STATE 3A GIRLS BASKETBALL: Timberlake does just enough to reach state semifinals

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

MIDDLETON — It wasn’t pretty at times.

No, not even close.

But — like a lot of the games that Timberlake has played in recent years — the result remained the same.

A win.

Diana Nelson, a 6-foot-1 junior center, had 12 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocked shots for the third-seeded Tigers in a 36-30 win over the sixth-seeded Filer Wildcats in the opening round of the state 3A girls basketball tournament on Thursday at Middleton High.

“It really came down to rebounding and staying disciplined on defense,” Nelson said. “It really builds a lot of momentum going into the next game and shows that if we check in to what we need to do, we can make some things happen. It really shows how much rebounding helps.”

Timberlake (17-6) will face second-seeded Snake River (18-6) in a semifinal game tonight at 6 PST at Middleton High.

Snake River beat American Falls 49-24 in its state opener.

“Diana fixed so many of our mistakes tonight,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. “ On the defensive end, especially in the second half, we had a hard time executing what we were supposed to be doing. She just erased a lot of mistakes. Her presence was huge tonight, and probably the difference.”

Timberlake is at state for the 13th time in 16 seasons, winning four titles and finishing second four times and finishing third twice.

“We talked about tournament play, it’s about getting the win,” Miller said. “We know we can play better, and need to play better against a really good Snake River team. Tournament play is about finding a way to get it done.”

Sophomore Payton Young hit a 3-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter to give the Tigers a 28-25 lead. After Filer rallied to tie it at 28-28, the Tigers pulled away again on a 3-pointer by senior Kurtsten McKellips and a layup by Sophia Soumas to make it 33-28.

“After my first two shots, I was a little nervous to shoot,” Young said. “But my coach keeps telling me to keep shooting and be confident.”

“I think our biggest thing is staying locked into what we need to do,” Young said. “We just need to stay checked in.”

“Kurt hitting that 3 and Sophi getting that steal and layin was big for us,” Miller said. “In a game that low scoring, five points is massive. Any bucket is huge. It reminds me of having the kids in grade school and it’s in the 20s, if you score six points on inbounds plays, that’s a quarter of your offense. And that’s how it felt tonight. Any basket we got to fall was a really big play.”

Timberlake rallied past Bonners Ferry for the District 1 title after falling in the first game of the best-of-3 game district championship series.

“They’ve got a lot of fight in them,” Miller said. That’s something that’s been with us all season. We haven’t played our best, but they just keep battling and battling. Sometimes, the ball bounces our way enough where we can get some shots, and that’s what happened tonight.”

“I was a little worried about our ability to stay checked in to what we needed to do,” Nelson said. “I knew we’d pull through.”

Filer    10    4    11    5    —    30

Timberlake    8    11    6    11    —    36

FILER — Westling 0, Bowman 0, Jaques 5, Bishop 7, Lemoyne 4, Fischer 6, Hills 8. Totals 12-57 5-13 30.

TIMBERLAKE — Soumas 4, Dickinson 0, Young 8, Nelson 8, MacArthur 5, Simpson 0, Needs 1, McKellips 10. Totals 13-36 7-16 36.