State girls basketball preview: Timberlake focused on bid for repeat; eastern Idaho trip paid off for Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls

| February 18, 2021 1:22 AM

By MARK NELKE

and JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writers

Last season, Timberlake couldn't afford to look ahead at state.

Due to predetermined brackets, which in 3A sometimes match district champions against each other in the first round, the Tigers drew District 6 champion Sugar-Salem.

In what turned out to be its toughest game of the tournament, Timberlake beat Sugar-Salem in overtime, and went on to win its first state title since going back-to-back in 2016 and '17.

"Hopefully we get down there, and try not to look ahead — the game that’s in front of us is the game that’s in front of us, and take care of business," Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. "Because everybody down there is going to be good … hopefully we just stay focused, and the team that’s in front of us is the team we’re trying to play."

Timberlake (18-2) opens state tonight at 6 PST vs. McCall-Donnelly (6-4), the District 3 runner-up, in the day's finale at Middleton High. The Vandals, at state for the first time since 1993, did not play for five weeks in December and January due to the district's coronavirus policy. McCall-Donnelly spent the past 10 years in the 2A classification before rejoining 3A this season.

Sugar-Salem (22-1) is on the other side of the bracket, opening against Bonners Ferry (14-7) at 1 p.m. PST.

Timberlake returns most of the cast from last year's title team, including 1,000-point scorers Brooke Jessen and Taryn Soumas, who are second and fourth, respectively, on the Tigers' all-time scoring list.

"They might be a little tougher and grittier than they were last year," Miller said.

"They’re good; hopefully they can go down and beat Sugar and get another one. They deserve it," said Bonners Ferry coach Travis Hinthorn, whose Badgers lost to Timberlake in the district title game, then advanced to state by winning a play-in game. "They’re similar (to last year). Two years ago was the year of Brooke; last year was the year of Taryn. This year it’s Brooke again."

Over the years at state, Timberlake has learned, despite its stars, it needs role players to step up as well — as was the case last year.

"We’ve been in these games, we’ve been in these situations before, so we know how to handle them," Timberlake senior guard Olivia Hammond said.

"If (McKennah) Kronenberg is on, or the other Soumas (Ciara), or Hammond, if they’re on, they’re tough to beat — because you have to stop like eight of 'em," said Hinthorn, in his fourth season in his second stint, and 14th overall as Badger girls coach.

Timberlake is back at state for the eighth straight season, and 10th in the last 11.

Just the fact Timberlake — as well as any of the other teams at state — is still playing is a bonus not lost on Miller, in his 16th season in Spirit Lake.

"We’ve had multiple talks about how fortunate we are, just to get to play," Miller said. "When they weren’t letting parents in, some people were throwing fits, and it was like, hey, be happy with what we can do. If you feel like you got a bad rap, just think about somebody that’s in Washington right now — they don’t get a season and we do, right now."

Bonners Ferry is back at state for the first time since 2019, when the Badgers lost in the consolation title game. This is the third time in four years during his current stint that Hinthorn has guided the Badgers to state. Bonners’ last trophy from state came in 2013, when the Badgers won the consolation title.

Sugar-Salem, led by senior forward Mardee Fillmore, lost only to 4A state qualifier Skyline of Idaho Falls. The Diggers enter state on an 18-game winning streak.

Snake River, which Timberlake beat in the championship game last year, could face the Tigers in the semifinals. Senior forward Josee Steadman, who has committed to NCAA Division II Colorado Mesa, set a 3A tourney record last year with 15 3-pointers — breaking the previous record held by Soumas.

In late December, instead of a Christmas holiday break, teams from Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls High wanted to learn a little more about themselves and just where they matched up with the rest of the state.

Well ...

Both teams went 2-1, with Coeur d’Alene falling to Thunder Ridge in overtime and Post Falls losing to Rigby, which it opens with tonight at 6 at the Ford Idaho Center.

“It was a good experience,” second-year Coeur d’Alene coach Nicole Symons said. “We had to get on a bus, sleep in a hotel and get up and play. I thought our girls responded really well the first night (against Skyline of Idaho Falls), then went cold in overtime against Thunder Ridge and had to get up and play after a tough loss against Burley. And that’s what state is, playing three games in a row. I thought it was good for our kids to know that win or lose, you’ve got to respond the next day.”

Coeur d’Alene: The Vikings (18-1) open at state against Boise (9-4) today at 10:30 a.m. PST at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. Thunder Ridge (19-4) faces Meridian (13-4) in the second game today.

Defending champion Mountain View (17-2) opens with Timberline (11-2) today at 3:30 p.m., with Post Falls (14-7) facing Rigby (19-3) in the final game of the day at 6.

“Last year, we were just thankful to be there,” said Symons, whose team went 0-2 at state in 2020. “This year, we’re thankful to be there, but we’re expecting to do better than last year. We can coach our girls on how to prepare to play, instead of just walking into the facility. Last year, it was a different environment that our girls had never experienced. And now they know. As a staff, we can coach them on the Xs and Os and how to be successful as a team.”

Post Falls: Post Falls upset second seed Lake City in the Region 1 second-place game, then beat Rocky Mountain of Meridian to advance to state for the second-straight year.

“Progressively, we’ve gotten better all season,” Post Falls coach Marc Allert said. “We’ve been playing a lot harder and better defensively as of late. The girls did a lot of thinking early in the season, and now they’re reacting and playing a lot harder.”

Post Falls went 1-2 last year, losing in the consolation championship game to Boise.

“It’s nice that the girls have seen it before,” said Allert, who coached the Trojans to titles in 2013 and 2018. “There’s seven really good teams that could win this thing. We start with Rigby, which has had a fantastic year and beat us pretty good (60-35) earlier this year. It’s going to be a tough matchup and going to be a challenge to say the least, but we’ll go down and see what happens.”

Thunder Ridge is making its first state appearance since the school opened in 2018 ... Boise senior point guard Allison Ross has signed with Division II Hawaii Pacific ... Mountain View returns three starters from last year's state championship team, including point guard Trinity Slocum, who has signed with Hawaii ... Slocum is the younger sister of Destiny Slocum, who starred at Oregon State and is now playing as a graduate transfer at Arkansas.

Sandpoint (11-10), which outlasted Lakeland in a grueling three-game series for the Region 1 title, opens vs. Columbia (13-10) of Nampa today at 1 p.m. PST at Mountain View High in Meridian.

Columbia is making its first state tournament appearance in the 15-year history of the school, after notching its first winning season. The Wildcats were picked by coaches to finish sixth in the eight-team 4A Southern Idaho Conference, but finished third, then qualified for state by reaching the district title game, where they fell to Middleton.

Sandpoint, making its seventh appearance at state in the last eight years, lost to Caldwell in the third-place game last year at state. Third-year coach Will Love was an assistant under Duane Ward when Ward guided Sandpoint to the last four of its five straight state appearances (2015-18). Ward is in his third season as Love's assistant.

Middleton was ranked No. 1 in the final media poll this season.

Last year's state champion, Bonneville of Idaho Falls, failed to qualify this year.

Grangeville (16-4), which beat St. Maries for the District 1-2 title, opens today at 1 p.m. PST at Bishop Kelly High in Boise vs. Cole Valley Christian (17-1), last year's state runner-up.

Defending champion Soda Springs (12-11) is on the other side of the bracket.