Badgers girls basketball finish season, Tigers advance to state

SPIRIT LAKE — Badger girls basketball (11-11) finished off the season falling to the Timberlake Tigers (20-2) twice in a best-of-3 series for the 3A District I girls basketball title.

After her team missed out on qualifying for state last year for the first time since 2013, Timberlake High senior Ciara Soumas was determined to be back on the court when the Tigers qualified this year.

Timberlake (20-2), second in the final MaxPreps regular season rankings, advances to the state tournament, Feb. 16-18 at Skyview High in Nampa. The Tigers will open in the day’s first game at 11 a.m. PST vs. the No. 7 seed, Filer.

The Tigers were strong all season from the three-point line and led 36-20 going into the locker room in game two, on Feb. 9.

Markynn Pluid scored 13 points for injury-plagued Bonners Ferry. The Badgers struggled against Timberlake’s full-court pressure, but kept it fairly close throughout.

The Badgers could have drawn closer if they’d hit a few more of their decent looks, especially in a third quarter where neither team scored for more than four minutes, and the teams combined for seven points.

Timberlake didn’t score until Young hit a three with just over a minute to go in the third quarter. The Tigers were just 3 of 20 from the field after intermission.

But their pressure defense in the first half — coupled with 15-of-27 shooting — was enough to keep the Badgers at arm’s length.

Badger girls basketball will graduate seniors Kaylee Sumpter and Mia Blackmore, both a force to be reckoned with on the court and known for their quick attacks on the basket.

Blackmore led the Badgers in steals and assists with 45 and 52 this season.

Junior Asha Abubakari led the Badgers on scoring and rebounding with 308 points this season and 117 rebounds. She averaged 17.1 points per game.

Last year, Timberlake was the top seed, but was upended at home by Kellogg in the district title game. The Tigers battled back to reach the state play-in game, but fell to Weiser.

Since Timberlake’s first trip to state in 2009, the Tigers have only not gone twice — in 2010 and 2013.

Bonners Ferry 7 13 4 8 — 32

Timberlake 15 21 3 8 — 47

BONNERS FERRY — Petesch 2, Pluid 13, Blackmore 6, Abubakari 7, B. Bayer 4, Sumpter 0.

TIMBERLAKE — C. Soumas 3, Dickinson 2, Young 8, Nelson 1, MacArthur 4, Simpson 3, Needs 3, Miller 18, Chase 5.