By JASON ELLIOTT
Sports author
NAMPA – Timberlake coach Matt Miller is aware of the highs and lows of the brilliant lights of the Ford Idaho Center.
Lately, it’s been fairly excessive, with 4 straight wins within the title sport.
Saturday was only a uncommon, as of late, low.
“I’ve been here enough to know what it’s going to feel like in a few days,” Miller stated. “The kids don’t know that, so they’re hurting. But they’re hurting because they had a legitimate chance to win today. We just didn’t play well today, but they had a fantastic season. They won 22 games and went to state with a really, really young team and came down here and performed well overall, just not in the game today.”
Timberlake fell quick in its try for a fifth state title in eight seasons, falling to Snake River 49-36.
“We didn’t get a lot of clean looks tonight,” stated Miller, in his 18th season on the college. “We had two major lulls in the game where we lost focus on both ends of the court. Halfway through the second quarter, we had some breakdowns. And then again to start the third quarter. With a team as good as Snake River, you can’t do that in stretches.”
It is Snake River’s (23-3) first state title since 2013, and second general. It can be the primary time since Filer received in 2014 that somebody aside from Sugar-Salem (2015, 2018, 2019, 2022) or Timberlake (2016, 2017, 2020, ’21) has left the Idaho Center with the state championship.
“Our goal and expectations from our school is to win every year,” seventh-year Snake River coach Jeff Steadman stated. “Our goal is to do well at state and do well. We know Sugar and Timberlake are two great programs, and they bring it every time. It’s hard to beat a quality team three times in a row, and we did that last night (Friday’s 38-36 win in the semifinals) with Sugar. We didn’t know what Timberlake was going to bring, but looked pretty good against Teton, and we’re very familiar with Teton, and was proud of how we handled it.”
Timberlake, which didn’t qualify for state in 2022, competed in its ninth title sport since 2011, and is 4-5 in these video games. The Tigers received their third title in program historical past in 2020, beating Snake River 42-32.
Freshman Malia Miller had 15 factors and eight rebounds for Timberlake.
“Our defense last night was amazing,” Malia Miller stated. “We had some metal lapses today. We’re going to work hard this offseason and come back stronger next year.”
Snake River completed third at state in 2022.
Junior Rylie Edlefsen, who has a proposal from Cal State Bakersfield, hit 5 3-pointers and scored 19 factors for Snake River.
“Rylie’s a great player and just lives for basketball,” Steadman stated. “That’s her passion in life and she’s capable of that at any time.”
Timberlake was 5 of 24 taking pictures within the first half and completed 14 of 48 within the sport. The Tigers didn’t make a 3-point try after going 12 of 24 within the semifinals Friday towards Teton at Skyview High in Nampa.
Sophomore Lucy Simpson had 9 factors and 6 rebounds off the bench for Timberlake, which graduates one senior, Ciara Soumas.
“Our bench is really our energy,” Simpson stated. “They make me tremendous energetic with the best way they get issues going. There have been plenty of nerves, nevertheless it was extra thrilling. Next 12 months, I need to come again and get it carried out subsequent 12 months.
“They live to drive the ball and finish well at the rim,” Steadman stated. “They put pressure on you and if you help too much, they’ll find the open player. So it was a big challenge tonight, but I thought we did a good job of covering it.”
Offensively, within the second half, it didn’t really feel like we attacked sufficient,” Matt Miller stated. “We were a little indecisive and a little passive. It’s going to be hard to get good stuff if you’re not doing that.”
Timberlake 11 6 13 6 – 36
Snake River 11 10 13 15 – 49
TIMBERLAKE – C. Soumas 5, Dickinson 2, Young 2, Nelson 0, MacArthur 2, Simpson 9, Needs 1, Miller 15, Chase 0. Totals 14-48 8-16 36.
SNAKE RIVER – Baldwin 2, Dunn 5, Steadman 2, Edlefsen 19, A. Gilbert 7, Trejo 0, Carlson 11, Watt 3. Totals 17-49 8-12 49.
