STATE GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS: More than a few to keep an eye on

When Timberlake High girls basketball coach Matt Miller goes to his bench, there isn’t time for the P.A. announcer to ID everyone coming in.

Rather, it is often referred to as a “line change.”

With loads of depth, and a desire to play an up-tempo, pressing style, Miller usually subs in his players five at a time this season.

No matter who’s in there, the look is the same — full-court pressure, pushing the ball up the floor once they get a rebound, and trying to wear the other team down.

The result — Timberlake (20-1) takes a 20-game winning streak into the state basketball tournaments, which begin a three-day run starting today, in six buildings around the Boise area.

“It’s a lot of bodies … it’s a lot of bodies to try to keep track of,” Miller said. “For them, they’re just waiting for the next roll call, and hoping that they’re on that line.”

The Tigers open vs. Homedale (18-5) today at 2 p.m. PST at Middleton High.

An example — Timberlake’s starters in last Monday’s 3A District 1 semifinal vs. Kellogg were senior Emily Vanderhoof, juniors Jacquelyn Mallet and Allison Kirby, and sophomores Shelby Starr and Kaylee Jezek.

Two nights later, in the championship game vs. Bonners Ferry, Mallet started again, but the Tigers had four different starters from Monday — seniors Erica Powell and Anna Gardom, junior Keelie Lawler and freshman McKeeley Tonkin.

“All 13 of them have started at some point,” Miller said. “Most of them have started about half the time. Our kids that would normally be starters on a regular rotation, start half the time. We haven’t had a normal starting group all year.”

There is some method to the madness. Miller tries to keep the “lines” balanced for positional reasons, on offense as well as on the press. His top two players, Kirby and Lawler, are usually on separate “lines” — he said he doubted they’d played together on the same “line” for more than just a couple of minutes in 2016.

So far, so good with all the players involved in the “line changes.”

“They’ve really bought into it, and sacrificed,” Miller said. “Usually with some groups, a starting job is kind of a big deal, and something you hold proud, and we don’t this year; literally, it changes every single game.”

Miller hopes to stay with the line changes at state, though admitted the rotation could get a bit shorter as the competition gets tougher — the Tigers’ 20 wins, all coming after a two-point, season-opening loss at 5A Lewiston, have come by an average of 31.4 points.

And in this tourney, the competition figures to get tougher sooner than later. The top three ranked teams in the final media poll are in the top half of the bracket — No. 1 Kimberly, No. 2 Timberlake and No. 3 Teton. Kimberly (22-0) and Teton (21-2), neither of which made it to state last year, meet in the tourney opener, with the winner playing the Timberlake-Homedale winner.

Timberlake has finished second four times in the past five years, including the last two. Sugar-Salem, which beat the Tigers in last year’s title game, failed to qualify this year.

5A

With this exact outcome in mind, the Lake City Timberwolves hit the road for Boise in mid-December to compete in the TimberLion tournament.

They finished 2-1, beating state qualifer Borah (41-28) and losing to Eagle (61-51), while also beating Rocky Mountain (55-34) in a three-day span.

“I think it helps us a lot,” fourth-year Lake City coach Bryan Kelly said. “We get a chance to get out on the road, stay in hotel rooms and be together for that trip. They’ve got four teams down there that are solid, but our goal is to win it. We’re not just content just getting there. We want to go and do something. I’m so proud of the girls for getting this done.”

Lake City (19-4) opens the tournament today at 5:15 p.m. PST at the Ford Idaho Center, taking on District 3 runner-up Centennial (21-3).

“It’s going to be a big task, no matter who we’re playing,” Kelly said. “But thinking about us, it’s not going to be an easy matchup for them either. I think we’ve grown a lot over the last year. If we can stick to what we do, play defense first, get some stops and attack the basket, we should be fine. At state, anything you can do to get a little edge will help. We’ve just got to get down there and play our game and try to be aware of who we’re playing. Both Mountain View and Centennial are very athletic and get up and down the court really well. We need to get up and down the court fast, but I think they’ll struggle with us as well.”

Centennial is coached by Lake City graduate Cassie Bro.

“Having a couple of Lake City grads going against each other is going to be fun,” Kelly said. “She’s done an amazing job there and they’re honestly a great team. They’ve got just a good of a shot at winning the whole thing as anyone else.”

Defending champion Mountain View of Meridian opens the tournament against Borah today at 12:15 p.m. Lake City, with most of its roster back from last year, lost 67-43 to Mountain View at the Coeur d’Alene Holiday tournament.

“Last year, it was a five-point game with four minutes left,” Kelly said. “And Destiny (Slocum, Mountain View’s point guard who has signed with Maryland) took the game over and beat us by 20,” Kelly said. “A lot of those girls that played against her last year, played AAU (with North Idaho Elite) and beat her team. She’s the real deal, but the kids take that as a challenge. To stop her, and get to them, it’s going to take a total team effort.”

1A Division II

After qualifying for the state 1A Division II tournament for the first time in 10 years in the 2014-15 season, there was no message delivered by coach Chris Dohrman.

Even after clinching a second-straight appearance last Friday, Dohrman just kept it real simple again.

Just have fun.

Lakeside (15-5) opens today with Rockland (16-6) at 12:15 p.m. PST at Nampa High.

Lakeside lost its opener last year to eventual runner-up Dietrich in the opening round, Lakeside beat Council (42-40) and Nezperce (36-34) to capture the consolation championship.

“We’ve just got to go and have fun,” second-year Lakeside coach Chris Dohrman said. “Just need to go and play hard and see what happens. Last year, we had no expectations and we came back with a trophy and had a great time. We lost a tough game to Dietrich, but we came back and won two games. Anytime you can win games down there, you’re doing something right. And we’re going to try to do the same thing this year.

Richfield was ranked fifth in the final girls media poll of the season, released on Feb. 4.

“It’s not like we’re ranked or have any pressure on us,” Dohrman said. “We just need to go down there, have fun, and leave it all on the court and we’ll be fine.”

4A

Coming from a region once dominated by Lakeland and more recently by Moscow, Sandpoint is at state for the third straight year. The Bulldogs were third at state last year, bringing home their first trophy since 2003.

Sandpoint (13-9) opens vs. Burley (15-10) today at 2 p.m. PST at Timberline High in Boise.

Defending champion Century (18-4) of Pocatello is in Sandpoint’s half of the bracket, playing Kuna (16-5) in the tourney opener.

2A

Defending champion Soda Springs (19-5) and last year’s runner-up, Ririe (18-7), meet this year in the first round, tonight at Kuna High.

Grangeville (13-8), which defeated St. Maries for the lone berth to state from District 1-2, opens the tourney vs. West Side (17-8). Grangeville was fifth last year.

1A Division I

Lapwai (18-2) defeated Prairie (16-6) in last year’s state title game, and could meet again for the title again this year. They are on opposite sides of the bracket for this year’s tourney, which begins today at Columbia High in Nampa.