us."

Senior Jessica Norlander, the lone contributor still around from the 2012 state runner-up team, finished with nine points and 10 rebounds for Timberlake.

"She's our anchor down low," Miller said. "She really does everything. She rebounds, and is one of the strongest players I've coached. She's so physically strong and just works. She's a worker."

Timberlake (17-5) will face Homedale (17-6) in the semifinals tonight at 7 p.m. PST. Homedale beat Teton 58-52 in the final game of the night to advance.

After a back-and-forth first three quarters, Lawler hit a 3-pointer with under two minutes remaining in the game to give Timberlake a 30-27 lead - a lead they'd never surrender again.

"To be in that situation and play as mature as they did, especially in the second half, it was awesome," Miller said. "They did a great job. This is such a new group with the young kids, it took a lot of the season to get better and better and figure out how to play with each other. I thought they showed a lot of poise there at the end and protected the lead, which is good for a young team."

Kirby finished with a game-high 14 points for Timberlake, which forced 19 turnovers.

"It was pretty cool," Kirby said. "It was a great chance to get to knock them off. It feels wonderful. I love this group and I'm looking forward to our game tomorrow night."

Kirby scored 10 of her 14 in the second half.

"They gave me a lot of open shots, so I took them," Kirby said.

Snake River (13-10) is 7-1 against Southeast Idaho Conference competition, but 6-9 against the rest of the state.

Brylie Bair and Alyssa Crumley scored 12 points each for Snake River, which plays a loser-out game today against Teton.

Timberlake 10 10 13 13 - 46

Snake River 7 12 10 10 - 39

TIMBERLAKE - Gardom 0, Rhodes 7, Kirby 14, Seubert 5, Fitzmorris 0, Norlander 9, Lawler 11, Mallet 0. Totals 12-45 18-29 46.

SNAKE RIVER - Goodwin 0, Shelley 4, I. Goff 0, Baldwin 7, J. Goff 4, Crumley 11, Bair 11, Peace 0, Mortensen 2. Totals 17-53 5-11 39.