STATE GIRLS BASKETBALL: Defending 3A champ Timberlake romps in opener

• 3A

MERIDIAN — Anytime the Timberlake Tigers can get three players in double figures, it has been a good night.

Considering one of them wasn’t senior point guard Taryn Soumas, you could call the start of the Tigers title defense, fantastic.

Senior post Blayre Jeffs scored 12 of her 18 points in the first half, senior guard Mckennah Kronenberg hit five 3-pointers and the Tigers beat the McCall-Donnelly Vandals 66-36 on Thursday at Middleton High.

“Defensively, we did a great job in the first half,” said Timberlake coach Matt Miller, whose team held McCall-Donnelly to six first half points. “We were communicating well and were sharp on both ends of the court. We moved the ball well, communicated and did our jobs.”

Timberlake (21-2) will face Parma (17-5) in the second semifinal at Middleton High tonight at 6 p.m. PST. Sugar-Salem (23-1) will face Filer (17-10) in the other semifinal. The Diggers of Sugar City beat Bonners Ferry 70-10 in the opening round, breaking the tournament record set by Snake River (1990) and Timberlake (2017).

Senior Brooke Jessen had 15 points and seven rebounds and senior Taryn Soumas had seven points and seven assists for Timberlake, which shot 27 of 69.

“We scored 66 and moved the ball around really well,” Miller said. “We had three players in double-figures, which is a big deal. Especially when Taryn isn’t one of them, that’s a really big deal. Taryn did a good job of defending and communicating.”

Matti Burtenshaw scored 11 points for McCall-Donnelly (6-5), which faces Snake River (21-7) in a loser-out game today.

McCall-Donnelly 4 2 19 11 — 36

Timberlake 20 17 17 12 — 66

McCALL-DONNELLY — Burtenshaw 11, Moyer 5, Stahl 3, Ott 2, Crockett 0, Jones 2, Camp 4, Thomas 0, Richardson 7, Green 0, McCarthy 2, Olson 0, Esplin 0. Totals 13-39 6-14 36.

TIMBERLAKE — T. Soumas 7, Hammond 2, Kronenberg 17, C. Soumas 5, Wall 2, Carhart 0, Jessen 15, Bain 0, Peterson 0, Jeffs 18. Totals 27-69 5-6 66.

Sugar-Salem 70

Bonners Ferry 10

MIDDLETON — The Badgers managed just three baskets in the game and fell to the Diggers in a first-round game at Middleton High.

Bonners Ferry (14-8), which won a play-in game to advance to state, will face Marsh Valley (15-11) today at 11 a.m. PST in a loser-out game.

Kennedy Gillette had 13 points and five assists for Sugar-Salem (23-1), which plays Filer (17-10) in the semifinals today at 4 p.m.

The Diggers were 29 of 62 from the field, the Badgers 3 for 21.

Bonners Ferry 2 6 2 0 — 10

Sugar-Salem 23 16 21 10 — 70

BONNERS FERRY — B. Bayer 0, Burt 0, Villaluz 0, Pluid 0, Sa. Hill 0, A. Bayer 0, Bliss 0, Blackmore 2, Abubakari 3, Petersen 0, Ansley 3, Si. Hill 0, Sumpter 2. Totals 3-21 4-5 10.

SUGAR-SALEM — Me. Fillmore 7, Harris 10, Baldwin 5, Crapo 3, Bennion 2, Gillette 13, Miller 11, Nead 12, Ma. Fillmore 7. Totals 29-62 5-8 70.

• 1A DIVISION I

Rimrock 70

Lakeside 55

NAMPA — Junior Ashlee Holt totaled 20 points and nine rebounds for the Knights, but Lakeside's season came to an end with a loss to the Ramblers in a consolation bracket game at Columbia High.

Arianna Gorr and Jolissa Holt had 12 points each for Lakeside (12-9), which lost 53-40 to Lighthouse Christian on Wednesday.

Sintia Varela had 25 points and eight rebounds, and Sami Jewett added 23 points, seven boards and five assists for Rimrock (19-3), which plays Liberty Charter today for the consolation title.

Rimrock 10 29 12 19 — 70

Lakeside 18 12 9 16 — 55

RIMROCK — Moore 0, Draper 3, Smith 6, Varela 25, Gomez 4, MacMillan 9, Jewett 23. Totals 28-60 8-11 70.

LAKESIDE — A. Holt 20, Gorr 12, J. Holt 12, Twoteeth 4, Wienclaw 0, Rivera 0, Lowley 0, Peters 7, Marchand 0, Allen 0. Totals 18-50 13-20 55.

• 4A

Sandpoint 44

Columbia 36

MERIDIAN — Kaylee Banks scored 16 points as the Bulldogs beat the Wildcats in the first round at Mountain View High.

Hattie Larson added nine points for Sandpoint (12-10), which outlasted Lakeland in a three-game series to advance to state. The Bulldogs play Century (17-5) of Pocatello in a semifinal game today at 4 p.m. PST.

Mia Nottingham scored 13 points for Columbia (13-11), at state for the first time in the school's 15-year history. It's also the Wildcats' first winning season.

Columbia 5 9 12 10 36 — 36

Sandpoint 7 16 8 13 — 44

COLUMBIA — Robertson 5, Fone 2, Nottingham 13, Myers 10, Davis 0, My. Mills 6, Ma. Mills 0, Soto 0. Totals 14-41 5-12 36.

SANDPOINT — Driggs 2, Lyons 4, Cssna 3, Phillips 3, Kar. Banks 5, Larson 9, Platte 2, Kay. Banks 16. Totals 15-46 11-23 44.

• 1A DIVISION II

Camas County 50

Mullan 13

NAMPA — The Tigers, making their first state appearance since 1986, were eliminated with the loss to the Mushers in a consolation round game at Nampa High.

Talowa Fallingwater had seven points and seven rebounds for Mullan (10-9), which went two-and-out.

Alyssa Whittle had 21 points, six rebounds and four steals for Camas County (15-7).

Mullan 2 2 5 4 — 13

Camas County 7 16 17 10 — 50

MULLAN — Waters 2, Nelson 2, Blankenship 0, Stahle 0, Fallingwater 7, Charvez 0, Frazier 0, Dykes 2. Totals 4-45 5-8 13.

CAMAS COUNTY — Martin 2, Ashmead 9, McFadyen 9, Botz 7, Staley 0, Thompson 2, Whittle 21. Totals 21-61 3-6 50.