STATE 4A GIRLS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS:Timberlake struggles in loss to unbeaten Sugar-Salem in 4A semis

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

MIDDLETON — Once the bank was open, the flood began on Friday night.

Sugar-Salem used a 16-1 run spanning the first and second quarter, keyed by a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer by Monika Nead for the top-ranked Diggers of Sugar City, who held the fifth-seeded Timberlake Tigers to a season-low in points in a 47-21 win in the semifinals of the state 4A girls basketball tournament at Middleton High.

“It was on all on us,” Timberlake senior guard Jozee MacArthur said. “We just weren’t playing as a team and weren’t playing Timberlake basketball. It came down to us not relying on each other tonight.”

Timberlake trailed 25-7, at halftime, shooting 3 of 17 from the field.

“Our offensive execution wasn’t very good,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. “We didn’t shoot good shots. When you get poor looks, and the entire first half I thought we got really poor looks. The shots we took were really deep perimeter shots and really tough. The inside shots were really off-balance and weak.”

Timberlake went 0 for 15 from the 3-point line and was outrebounded 29-15.

“I think we got kind of flustered and didn’t do what we normally do in practice,” Timberlake junior guard Malia Miller said. “We win and lose as a team, and we’ll be better for this. We’ll talk through it and get better tomorrow.”

“I thought Sugar dominated us in every facet of the game,” Miller said. “Every single facet.”

“Timberlake didn’t get anything easy,” Sugar-Salem coach Crystal Dayley said. “We forced them to take tough shots. Everything they took was contested. I couldn’t be prouder of our effort.”

Timberlake lost senior Lucy Simpson to a torn meniscus during last Saturday’s play-in game against Weiser at Prairie High in Cottonwood and was already without starter Payton Young, who tore her ACL in December.

“Not having Payton and Lucy played a factor, but not in the degree that game went,” Matt Miller said. “If we would have executed in the degree we should have and the way we’d been practicing, it would be a coin-flip game. We tried to emphasize rebounding the ball, and we got demolished on the boards.”

Timberlake (20-4) faces South Fremont (22-6) in the third-place game today at 11 a.m. PST at Middleton High. Bear Lake defeated South Fremont 65-43 in the other semifinal.

“This one should sting,” Matt Miller said. “But South Fremont is coming from the same position we were in. We got embarrassed tonight and they got embarrassed tonight. I think it’s going to come down to whatever team handles disappointment and turns it into motivation that comes out on top.”

Malia Miller, who missed last season with a torn ACL, scored nine points for Timberlake, which finished third at state last year after finishing runner-up in 2023.

“I think we’re going to grit down and play hard as a team,” said MacArthur, a four-year varsity player. “We’re hoping to end on a winning note. It comes down to the pressure situations, and we just had a hard time getting through that tonight.”

Sugar-Salem (25-0), which missed state last year, is shooting for its fifth title since 2015, all under Dayley, whose team beat Gooding 68-28 on Thursday.

“Defense has been our strength all season,” Dayley said. “You can’t control if the shots are going to fall, but you can control how hard you play on defense. And that’s what I thought we did tonight. And that might have been the best defensive game we’ve played all season."

Malia Miller also had five steals for Timberlake.

“She’s a phenomenal player,” Dayley said of Malia Miler. “She does a good job of attacking the basket and getting to the key and getting to the foul line. Timberlake’s a phenomenal basketball team and I’ve got as much respect as any team in Idaho for them and coach Matt Miller. We’ve met up so many times, and I have so much respect for them. You can tell she’s a coach's kid and in the gym a lot.”

Timberlake    3    4    9    5    –    21

Sugar-Salem    16    9    11    11    –    47

TIMBERLAKE – Soumas 0, Nelson 4, MacArthur 3, Needs 3, Miller 9, Jones 2. Totals 8-33 5-8 21.

SUGAR-SALEM – Larsen 2, Petterson 14, Harris 14, Rydalsch 0, Dalling 7, Dougherty 5, Klingler 0, B. Bradshaw 0, C. Bradshaw 2. Totals 19-37 2-6 47.

    JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Timberlake senior Marissa Needs puts up a shot as Sugar-Salem's Monika Nead contests during the second half of Friday's state 4A girls basketball semifinal at Middleton High.