Rushed with the press
LOREN BENOIT/Press Jordan Henry, of Timberlake High, dribbles the ball down court as Sugar-Salem defender Luke Holt, right, gets his hand on the ball in game 1 of the state 3A boys basketball tournament Thursday at Meridian High School. Timberlake turned the ball over 21 times and lost 57-44. Timberlake continues play against Parma on Friday, 12:15 p.m. p.s.t. at Meridian High.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Timberlake guard Dock Sommers shoots a two-pointer over Sugar-Salem’s Parker Miller in game 1 of the state 3A boys basketball tournament Thursday at Meridian High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressTimberlake High's Jacob James inbounds the basketball to David Dickinson in game 1 of the state 3A boys basketball tournament Thursday at Meridan High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressJacob James looks for a teammate as Sugar-Salem's Cameron Gamer tries to disrupt the inbound in the first half of the state 3A boys basketball tournament Thursday at Meridan High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressHayden Wood (1), of Sugar-Salem High, applies pressure to Timberlake's Dock Sommers (13) in game 1 of the state 3A boys basketball tournament Thursday at Meridian High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressHead Coach Michael Scott points to one of his bench players during game 1 of the state 3A boys basketball tournament Thursday at Meridian High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressTimberlake senior Brandon Hausladen drives the ball against Sugar-Salem defender Taevin Norman in game 1 of the state 3A boys basketball tournament Thursday at Meridian High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressTimberlake's Brayden Menti dribbles the ball down court against Sugar-Salem in game 1 of the state 3A boys basketball tournament Thursday at Meridian High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressTimberlake's Carter Ostler (5) battles for the opening tip against Sugar-Salem's Parker Miller in game 1 of the state 3A boys basketball tournament Thursday at Meridian High School.
MERIDIAN — The Timberlake Tigers might have thought their work was done when they beat the full-court press of the Sugar-Salem Diggers.
But the Diggers proved just as capable of forcing miscues from the Tigers once they got into the front court.
Timberlake committed 21 turnovers and shot just 35.4 percent from the field in a 57-44 loss in the first round of the state 3A boys basketball tournament Thursday afternoon at Meridian High.
“We were kind of rushed with their press,” said junior guard Jordan Hardy, who led Timberlake with 10 points off the bench. “I think it just caught us off guard.”
Timberlake (13-9) will play Parma (13-11) today at 12:15 p.m. PST at Meridian High in a loser-out game. Sugar-Salem (18-5) will play Gooding (15-11) in a semifinal game tonight. Gooding defeated Parma 66-54.
Timberlake, in its first appearance at state since 2013, and only its second trip ever, committed turnovers on its first two possessions, and had five in the first three minutes against a pressing, scrambling Sugar-Salem defense.
Offensive woes didn’t help. Timberlake scored just two points in the final six minutes of the first half, finished the half with 12 turnovers and was fortunate to trail just 25-15 at the break because Sugar was just 11 for 31 from the floor.
“They might not say they were nervous, but they were a little wound up,” first-year Timberlake coach Michael Scott said. “I think we thought we would do better, and we forced the issue too much, and let their press get to us, and sped us up. Dock Sommers (starting point guard) has had the flu. … they’re a good team, and they put pressure on us, but we were the team we see every now and then. Every now and then we see this team show up, and we come back the next day and play a lot better.”
Senior guard Hayden Wood had 12 points and four steals for Sugar-Salem. Luke Holt added 10 points, and Parker Miller had nine points, eight rebounds and a couple of steals.
“We didn’t know a whole lot about ‘em,” fourth-year Sugar-Salem coach Shawn Freeman said of Timberlake. “We heard they were susceptible to pressure, so we tried to press them a little bit. We’re a little deeper, so we tried to run a lot of guys and tried to wear them out. “
Timberlake started the third quarter with three turnovers in the first 80 seconds, and fell behind 38-19 midway through the quarter. The Tigers came no closer than 12 points in the fourth quarter.
“This is the first time we’ve played a run-and-jump press,” Scott said. “So the boys didn’t know what to expect. They thought that once they got by the first guy, they were free to go — as long as they got across half court they were fine. But what they didn’t realize was, there was somebody coming from behind.”
Freshman Jacob James made three 3-pointers and finished with nine points for Timberlake, which shot 17 of 48 from the field. Sugar shot 9 of 22 in the second half and finished 20 of 53 (37.7 percent) from the field.
Timberlake 8 7 11 18 — 44
Sugar-Salem 9 16 16 16 — 57
TIMBERLAKE — Hardy 10, Dickinson 5, Ostler 2, James 9, Counts 5, Sommers 1, Gervais 0, Menti 2, Jessen 6, Hausladen 4. Totals 17-48 5-7 44.
SUGAR-SALEM — Wood 12, Shirley 2, Drake 0, Rose 6, Garner 1, Holt 10, Pincock 7, P. Miller 9, Baldwin 0, Norman 3, Gonzalez 7. Totals 20-53 16-28 57.