STATE 3A GIRLS BASKETBALL: Timberlake gives south a glimpse of the mayhem
<p>Timberlake High’s McKeeley Tonkin disrupts a pass between Homedale players Tristan Corta, left, and Kendall Nash during the third quarter of the state 3A girls basketball tournament at Middleton High School on Thursday. Timberlake defeated Homedale 58-18 to advance to the semifinals.</p>
<p>Timberlake’s Keelie Lawler (33) gets tangled with Homedale’s Elizabeth Vargas while racing for a loose ball during the fourth quarter.</p>
MIDDLETON — The Timberlake Tigers have relied so much on the strength in numbers motto this season, but really hadn’t had much of a chance to prove it to the rest of the state.
On Thursday afternoon, in its state 3A tournament opener, Timberlake flexed its strength so much, it was over at halftime.
Second-ranked Timberlake scored the game’s first 13 points and jumped out to a 35-7 halftime lead en route to a 58-18 trouncing of shorthanded Homedale at Middleton High.
“The girls did a great job on the defensive end setting the tone for the game,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. “Single digits every quarter, they did a fantastic job. We fouled maybe a little more than I would have liked, but other than that, they did great.”
Allison Kirby led a balanced Timberlake attack with 10 points, with two others scoring eight and two more scoring six.
“I don’t even know if she shot in the second half,” Miller said of Kirby. “But they did a great job of sharing the ball and pushing it when we needed to and on the defensive end, making them work for every pass and dribble.”
Timberlake (21-1), which was won 21 straight, faces Teton (22-2) in tonight’s semifinal round.
Homedale turned the ball over 32 times — 18 in the first half — and got a score from Josie Hall as time expired to avoid matching the lowest score in a state 3A game.
“That’s right around our average,” said Miller, whose team finished 20 of 53 from the field. “It’s nice when we’re able to do that when we have those off nights shooting the ball to still be able to be fine because of the extra possessions we’re getting. We only had 11 turnovers, so that’s a good ratio for us.”
Kirby also had seven rebounds and Keelie Lawler had six points and seven rebounds for Timberlake, which totaled 21 steals.
“We just came out and did what we were supposed to do,” Kirby said. “We did our job and it was what we expected them to do. It was definitely a great game defensively for us.”
“We did a good job of sharing the ball and scoring,” Kirby said. “We just did what we were supposed to do.”
Timberlake, which started a different rotation during both games in the District 1 tournament, did so again on Thursday, starting Jacquelyn Mallet, Shelby Starr, Kaylee Jezek, Kirby and Erica Powell.
“I thought we looked a little nervous at the beginning of the game,” Miller said. “We’ve got a few kids that haven’t been in this situation before and don’t have any state experience, and had some jitters, but they worked them out in this game, which is fine. Hopefully they continue to play as well as they did tonight.”
Tristan Corta scored eight points for Homedale (18-6), which was without leading scorer Tory Lane due to a suspension for violating the athletic code.
Third-ranked Teton upset previously unbeaten and top-ranked Kimberly (22-1) 48-35 in the opening round.
Homedale 4 3 2 9 — 18
Timberlake 13 22 14 9 — 58
HOMEDALE — Jacobson 3, Corta 8, Vargas 0, Sawyer 0, Nash 2, Burks 0, Shenk 0, Aberasturi 1, Fisher 0, Machuca 2, Swallow 0, Hall 2. Totals 6-34 5-16 18.
TIMBERLAKE — Vanderhoof 4, Kelley 1, Rhodes 5, Mallet 8, Starr 8, Jezek 3, Kirby 10, Cheevers 0, Powell 0, Gardom 3, Simpson 4, Tonkin 6, Lawler 6. Totals 20-53 14-26 58.