PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL: Better together at Timberlake

SPIRIT LAKE — Taryn Soumas knew just how good of a basketball player Brooke Jessen was well before the two joined forces at Timberlake High.

As Soumas describes …

“We played against each other in Hoopfest one year,” Soumas said. “All I knew about her is that she was a really good player, and we hadn’t seen a player like her all that year at Hoopfest. I don’t remember who won the game, but I know our team won the whole thing that year. But I don’t remember if we lost to her team or not.”

For Jessen, it was a few years later.

“She came to an open gym the summer before our freshmen year,” said Jessen of Soumas, who was home schooled before coming to Timberlake as a freshman. “Once she started playing, we were all wondering, who’s that? She came out and really played hard and showed herself to all of us that she could play with the rest of us.”

Then again, with Timberlake coming off back-to-back state titles, there were a lot of kids who could play basketball on those teams — including Soumas and Jessen, now seniors and four-year varsity players.

Since arriving on the varsity team, Soumas, a 5-foot-3 point guard, has broken the state 3A tournament record for most 3-pointers in a single game (7 in 2019 state semifinals against Parma) and for the tournament (13, also in 2019). Her record for most 3-pointers in a tournament was broken by Josee Steadman of Snake River with 15 in 2020.

Timberlake beat Snake River in the state title game last February.

There was also that state tournament opener, a 46-40 double-overtime win over Sugar-Salem that had all the feeling of a championship game.

“That game was pretty huge,” Soumas said. “It wasn’t the championship game, but that’s the game that really got our energy flowing and excitement going. We knew going into it that it was going to be our biggest game.”

Timberlake extended that game on 3-pointers at the end of regulation and overtime by Taylor Suko.

“I didn’t think we’d have enough energy to get through that game,” Soumas said. “But there was a moment when we knew we had to step it up. We needed to start working harder, playing harder and communicating better as a team.”

That game, Soumas added, was the springboard for the run to the state title.

“Our coaches told us to take this night and celebrate, because we had to focus back up the next day,” Soumas said. “The bus ride back to the hotel was loud, super energetic and we were listening to High School Musical the entire way back.”

Against Lake City earlier this year, Jessen, a 5-11 forward, scored a career-high 37 points, just one point off the school record of 38 set by Cassie Thompson. Thompson, a 2011 graduate, scored 38 points against Chewelah on Dec. 1, 2007.

“I just wanted to go out and play hard against another Division I kid,” said Jessen, referring to Michigan State-bound Brooklyn Rewers of Lake City. “It was definitely a confidence boost to play well against those teams that really push you. Playing some of those tougher games, you get something that you don’t get in league. They really push you to work for some of those tougher games later in the year.”

Jessen is second in program history in scoring, trailing Thompson — who finished with 1,701 points. Jessen is at 1,410. Soumas is fourth on the list with 1,166 points for those who keep track of that kind of stuff, trailing Allison Kirby (1,310).

Jessen is second in career rebounds (817) to Thompson with (921). Soumas (334) is second to Kirby (378) in assists in school history.

“Both Taryn and Brooke have matured a lot and became better leaders and teammates, which has came through age and experience,” said Matt Miller, in his 16th season as Timberlake coach. “Not everyone through age and experience can get good like that, so that’s been really good and special.

"Taryn’s a great shooter and the best ballhandler we’ve had. She’s really hard to stay in front of and you can’t sag on her. She’s a really hard worker on the defensive end, so that’s a lot of good qualities. Brooke is the most versatile player I’ve coached by far. She can play all four positions for us — and has. We can put her on the perimeter or we put her inside, so she’s a matchup nightmare for other teams.”

As students were quarantined to their homes, both Soumas and Jessen found ways to stay sharp as most sports were shut down during the spring.

“I played a lot of basketball in my driveway,” Soumas said. “I went out at least four times a week, and when things opened up a little bit, my dad (Rob, an assistant coach for the Timberlake girls) was able to get me back into the high school gym because he has a key. I was able to do a lot of dribbling drills and some strengthening stuff.”

