Timberlake's Soumas has a ball
Photo by JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY McKeeley Tonkin, left, and Taryn Soumas hug in celebration of their third-place victory over Homedale at the state 3A girls basketball tournament Saturday at Nampa High.
Photo by JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY McKeeley Tonkin of Timberlake goes to the hoop over Homedale’s Jayci Swallow in the third-place game of the state 3A girls basketball tournament Saturday at Skyview High in Nampa.
Photo by JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Blayre Jeffs of Timberlake tries to fight through two Homedale defenders under the hoop in the third-place game of the state 3A girls basketball tournament Saturday at Skyview High in Nampa.
Photo by JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Brooke Jessen puts up a shot from inside the key vs. Homedale on Saturday in the third-place game of the staete 3A girls basketball tournament at Skyview High in Nampa.
NAMPA — Often times, when a team brings a trophy back from the state tournament, they put it in the school’s trophy case.
But what about the game ball?
“I’ll keep it if they (Timberlake High) want me to,” said Timberlake sophomore guard Taryn Soumas, who was presented the game ball by Skyview High athletic director Eric Bonds after breaking the state 3A tournament record for 3-pointers with 13. “But if they want me to keep it, I’ll keep it.”
Soumas, who hit a single-game tournament record seven 3-pointers in Friday’s semifinal loss to Parma, scored 13 points to lead the Tigers past the Homedale Trojans 55-37 in the state 3A third-place game at Skyview High on Saturday.
“She had a great weekend,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. “She stayed aggressive the entire time and took open shots, and she knocked a lot of them down.”
The previous 3A record for 3-pointers in a tournament was held by Tenielle Thompson of Marsh Valley, with 11 in 2002.
Timberlake, with its second straight third-place finish, has brought back a trophy from state in each of its eight appearances (four seconds, two thirds and two championships in 2016 and ’17).
Timberlake senior McKeeley Tonkin, who scored a game-high 17 points, is one of three seniors along with Peyton Kronenberg and Karissa Willis.
“It’s always good to end the season with a win,” Tonkin said. “And we’re one of the lucky ones that get to do that.”
“They’ve been a great group,” Miller said. “They’ve been able to finish the season with a win, and that senior group has finished with a win. To have four state trophies, that’s pretty cool.”
Timberlake finishes 22-3. Homedale finishes 13-12.
“We’ve had a super successful season and won 22 games,” Miller said. “But we did have goals higher than that. There is the other side of it, but trying to keep things in perspective. We’re proud of how we played and that, but there’s also a feeling that we left something on the table.”
Timberlake was seeking its seventh appearance in the state title game in the past nine seasons, but those hopes were derailed by a loss to Parma in the semifinals Friday night.
Against Homedale, Timberlake jumped out to a 17-3 lead after the first quarter.
“We had a really good first quarter, jumped out on them and just shot the ball really well,” Miller said. “We played good defense. It was nice to see them start the game like that, especially in a game like this.”
Timberlake finished 11 of 26 from the 3-point line.
“We came out with a lot of confidence and hit some shots early and just kind of looked like us,” Miller said. “It was nice.”
Timberlake returns three sophomore starters with Soumas, Brooke Jessen and Bernie Carhart all back next year.
“We’re really young,” Miller said. “It just comes down to offseason work. There’s a big correlation to the work and how you finish at state. If they work really hard between now and next season, we should have a good year.”
Timberlake 17 17 8 13 — 55
Homedale 3 15 7 12 — 37
TIMBERLAKE — Tonkin 17, Soumas 13, Suko 3, Hammond 0, P. Kronenberg 0, M. Kronenberg 2, Gustin 0, Carhart 3, Sande 0, Jessen 12, Bain 0, Jeffs 2, Willis 3. Totals 16-55 12-20 55.
HOMEDALE — Dines 2, Swallow 5, Rupp 0, Carter 12, Nash 0, Buckley 0, Kelly 0, Dorsey 0, Hall 13, Grant 5. Totals 15-48 6-9 37.