STATE 4A GIRLS BASKETBALL: Timberlake toughens up, takes down Kimberly
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Timberlake senior Diana Nelson grabs a loose ball as Kimberly attempts to force a jump ball during Thursday's state 4A girls basketball game at Middleton High.
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Timberlake junior guard Malia Miller drives to the basket as Kimberly defends during their state 4A girls basketball opening round game at Middleton High on Thursday.
MIDDLETON — It wasn’t pretty.
But the Timberlake Tigers will take it.
Junior Malia Miller had a game-high 21 points and added 12 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Tigers, who beat the fifth-seeded Kimberly Bulldogs 53-44 in a state 4A girls basketball quarterfinal game at Middleton High on Thursday.
Timberlake (20-3) advances to face top-seeded Sugar-Salem (24-0) in the second semifinal tonight at 6 PST. It is the fourth time in five years that the teams will meet in the state playoffs.
“Sugar is a really good team,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. “They’ve got a good balance of inside and outside shooting, and they’re a really solid team. We’re going to have to make shots and our half-court and transition defense is going to have to be better.”
Senior Diana Nelson had six points and 14 rebounds for Timberlake, which shot 19 of 59. Nelson and Malia Miller combined for 19 defensive rebounds.
Taya Plew scored 18 points for Kimberly (16-8), which faces Gooding (12-13) in a loser-out game.
“Kimberly shot the ball really well,” Matt Miller said. “Once we started contesting the ball, there were some more defensive rebounds to be had, and for both Diana and Malia to combine for 19 was a big deal for us.”
Timberlake led 30-22 at halftime, then outscored the Bulldogs 15-12 in the fourth quarter.
“We just stayed tough the entire game,” Matt Miller said. “It was a real physical game, but the girls stayed tough the entire time. It would have been easy to feel sorry for ourselves at time, but the girls just fought through it.”
Freshman Shae Jones had 10 points and seven rebounds for Timberlake, which finished third at state last year, also at Middleton.
Kimberly 16 6 10 12 — 44
Timberlake 20 10 8 15 — 53
KIMBERLY — Tar. Plew 0, Tay. Plew 18, Chavez 6, Heider 0, VerWay 7, Dille 11, Ward 2, Osborne 0. Totals 16-59 4-11 44.
TIMBERLAKE — Soumas 5, Nelson 6, MacArthur 7, Simpson 0, Needs 4, Miller 21, Jones 10.
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Timberlake junior guard Malia Miller drives to the basket as Kimberly defends during their state 4A girls basketball opening round game at Middleton High on Thursday.