Jessen just did her best to remain active.

“I went hiking a lot and did a lot of surfing on our boat,” Jessen said. “I just started on the Northwest Magic AAU team (which is based out of Seattle) and we did whatever we could. I got to travel a lot for basketball, going to Indiana and Chicago and travel a lot. It was super cool to be able to do that and get seen by other schools.”

Soumas plays AAU with the Spokane Titans, but the team was unable to play due to COVID-19.

“I got onto the All-Northwest team,” Soumas said. “I didn’t know any of them until I got there. There was a girl from Lake City (Kendall Pickford) and another from Coeur d’Alene (Tori Younker), and other girls from around Washington. It was a lot of fun to play with Tori. Our playing style is the same, she’s quick and another good guard. It was fun because we’d have a fast break every time we’d be on the court together.”

Playing during the summer helped relieve some of the worries that they might also miss their senior year of high school basketball.

“I was kind of stressed that we weren’t going to have a season until AAU started to have some tournaments,” Soumas said. “I just started to think that if that’s starting to open up, then basketball season is going to come. I just kept in contact with the other girls and tried to keep a positive outlook on it.”

The two took up Pickleball during their downtime.

“I just got into it within the last year,” Soumas said. “It definitely keeps you in shape when you’re not doing anything.”

“It’s a lot of fun,” Jessen said. “We love to compete and have fun with each other, whether it’s outdoors or whatever we’re doing.”

Jessen has signed to play next year at Texas-Rio Grande Valley of the Western Athletic Conference.

She can thank COVID for that in a way.

“When I played with the Northwest Magic in Seattle, they had a recruiting coach,” Jessen said. “He just contacted a bunch of people that he knows and talked to them about me. And they just got it worked out.”

Soumas is still trying to find her next move.

“I’m planning on going to college,” Soumas said. “But I don’t really have a super permanent spot quite yet.”

Both credit Miller for growing their game over the last four years.

“Coach has taught me everything I know,” Jessen said. “He was one of my first coaches when I was younger and taught me a lot of my post moves. He’s been a huge factor in my basketball career.”

“The biggest thing I’ve learned from him is to be smarter on the court,” Soumas said. “My IQ for the game of basketball has gotten better. And he’s taught me a lot about leadership and worked with me on my leadership skills.”

Soumas has also learned a thing or two about being a total player on the court from Jessen.

“I learned a lot about physical and mental toughness,” Soumas said. “Just watching her coming in as a freshman, and not really knowing her at all, she was a super tough inside player. She’s not super tall, but she plays with a stamina that she’s strong and tough. I’ve definitely gotten stronger and tough just playing with her.”

“Taryn really pushes me in practice and we really push each other a lot to get better,” Jessen said. “She’s super encouraging. Even when we mess up, she’ll tell us to keep working on it and we’ll get it. We just go back and forth and try to get better each day.”

Whether it was COVID-related, or just an opportunity with Washington schools unable to play quite yet due to the pandemic, Timberlake has picked up games against schools from the Inland Empire League.

And won quite a few as well, going 8-2. The lone losses came to Coeur d'Alene, the top-ranked team in the state 5A girls basketball media poll.

“It gave us a lot of confidence, even in those games we lost to Coeur d’Alene,” Soumas said. “To stay on pace with a team like that is pretty crazy. We learned a lot about how good we can be when we play as a team and work really hard.”

That work has been something the program has made count in the state tournament. Since 2011, Timberlake has appeared in seven 3A title games, winning three (2016, 2017, 2020), with four runner-up finishes (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015) and two third-place finishes in 2018 and 2019.

“Some players, they might come in as pretty good players, then find other interests and just don’t quite keep developing at the same rate,” Miller said. “But they’ve continued to work and get better each year.”

And their best could quite possibly be yet to come.