Timberlake starts slow, finishes strong
NAMPA — The Timberlake Tigers, well-seasoned in the rigors of state tournament play in recent years, didn’t look like it in the first half Thursday night.
Nerves and turnovers kept the Tigers from putting away the Teton Redskins early in their first-round game of the state 3A tournament at Skyview High.
But the usual suspects eventually came through, and Timberlake got an unexpected boost from a reserve player en route to a 49-26 victory.
“We were a little uncharacteristic in terms of taking care of the ball tonight,” said Timberlake coach Matt Miller, whose team committed 12 of its 22 turnovers in the first half. “We just had a hard time taking care of the ball. They gave some ball pressure, but nothing out of this world
Timberlake (21-2), at state for the eighth time in nine years, will play Parma (22-2) tonight at 7 p.m. PST in a semifinal game.
“It did look like a little bit of nerves, but it lasted longer than I thought,” Miller said.
Sophomore Taryn Soumas had 15 points and four steals for Timberlake, and fellow sophomore Brooke Jessen had 14 points, 14 rebounds and four steals.
Senior McKeeley Tonkin suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter and didn’t return until the third quarter and gave her team a spark, Miller said.
“She was playing through the pain, but it was a big spark,” he said.
Many of Jessen’s points came courtesy of Tonkin, Miller said, and Soumas sank a couple 3-pointers in the second half to help the Tigers pull away.
Blayre Jeffs, a 6-foot-5 sophomore reserve, chipped in nine points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots off the bench.
“That was huge for us,” Miller said.
Parma, the District 3 champion, beat Snake River 38-24 on Thursday night.
“We’ll definitely have to take care of the ball better than we did tonight,” Miller said.
Teton 7 7 3 9 — 26
Timberlake 10 14 14 11 — 49
TETON — S. Kunz 2, Brown 4, A. Lasson 2, Nelson 0, H. Lasson 0, Baler 3, W. Kunz 6, Bagley 0, Kaufman 2, C. Streit 5, Stevens 0, Thomas 2, T. Streit 0.
TIMBERLAKE — Tonkin 3, Soumas 15, Suko 3, Hammond 0, P. Kronenberg 0, M. Kronenberg 0, Gustin 0, Carhart 0Sande 0, Jessen 14, Bain 3, Jeffs 9, Willis 2.
Nezperce 46
Genesis Prep 42
NAMPA — Despite a double-double from Bella Murekatete, the Genesis Prep Jaguars stumbled in the first round of the state 1A Division II tournament at Nampa High.
Murekatete totaled 20 points, 17 rebounds, six blocked shots and four steals for Genesis Prep (12-11), which plays Rockland (20-5) tonight at 7 PST in a loser-out game.
Rachel Schroeder added 15 points and six assists for the Jaguars, who were state runners-up last year, and placed third at state two years ago.
“Basketball is a funny game,” Genesis Prep coach Brandon Haas said. “Sometimes the ball drops your way and sometimes it won’t drop for anything or anyone. Unfortunately we found ourselves not being able to get the buckets we needed. We played extremely hard and played well together. I could not be more proud of how we played tonight.”
Sydney Boyer scored 19 points, Hannah Stapleton 16 for Nezperce (22-3), which meets Carey this afternoon in a semifinal game.
Nezperce 10 8 11 17 — 46
Genesis Prep 8 6 8 20 — 42
NEZPERCE — Lux 3, Sydney Boyer 19, Duuck 0, Cronce 8, Stapleton 16, Wahl 0, Horton 0.
GENESIS PREP — Morrow 5, Neely 0, Kim 0, Schroeder 15, Greiner 0, Martinez 2, Blood 0, Murekatete 20.