Badgers beat Timberlake Game 1 on districts, break nine year drought
Markynn Pluid goes up for a shot earlier in the season.
(Photo By: EMILY BONSANT)
SPIRIT LAKE — Monday night the Bonners Ferry girls basketball did something they haven't done in nine years, beat the Timberlake Tigers.
The Timberlake Tigers were runners-up at last year’s state 3A girls basketball tournament and touted a 24 game winning streak against the Badgers, whose past win was Feb. 3, 2015.
The 55-53 victory was even sweeter for the Badgers, since it took place in Game 1 of a best-of-3 series for the 3A District 1 title on Monday.
An inside basket by senior Markynn Pluid of Bonners Ferry (10-7) broke a 53-all tie. Timberlake (14-5) then turned the ball over with a chance to tie.
“The girls played with heart, unselfishly and together as a team,” Bonners Ferry head coach Paual Petesch said of the victory. “I’ve been telling them the everyone is a shooter and we saw that last night.”
“They played great; really balanced scoring,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said of Bonners Ferry, which had four players in double figures. “The biggest thing was the amount of effort in rebounding, and they gave a lot of effort in rebounding, especially in the fourth quarter. They just seemed hungrier than us; we gave up a lot of easy shots.”
Pluid led the Badgers with 15 points. Brooke Petesch, Rylie Kimball and Taren Bateman each scored 10 for Bonners.
Junior Diana Nelson scored a game-high 21 points for Timberlake, which was 7 of 16 from the free-throw line.
“Diana had probably the best game she’s ever had,” Miller said. “She rebounded well most of the game, but it takes a few more.”
Timberlake won both meetings in Intermountain League play, though the Badgers led until the final minutes in the Backwoods Brawl spirit game at Bonners Ferry.
“Timberlake is going to adjust to our defense, but I know if we play good, smart defense, we can beat them again,” Petesch said.
Bonners Ferry can qualify for state by winning Game 2, scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Timberlake. If Timberlake wins, the deciding game would be Thursday at 6 at Timberlake.
Bonners Ferry 16 10 12 17 — 55
Timberlake 12 18 11 12 — 53
BONNERS FERRY — Petesch 10, Kimball 10, Baisden 5, Pluid 15, Bateman 10, Abubakari 3, Hiatt 2.
TIMBERLAKE — Soumas 7, Dickinson 3, Young 3, Nelson 21, MacArthur 6, Simpson 8, Needs 4, McKellips 1.